When deciding how to support the learners, the literature emphasizes the importance of considering the potential possibilities that a video present. Proponents of videos argue that there is increasing interest in providing learners with video materials which is demonstrated to be an expanding channel for presentation tools. Providing video to students is used to support facet-to-face, online, or blended learning. Students can choose when and where to use the material and can spend as long or as little time on each learning activity.
Video is socially acceptable and widely used and supported by multimedia mobile devices and portable media players, and therefore it can be a powerful link between the instructor and students. Video does not have to be stand-alone, like a television program because learners can play, rewind, forward, and pause the video to address their specific needs. It can be used in many ways to encourage interactions between students and the instructors and create engagement.
Watching video is considered as a basis for mental activity, because learners already have considerable practice with it in non-educational settings. Research described many advantages of using video presentations in universities. For example, video presentations allow students to review material at their own pace and location, useful for international students, provides an opportunity to re-organize teaching time, and useful for “equation heavy” disciplines. Recording lectures in video format allows students to catch up if they miss a face-to-face lecture. Video presentations also enable instructors and students to adopt more flexible learning patterns if they wish.
Today, videoing lectures is growing in popularity within higher education. The review of the literature and existing video technologies revealed that there is a wide range of what is known as presentation recording, or lecture capture systems available today. Lecture capture is described as any video-based, presentation style content that is produced for academic purposes, both within and beyond the boundaries of the classroom. Students are therefore able to engage the lecture material in an asynchronous manner. It includes multimedia content like audio, video, and the visual aids that support the instruction, such as slides and whiteboard. Traditionally, a videoed lecture involves directing a video camera towards the lecturer and whiteboard or screen. A more advanced setup involves recording the lecturer and displaying Power Point slides along side in a separate frame.