WHAT IS BRUINCAST?

BruinCast is a service offered and subsidized by the Center for the Advancement of Teaching to video record and/or audio record (podcast) regularly scheduled undergraduate lectures for on-demand playback from the course website on CCLE or Bruin Learn (Canvas).

The service is designed to provide instructional enhancement to current undergraduate students, using funding specifically allocated for that purpose by the state. When you sign up for BruinCast each quarter and your request is approved, the class sessions you teach for the entire quarter will be recorded and posted online on your course website for your students to access.

WHERE ON CAMPUS IS THE BRUINCAST SERVICE AVAILABLE?

BruinCast is currently available in some form in 76 classrooms on campus, including every general assignment classroom with a capacity of 60 or more.

REMOTE VIDEO OR AUDIO-ONLY RECORDING

Lecture recordings in classrooms with remotely controlled equipment are more easily accommodated because no portable equipment or crew are required. These are the 16 locations that support remotely controlled video recording (or audio-only recording):

Broad 2160E Haines 39 Physics & Astronomy 1425
Bunche 1209B Kaplan A51
Young CS 24
Bunche 2209A Kinsey Pavilion 1220B Young CS 50
Dodd 121 La Kretz 110 Young CS 76
Dodd 147 Math Sciences 4000A
Franz 1178 Moore 100

REMOTE AUDIO-ONLY RECORDING (OR VIDEO RECORDING WITH PORTABLE EQUIPMENT)

Audio-only (podcast) recordings can generally be accommodated if requested. Video recordings using portable equipment and a crew are possible in these classrooms depending on availability of resources. There are 65 locations where these services are available:

Boelter 2444 Geology 4660 Physics & Astronomy 1749
Boelter 2760 Haines 118 Physics & Astronomy 2434
Boelter 3400 Haines 220 Public Affairs 1222
Boelter 4413 Haines A18 Public Affairs 1234
Boelter 5249 Haines A2 Public Affairs 1246
Boelter 9436 Haines A25 Public Affairs 1256
Broad 2100A Haines A44 Public Affairs 1264
Bunche 1209B Kaplan 135 Public Affairs 1337
Bunche 2209A Kaplan 169 Public Affairs 2214
Bunche 3178 Kaplan A51 Public Affairs 2232
De Neve P350 Kaplan A65 Public Affairs 2238
Dodd 146 Kinsey Pavilion 1200B Public Affairs 2250
Dodd 161 Kinsey Pavilion 1220B Public Affairs 2270
Dodd 167 Kinsey Pavilion 1240B Public Affairs 2284
Dodd 170 La Kretz 100 Rolfe 1200
Dodd 175 La Kretz 101 Rolfe 3126
Fowler A103B La Kretz 120 Royce 190
Fowler A139 Math Sciences 5200 Royce 362
Franz 1178 Moore 1003 Young 1044
Franz 1260 Northwest Campus Auditorium 101A Young 2200
Franz 2258A Perloff 1102 Young 4216
Geology 3656 Physics & Astronomy 1434A

WHO HAS ACCESS TO MY LECTURE RECORDINGS?

In addition to you, only class participants such as other instructors, teaching assistants and students can access the recordings on the “Media resources” tab of your CCLE course page. You can also grant access to individuals — who must have a UCLA Logon ID — through a simple process (contact bruincast@ucla.edu for more information).

Audio and video recordings on your CCLE course page can be streamed on demand directly in the browser and are not downloadable.

At the conclusion of each quarter, you may request copies of your lecture recordings from BruinCast for your own personal use.

DOES USING BRUINCAST CHANGE HOW I TEACH MY CLASS?

Not really. The BruinCast service is designed to be hassle-free and unobtrusive. In general, you can conduct your class sessions as you ordinarily would.

For your classes to be recorded properly, you must wear a wireless lavalier microphone during every class session. This small microphone is easily clipped to your shirt, collar or lapel, and is connected by a thin cord to a transmitter that you put in your pocket, clip to your belt or carry. The microphone is supplied to you at no cost by Audio Visual Services (AVS) for use throughout the quarter.

Most video recordings and all audio-only recordings are accomplished with permanently installed equipment that you or your students will not even be aware of. For some video-recorded courses in rooms without a remotely controlled camera, a video crew will attend each of your class sessions and record them from the back of the room.

You can use slide presentations, write on the whiteboard/chalkboard, conduct demonstrations, move around freely, interact with students and otherwise teach your class like you always do.

WILL A LOT OF STUDENTS WATCH THE LECTURES ONLINE INSTEAD OF ATTEND CLASS IN PERSON?

Published research has consistently shown that making recorded lectures available to students results in little or no negative impact on classroom attendance.

According to past surveys of UCLA students, the majority used BruinCast as a study tool during the quarter, particularly before midterms or finals, or to watch/listen to a lecture they had a legitimate reason for missing. The large uptick in streaming traffic before midterms and especially finals also suggests students often review all or parts of lectures to prepare for tests.

Instructors have tools to keep attendance at acceptable levels, including monitoring classroom attendance, halting (temporarily or permanently) BruinCast recordings, or even removing access to recordings. However, these steps are rarely necessary.

HOW DO STUDENTS ACCESS RECORDINGS OF CLASSES?

BruinCast video and audio recordings can be streamed on demand via CCLE. To access BruinCast recordings, students should go to the “Media resources” tab of their CCLE course page.

New recordings are posted within two to three hours in most cases.

WHAT IF STUDENTS HAVE ISSUES OR QUESTIONS REGARDING BRUINCAST RECORDINGS?

In all instances, you can direct students to contact BruinCast at bruincast@ucla.edu.

BruinCast records, edits, processes and streams thousands of hours of media each school year, a complex technical and logistical undertaking carried out to a significant degree by student workers. It’s extremely helpful when glitches or mistakes are brought to our attention so we can correct them promptly.

HOW DO I SIGN UP FOR BRUINCAST?

Sign up online at https://bruincast.ucla.edu before the start of each quarter.

If you are teaching in a BruinCast-equipped classroom, you will automatically receive an invitation to sign up for BruinCast before each quarter. However, even if you don’t receive an invitation you can still sign up. At a later point, we will let you know if your recording request has been approved.

Each quarter, we set out to maximize the number of courses and students we can service with the available resources.

If you are teaching in an upcoming quarter and would like BruinCast to record your course, you may want to check with your department early to make sure your course is assigned to a suitable classroom (see list above).

Remember: Even if you participated in BruinCast in past quarters, you must still sign up for the current quarter. The process is not automatic. Signing up as early as possible increases the chances that resources will be available to record your class.

WHERE DO I GET MORE INFORMATION ABOUT BRUINCAST?

Please email us at bruincast@ucla.edu and we’ll answer any questions you might have.