Laster feels that lecture capture really comes into its own in those courses that teach the fundamentals to large classes. "Lecture capture as a replacement for the 400-student experience in the lecture hall can make a lot of sense," he explains. "But where you have a more interactive classroom style, it doesn't make sense."

Interestingly, faculty at many institutions now see lecture capture as a way to help transform those large classes into the kind of interactive learning experience that Laster describes.

Because the technology essentially separates the lecture from the class, Jones is able to front-load her lectures, making them available for students to review online before class. She then uses class time for group discussions.

HULK NOT GET LECTURE CAPTURE! HULK BORED FIRST TIME LISTEN TO PROF'S LECTURE! WHY HULK WANT LISTEN AGAIN?! #BLEND11

WBLT is not designed as a distance education tool, but rather as a support mechanism for students who are unable to attend lectures for a variety of reasons (Williams & Fardon, 2007). Generally, no time or money are invested in designing or modifying lecture materials for use in the non-contiguous learning environment, though research suggests this should be considered (Gosper, McNeil, Woo, Phillips, Preston & Green, 2007). The lecture is typically recorded and made available for students to access at a later date (Curtin iLectures, 2009; McKenzie, 2008). This is confirmed by Phillips et al (2007) who conducted a survey of 155 academic teaching staff from across four Australian universities and found 75% made no adaptations to their units to accommodate the use of WBLT.

Overall, it has been shown that students tend to use the recordings to supplement the face to face lectures rather than to replace them (McElroy & Blount, 2006; McNeill et al, 2007; Williams & Fardon, 2007). Further, research shows that students generally consider that WBLT enhance their learning experience and improve the quality of their education.

Students particularly value lecture recordings for the opportunity they provide to review lectures and prepare for exams and, hence, they see WBLT as being important in helping them achieve better results (Williams & Fardon, 2007; Gosper et al, 2007; Gosper et al., 2008; McKenzie, 2008).