Class recording option creates controversy
PHOTO: Some Davis High teachers record their Zoom meetings to make lessons available to students who missed class.
By Gracie Hartsough,
BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–
Some Davis High teachers record their class meetings and others do not, raising controversy about whether or not classes should be recorded and made available to absent students.
Math teacher Kurt McCormick tries to make all of his meetings accessible to students, so that those who miss class can easily catch up on the material covered that day.
“I decided to record class meetings primarily because of the lack of consistent reliability in the technology we are using,” McCormick said. “Every student [should have] the opportunity to see and hear the same thing as their peers.”
Access to recorded meetings can be useful when trying to make up work or review an unclear topic.
English teacher Drew Barclay, however, decided not to record his classes because he wants students to be present and engaged in class discussions. If a student has to miss class for any reason, Barclay encourages them to attend his office hours or schedule another time to have a one-on-one lesson with him.
“I’m afraid that making recordings available for people might foster bad habits. Students will feel that showing up at all or staying awake isn’t that important [to their learning] because they can always go back and review that material,” Barclay said. “The solution is to come do a live session with me. I don’t think that watching a prerecorded video out of context is as useful as having a conversation.”
Although both teachers have good intentions, senior Avital Schwartz prefers the option of recorded classes.
As president of DHS’s Friendship Day club, Schwarz misses a day of school once a month to lead club activities. “If I miss something important [like a lecture] it would be nice to be able to go back and watch it,” Schwarz said.
Reasons for missing class can range from religious holidays and doctor’s appointments to a simple Wi-Fi outage.
