Memorandum

Date: May 10, 2019

To: Maggie Towle, Dean of Students
From: Sabra Brodkey, Student
Subject: Livestreaming and Recording of Classes at the UMN

Enclosed is my report on the topic of livestreaming and recording of lecture-based classes at the University of
Minnesota. With the help of academic research, surveys done by students, and interviews with professionals, I
have come to the conclusion that this addition to the classroom will be beneficial for not only students, but for
the University.

With technology moving at a faster pace than ever before, the University has the perfect opportunity to install
this program into class life. To summarize my findings, livestreaming and recording classes will help raise the
average grade in classes, will create equal opportunities for all to learn, and help the University remain a top 100
university.

Thank you for allowing me to conduct this research about implementing this technology into class life. If you
have any questions or comments, please call me at (608)751-0450 or e-mail me at sbrodkey@gmail.com. I hope
this report will help you make a decision on adding these capabilities to the classroom.

Respectfully,

Sabra Brodkey
Student

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 LIVESTREAMING AND
RECORDING OF CLASSES AT
THE UMN

PRESENTED BY SABRA BRODKEY

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
MAY 10, 2019
 ABSTRACT

The intention of this report is to discuss the possibility of adding livestreaming and recording capabilities
to lecture based classes at the University of Minnesota. After researching this topic, I have concluded
that adding this technology to the classroom will benefit students and the University immensely. To find
these results, I have taken upon sending out surveys to students, interviews, academic research, and
analyzing the annual budget report for the University. It was found that not only a majority of students
believe that livestreaming technology will help benefit them but will help keep on track with their
syllabus with known Minnesota inclement weather. While this new technology will require the
University to adjust their budget to accommodate the new subscription prices and upgrades, there is
money in the budget available to do so. To help with the budget, I recommend that the University of
Minnesota to implement technology that they already currently use, Kaltura.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................................... 3

TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................................... 4

INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................. 5

BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................................ 5

METHODS ....................................................................................................................................... 6

Survey.................................................................................................................................................................... 6

Interviews .............................................................................................................................................................. 6

Budget ................................................................................................................................................................... 7

Scholarly Articles ................................................................................................................................................... 7

Livestreaming Companies ...................................................................................................................................... 8

RESULTS .......................................................................................................................................... 8

DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................................. 11

RECOMMENDATION..................................................................................................................... 13
 INTRODUCTION
This report aims to address how the University of Minnesota can enhance the education of students by

adding livestreaming and recording services to lecture-based classes. Currently at the University of

Minnesota, there are a few professors that use this technology for their students, but by making it

widespread, there is an expectation that this will help raise the average grades in classes, create less

stress for students, and create equal opportunities for all students.

Since the start of technology, we have been integrating it into our everyday life from receiving news

from across the world as it happens to remotely turning on cars and lights with ease. With these

constant integrations into our everyday lives, it is unsurprisingly that a majority of students at the

University of Minnesota believe that this integration of livestreaming services in the classroom is

needed. With the unpredictable weather of Minnesota, illnesses, and transportation problems, this

provides a welcoming alternative to when life does not allow the student to go to class.

The evaluation of the different livestreaming services and which one is recommended is looked at in the

recommendation section.

BACKGROUND
While gaining popularity currently, livestreaming on the internet is not a new concept. The first

livestream on the internet was over 25 years ago in 1993 by a band called Severe Tire Damage in their

garage (Meisfjord 2018). Since then, technology has expanded rapidly. Universities use livestreaming

videos for not only classes, but to highlight special areas around campus like University of Washington

and their Cherry Blossoms bloom in their quad. At the University of Minnesota, there are already a few

livestreamed events and areas that are posted publicly online for anyone to see and with 50% of

students in my survey said that they have taken a class with livestreamed/recording options at the

5
University already. When adding livestreaming technology to the class, students will be able to fully

understand the course material, students with disabilities or speak English as a second language are able

to be fully engaged and equal, and help the overall mental health of students.

METHODS
To fully evaluate all the benefits and drawbacks of adding livestreaming and recording services to the

University of Minnesota, I conducted empirical research, interviews with a computer science alumnus

from the University of Minnesota and a law student from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, sent out

a survey to University of Minnesota students, researched scholarly articles, and analyzed the University

of Minnesota budget.

Survey

To receive feedback from current University of Minnesota students, a survey was posted on the

Facebook group page from the Class of 2020 and was given personally to classmates to take when they

were ready. In my survey, there were 53 responses with the average age being 20.59 years old with

81.82% of respondents being female. Questions to my survey can be found at the end of the paper.

Since the response number is smaller than desired, the responses are supported with a similar survey

done by Intercall, which will be discussed later, that had 504 college students from the ages of 18-25

years old.

Interviews

Lucas Rappette, Computer Science:

As a computer science major and a former student that has taken classes that used livestreaming

services, Lucas was an ideal candidate to discuss more about the different aspects of this technology.

While he did not attend the University of Minnesota, he has expertise knowledge and first-hand
experience that is needed for this journal. The main topics that we discussed were the possibility the

University will have to upgrade their WIFI system to handle the amount of streaming, his own comments

about his experiences with livestreaming, and his own personal preferences for companies.

Isaac Brodkey, Law Student:

For full disclosure, it should be noted that Isaac Brodkey is my brother, however the questions asked

were about the laws themselves and not based on opinions or influenced to agree with my thesis. Being

a third-year law student, I discussed with Isaac the different legal issues that the University may

encounter when introducing the livestreaming technology into the classroom. The main concerns that

we discussed and will go further in during the results and discussion sections included possible copyright

infringements, the American Disability Act, and what is counted as a private versus public space.

Budget

To understand the financial stake that the University of Minnesota will have to take to obtain the

technology that allows livestreaming and recording capabilities, I analyzed the University’s budget for

the 2019 year. Since the University is a public institution, I was able to have full access the aspects of the

budget and have it easily available.

Scholarly Articles

As always, scholarly journals and articles were used to help support the thesis of this paper. As

mentioned before, the amount of responses that I had for my survey was less than desired, so I am

using a survey done in 2010 by Intercall, a business that focuses on being video and audio calls to

meetings, that used a nationally representative sample of 504 college students from the ages of 18-25

years old. They were also able to ask more in-depth questions than I was able to which I believe will help

further my study. To also help further the understanding on why student miss class, I touched up on the

article Reasons for Missing Classes in College; The Role of Personality Traits where they had students

7
self-report reasons for missing class and then sought out the personality traits of these students to see

commonalities on why. The main account that I believe that the University of Minnesota will be

different on than in this study is the snow and cold days that we have that either cancel classes or

students end up missing. This will also help me make recommendations on improvements for this

technology discussed in the recommendation section. The last scholarly article used was about the

challenges and adjustments that International students have to make when going to a United States

university. I will be focusing on the academic barriers that they see in the day-to-day class life however

the journal does also discuss the social barriers and cultural barriers that they experience at their

University. This study was done by former International students as well which eased the participants

and allowed them to discuss their trials easier than talking to a non-International student like myself.

Livestreaming Companies

In order to recommend a company to use, I had to research the benefits and disadvantages of using

certain livestreaming companies. The companies that were focused on were Blackboard, Zoom, Kaltura,

and echo360. I looked for price cost, security features, unique/special features, and Application

Programming Interface (API) access of each company to help make a recommendation on which one to

use. This was done by browsing the company’s site, looking at reviews, and looking at what other

universities use for their own livestreaming services. The recommended company and why will be

discussed in the Recommendation section of this journal.

RESULTS
While it is thought that the reason that students skip class is because of pure deviance, it was noted in

my survey that the most popular reasons that students at the University of Minnesota missed was

because of health problems either from being tired (67%), being sick (52%), and poor mental health

(48%). After that, was because of lecture or time issues. However, it should be noted that I did not place
it as an option in my survey and had on
REASONS WHY STUDENTS
respondent in the “Other” section respond with MISS CLASS

63%
that they “did not feel like going”. For full results,

54%
45%

40%
36%

36%
please take note of Figure 1 to see full results. In

32%
13%

13%
13%

13%
Reasons for Missing Class in College, they noted

9%

4%

4%
around the some of the same results with no

negative consequences being their top reasons

with lecture issues and health problems coming in

afterwards (Rijavec and Milikovic 2015). Students

want to go to class. From my survey, a majority of students prefer Figure 1 Reasons Why Students Miss Class

either lecture-based classes (59%) or Hybrid-based classes (23%). When interviewing Lucas, I asked

about comments he had about his classes that were livestreamed, he told me about how he used to

watch them on the way to events for his school club and how they helped him create a deeper

understanding to the course material compared to other classes that he had that did not participate in

livestreaming (Rappette). Like Lucas, it is noted that the top benefits that college students have

commented about having their livestreamed and recorded classes online is being able to ‘attend’ classes

even if they are out of town and being able to attend the classes on their own schedule (Intercall 2010).

In fact, 72% of students interviewed for the Intercall survey agreed that they were better prepared for

exams and quizzes when given recorded versions of lectures (Intercall 2010). At the University of

Minnesota, 95% of students believed that it would beneficial to livestream and record classes for

students to watch at a later time. Not only do students benefit from the livestreaming, but classes as a

whole do as well. 41% of those who have had recorded lecture readily available online reported feeling

more comfortable asking questions to the professor because they do not have to speak up in front of

the whole class (Intercall 2010). This benefits International college students especially. In a journal, one

9
interviewee was discussing about her time in class and
How Are Your Classes
commented “In Korea, it is rude to interrupt a professor
Typically Paced?
speaking and if ignored, then they will continue on without

asking. No one will wait for me. They just continue to talk”
41%
(Wu et al., 2015). Another interviewee commented about the
Too Fast-Paced

pace of the lectures, saying that she cannot understand many Too Slow-Paced
27% Just Perfect
32%
of the words during lectures because of the rate of speech

and new pronunciation (Wu et al., 2015). In lectures, the style

of delivery is different than face-to-face communication that

Figure 2 Class Pace
encourages comprehension. Lectures have a steady flow of information

at a rate that is often confusing to those with English as a second language (Bilbow 1989). Often,

international students are blame by faculty for not understanding them and for not taking on

responsibilities for their education and being well prepared (Robertson, Line, Jones, & Thomas 2000). At

the University of Minnesota, it was noted in my survey that the pace and flow of the classes is not at

pace with what the all students want. While 41% of students said the classes were paced just perfect,

59% of students said that they were too slow or fast paced for them. In Intercall’s survey, it was noted

that 44% of students report that having the video lecture online allowed them to better understand

concepts by going at their own paces.

During my interview with Isaac, we discussed the legal issues that may lay ahead with livestreaming and

recording of classes. The main concern that was noted was the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

This is a civil right law that prohibits the discrimination of those with disabilities in public life like at

school or work and helps provide reasonable accommodations to those students at school (Brodkey). If

the livestream is not equal to those with disabilities, then it is not only unethical to have it but illegal. To

counter this, Isaac suggested that the livestreaming and recorded video must have closed captions, have
audio descriptions of visual material, and be easily accessible (Brodkey). When asked about what is

counted as a private space and public space where it is acceptable for those to film without permission,

Isaac discussed about fine line that technology has brought to us today. While the university classrooms

are technically public and those in it can be filmed without expressed permission, there are publicity

laws that may be sanctioned upon those if the video is used for commercial use (Brodkey). He also

brought up the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) that protects the privacy of

students at any public institution that receives funds from the U.S. Department of Education, like the

University of Minnesota, has to follow (Brodkey). By revealing any identifying or private information

about students, this could lead to civil suits and legal issues for the University.

Based on the University of Minnesota’s FY19 budget that is open to the public, the University if trying to

focus on adding more technology to the classrooms already. In the Academic Priorities section, it is

quoted “it recommends investments in infrastructure (technology/facilities), student services and

support,…” (University of Minnesota). There is $2.2 million already budgeted out for facilities and

technology infrastructure at the University that is being used for contracts for systems software, facility

repairs and renovations, and $320,000 being used just for library and classroom space improvements on

the campuses (University of Minnesota). On top of this, $1.1 million of the budget is already going

towards this type of technology, to enhance distance learning capabilities for the College of Veterinary

Medicine (University of Minnesota). Lastly, there is about $22.3 million in internal reallocations across

all funds that have not been specifically linked to any plans but will used as the year goes on (University

of Minnesota).

DISCUSSION
Between my survey showing that 95% of students agree that livestreaming is beneficial to their studies

and having first hand remarks from Lucas and Isaac about their experiences with livestreaming in their

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classes, it is clear that both students at the University of Minnesota and at other colleges are more than

welcoming to the practice. While there is a preconceived notion that students miss classes because they

just don’t care about the class and that livestreaming them would just encourage them not to go, it is

shown that most of the reasons was because of variables they could not control like weather, attending

an event, or are just sick. While one study did note that their most common reason for students to miss

class was because of having no negative consequences, it was easily fixed with adding a simple

attendance policy that most classes have nowadays. The benefits of adding an attendance policy with

livestreaming as well is to stop the penalization for excused absences from classes. According to the

University of Minnesota policies, students may not be penalized for absences from class to participate in

religious observances, for approved University activities, and for other reasons noted in the “Makeup

Work for Legitimate Absences” section (“Makeup Work for Legitimate Absences”). The legitimate

absences does not include sick days nor terrible weather that Minnesota is known for. This penalizes

students in a different way, not allowing them to fully receive their education while also forcing them to

potentially get others sick or injure themselves. With adding the livestream capabilities, students that

are sick, having trouble to get to the University, or are having religious observance, are able to have the

same education value as every other student. In the same policy, it mentions the right that professors

have to impose additional restrictions on course materials based on copyright and intellectual property

laws and policies (University of Minnesota). As Isaac mentioned before, when livestreaming and

recording classes, these same principles need to be applied and is already watch for by professors and

easily be done so within the school’s policies.

The survey that I created did not have as many respondents than I would like and believe it may not

have been as big of a diverse group as I would like, however having the Intercall survey and research

articles help strength my survey and create a dialogue with it that help conclude answers. Many of the

results from the Intercall survey matched what was noted in my own and with Reasons for Missing Class
in College, it helps solidify the reasons why students miss class with their self-reporting measures. The

weakness in my findings is that it is difficult to find exact prices for the technology needed for

livestreaming and recording classes since it is typically only shown to Universities and not public

information. I was able to find estimates from other sites and use what I know to my advantage.

A majority of students believe that the pacing of class is just not right for them. International students

are ones that are often left behind due to the pacing of class and the cultural differences. With the

Intercall study showing that 44% of students grasped concepts better with going to lecture and having

them online to watch because they can go at their own pace, it can be safe assumption that

International students would be the ones who benefit the most (Intercall). There are no current studies

however that do come to this conclusion and I sadly did not interview any International students that

have had taken livestreamed classes.

The budget of the FY19 at the University of Minnesota shows that the University is headed towards

adding more technology to the classroom between the allocations to enhance distance learning for the

College of Veterinary Medicine to their increase of allocations for Facilities and Technology

Infrastructure. Even though the two are already planned out, the $22.3 million that is available can be

distributed to help cover the subscription fees and adding any needed cameras for the professors. Even

if the technology is not added to this year’s budget, it is shown that the University has the money

allocations to add the system into the classrooms with ease.

RECOMMENDATION
The variables in life prevent students from going to or understanding lectures and when this happens,

their education is lessened. This can be from as simple as illnesses and the weather or can be more

major like language barriers. A majority of students at the University of Minnesota and at other

13
Universities agree that when adding more technology into the classroom, the more beneficial it will be

to their education. With average UMN student spending about 6 to 7 hours on their computers on a

typical day, it is easy for them to keep continuing their education learning from there. The importance of

this study is that it will help benefit University students learn and ensure that they will have full

knowledge of their major for their future careers. This will also ensure a fairer playing ground for foreign

students that may get lost or unable to ask a questions during lecture. It is essential for a University to

stay on top, it is to have the students have access to the materials needed to succeed and give them the

opportunities to do so. My recommendation is that we install this technology into classrooms and use

Kaltura as the program. I recommend Kaltura because the contracts can be negotiated and with our

current relationship with them, it is possible we can receive a bundled deal (Wilburt 2019). Also, it

provides several security features like encryption of information, is fully white labeled which will allow

the University’s logo to be presented instead of Kaltura’s and have full API access (“Video Platform”).

They also have unique features that allows the PowerPoint and the lecturer be shown next to each

other so the student can follow along earlier (“Video Platform”). Using Kaltura will help ensure that

there will not be legal issues with the ADA laws since it has a variety of programs and options to use for

clarity to the audience (“Video Platform”). To ensure students coming to class, I suggest classes

implementing their own attendance policies since it is one of the top reasons for students to miss class.

This will help eliminate the ‘No Negative Outcomes’ point-of-view and encourage students to keep going

to class.
 Works Cited

“Teaching and Learning: Student Responsibilities (Twin Cities, Crookston, Morris, Rochester).” UMN

Policy, 17 Dec. 2014, policy.umn.edu/education/studentresp.

“Video Platform: Live Streaming and Webcasting.” Kaltura, 2019,

corp.kaltura.com/products/education/live-streaming-webcasting/.

Bilbow, Grahame T. “Towards an Understanding of Overseas Students’ Difficulties in Lectures: A

Phenomenographic Approach.” Journal of Further and Higher Education, vol. 13, no. 3, 28 July

2006, pp. 85–99., doi:10.1080/0309877890130308.

Brodkey, Isaac. Personal Interview. 29 April 2019.

Brodkey, Sabra. “Class”. Survey. 14 April 2019.

Intercall Streaming Survey Report. Intercall, September 2010.

Meisfjord, Tom. “The Not-So-Ancient History of Live Streaming.” Switchboard Live, 23 Apr. 2018,
switchboard.live/blog/live-streaming-history/.

Rappette, Lucas. Personal Interview. 3 May 2019.

Rijavec, Majda, and Dubravka Miljkovic. “Reasons for Missing Classes in College; the Role of Personality

Traits.” Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 205, 16 May 2015, pp. 480–484. Elsevier,

doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.09.046.

Robertson, Margaret, et al. “International Students, Learning Environments and Perceptions: A Case

Study Using the Delphi Technique.” Research Gate, Higher Education Research and

Development, May 2000,

www.researchgate.net/publication/228809147_International_Students_Learning_Environments

_and_Perceptions_A_Case_Study_Using_the_Delphi_Technique.

University of Minnesota. President’s Recommended Fiscal Year 2019 Annual Operating Budget.

Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, 2018. University of Minnesota. Web. 26 April 2019.

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Wilbert, Max. “6 Best Live Streaming Video Platforms for Online Learning.” Dacast. 1 Mar. 2019,

www.dacast.com/blog/6-best-live-streaming-video-platforms-for-online-learning/.

Wu, Hsiao-Ping, et al. “International Student’s Challenge and Adjustment to College.” Education

Research International, vol. 2015, 15 Jan. 2015, pp. 1–9. Hindawi,

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/202753.
 Survey Questions

1. What type of class do you particularly prefer?

2. On average, how many classes do you miss a semester?
3. Why do you miss these classes?
4. How do you typically feel during lectures?
5. Generally, do you believe that class is too fast paced, slow paced, or just perfect?
6. In a typical day, how long are you on your computer? (Including watching Netflix, doing
homework, and social media use)
7. Have you taken an in-person class that has been livestreamed/recorded and posted online for
you to watch?
8. Do you believe it would be beneficial for UMN Classes to be livestreamed/recorded and posted
onto Canvas for student to watch?
9. How old are you?
10. What is the gender you identify with?

17
 Interview Questions for Lucas Rappette

1. Have you been a part of class that used livestreaming services?

2. From what you know, will there be a possibility of posting livestreamed and recorded videos onto
Canvas or will there have to be a 3rd party site used?
3. Have you ever encountered legal issues with the use of livestreaming?
4. Do you know a professor that has livestreamed classes here that I can connect with?
5. How will this affect the University’s WIFI connections? Do you believe that the UMN have to
upgrade their system if more classes started livestreaming and recording classes?
6. Do you have any preference or suggestions for livestreaming companies?
7. As a student who previously has taken a livestreaming course, what comments do you have to say
about it?
8. As a former student club president that had to miss school for events, do you believe while it
diminished your education while it was supposed to help it?
 Interview Questions for Isaac Brodkey

1. What type of legal issues could occur with livestreaming?

2. How can the University get around those legal issues?
3. Could the University add a clause in professor’s contracts that will sign off their rights on having
them livestreamed?
4. As long as the videos are private, will there be concerns about copyright material being used while
presenting?
5. Do you believe that this will cause some inequality between students?
6. Are there concerns with students with disabilities or from a foreign country?
7. Are classrooms considered private place where there needs to be permission before recording or is
it considered public?
8. What liability is expected?
9. What type of information needs to be withheld from the video?

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