‘It is the easiest thing to do’: university students’ perspectives on the role of lecture recording in promoting inclusive education in the UK

Abstract

The implementation of lecture recording (LR) technology is becoming common practice in higher education (HE). While it is often promoted as a technological solution to inclusion, there is a need for more in-depth research to examine such assumptions. This study was conducted in a research-intensive elite university in the UK, employing semi-structured interviews with 15 students and 10 teaching staff and focusing on students’ voices as an under-represented dimension of LR research. The student participants recognised the usefulness of LR for improving access to learning activities and its limitations in addressing important pedagogical aspects such as student-staff relationships. LR was perceived to be aligned with a reductionist and tokenistic approach to educational provision–a compromise where the desired changes to HE’s exclusionary structure could not happen. The study concludes by highlighting the necessity of respecting students as agents of change to stimulate the critically informed use of technology for inclusive education.