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Published in: Digital Teaching

Getting Ready for Lecture Recording in AY26/27

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At Queen’s, lectures timetabled in centrally bookable teaching spaces are recorded automatically with Panopto in line with the QUB Recording of Teaching Policy. These recordings can support student learning by enabling students to review content, revisit complex concepts and engage with teaching flexibly.

This page brings together key information and support resources to help teaching staff get ready for automated lecture recording in AY26/27. You’ll find practical guidance on what to do before, during and after teaching to help ensure a smooth recording experience for both you and your students.

Quick Reminders: How Panopto Works with Canvas

  • Every Canvas course has an associated Panopto folder which can be accessed by clicking Panopto Video in the course navigation menu.
  • Automated recordings are stored in the Panopto folder. Students enrolled on that Canvas course can access recordings in the folder when they become available.
  • Automated recordings are not available to students immediately. By default, there is a 48-hour release delay (excluding weekends), giving you time to review the recording if needed. For example, a Wednesday lecture will become available on Friday, whereas a Thursday lecture will not become available until Monday. You can adjust the release window if required.
  • Recordings can also be embedded within Canvas pages and other content areas. Where possible, embedding recordings is recommended, as it helps students access recordings alongside the materials they relate to.

Before Teaching Starts

Lecture recordings should normally be recorded fresh each academic year. However, you may decide to reuse recordings from a previous year where this is pedagogically appropriate. Before doing so, review the recording carefully to ensure the content remains relevant and up to date.

You are responsible for migrating your own recordings. See our guidance on copying Panopto recordings to another Canvas course.

All classes labelled as 'Lecture' (LT) on the central timetabling system are scheduled for automated recording by default. Before teaching begins, review your recording schedule using the Panopto Automated Scheduling Tool on Queen's Online to ensure the settings meet your requirements. 

For example, if you do not want a lecture to be recorded automatically, you can change the setting to Not Automated. If you want to record some lectures and not others, use the Partially Automated option.

Note: In modules involving team teaching, the Partially Automated option is recommended, as changing the entire course to Not Automated may affect recordings for other teaching staff.

Read more in our guidance on using the Panopto Automated Scheduling Tool.

It is good practice to notify students about your approach to lecture recording at the start of the semester. This helps manage expectations and reduces the volume of queries you may receive. 

Consider telling students:

  • whether lectures will be recorded (if not, which ones won’t be?);
  • when recordings are likely to become available (48-hour default window, or on a different schedule?);
  • whether recordings will be available through the Panopto folder or embedded within specific Canvas pages.

For example, you might post a short paragraph like this on Canvas: 

Lecture Recording for GEO1001

In this module, all lectures will be recorded to support revision. Recordings will normally be available 48 hours after the lecture (excluding weekends) and will be embedded on the relevant week’s Canvas page.

In the Teaching Room

Automated recording will begin 5 minutes after the scheduled lecture start time and stop 5 minutes before the scheduled end time. 

✅ Do not open Panopto manually in teaching rooms using automated recording, as this will disable the automated recording process.

✅ Complete a quick privacy sweep before recording begins. Close email, Teams chats and any other private or sensitive information you do not wish to appear in the recording, as all screens connected to the teaching room PC will be captured.

✅ Use the teaching room microphone where available and ensure it is turned on. If no microphone is provided (i.e. in smaller teaching rooms), try to remain close to the teaching bench to help ensure your voice is captured clearly in the recording.

✅ Pause and resume recording when needed by pressing F9 on the teaching room keyboard. For example, you may wish to pause recording when discussing sensitive topics or responding to a student query. To end the recording completely, press F10.

Note: Some teaching rooms use a touch panel to control Panopto rather than keyboard shortcuts. In this case, refer to the pausing and stopping instructions displayed on the teaching room PC.

✅ Look out for the red indicator light at the teaching bench, which shows when recording is taking place, or the yellow flashing indicator light, which shows that recording is paused.

After Teaching

Following the lecture, take a few minutes to review the recording before it is made available to students in 48 hours’ time.

You should review captions for accuracy. Panopto's automatically generated captions are approximately 90% accurate depending on audio clarity, but there may be some errors left to correct, particularly specialist terminology, names, acronyms or subject-specific language. 

You may also wish to:

  • Trim non-teaching content from the beginning or end of the recording
  • Add chapters to help students navigate the recording
  • Adjust the release settings if the default 48-hour availability period is not appropriate

Important: On occasion, you may decide that an automated recording should not be released to students (for example, due to privacy concerns or a technical issue). In these circumstances, you should take action before the 48-hour release window expires. Either delete it or move it to your My Folder area in Panopto to keep it private.

If you need assistance removing or hiding a recording, contact Panopto-support@qub.ac.uk   

Where possible, consider embedding recordings alongside the lecture materials, activities or resources they relate to. See our guidance on embedding Panopto recordings in Canvas.

Further Support

For further help with lecture recording, please explore the resources below:

For queries relating to Panopto or lecture recording, contact panopto-support@qub.ac.uk

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