BC Livestreams and Records Lectures

Class sessions at Bluefield College are now livestreamed and recorded with Microsoft Teams. While this decision was expedited by the COVID-19 pandemic, it was already an aspect of the 2019-2024 Bluefield College Strategic Plan.

“With over 75 percent of the student population participating in intercollegiate athletics, student-athletes are excused regularly from their classes for athletic travel and game day preparation. Having a livestream and lecture capture feature for all on-campus classes provides the student-athlete with access to the class session and lecture presentation when on the road, since buses are now equipped with internet connectivity. In addition, student-athletes with injuries requiring surgery can follow the course sessions remotely during rehabilitation and stay actively engaged in the learning experience.”

Dr. Marshall Flowers, Vice President for Academic Affairs

The option to participate in class sessions online has been especially helpful during the pandemic.

“I had to quarantine for 14 days, and without my teachers livestreaming my classes, I would have gotten extremely behind in my work,” said freshman Laura Horton.

“Life concerns, such as illness and family needs, interrupt student attendance,” Dr. Flowers added. “Once again livestream and lecture capture provide this student with access to the learning experience.”

In addition, during inclement weather, commuters can stay off icy and unsafe roads, but still participate in class.

“I don’t have to worry about getting hurt or possibly causing an accident,” freshman Kaleb Hurd said.

Lecture capture can be beneficial for those both outside and inside of the classroom.

“[I]t also helps if you missed some important notes; you can always replay the meeting and just take it at your own pace,” sophomore Jay Harris said.

However, the integration of Microsoft Teams has come with difficulties and disadvantages for some courses.

“I like to communicate with my hands, arms, and sometimes whole body to model molecular dynamics and geometries, and so I’m sure Teams participants are missing some of my communication when I have the ‘share screen’ function going so all that is displayed is the slideshow. Participants also told me that the drawing tool of the SmartScreen does not display through Teams, another handicap for visual communication to distance learners.”

Dr. Joe Saunders, Chair of the Chemistry Department

Dr. Saunders recently discussed this topic with a student, Bryce Shortt. “[H]e felt as a Teams participant that he was interrupting lecture, particularly with the slight delay caused by having to unmute and interject.”

Learning sign language virtually can also be a challenge, according to senior Tanya Pinette.

“It is almost impossible to learn and retain new signs each week without face-to-face interactions with an instructor,” Pinette said. “It’s important that you have the hand shape, location, and movement of a sign correct, so in a virtual class setting it can be hard to tell what exactly a student may be doing wrong.”

And while Horton was grateful for the opportunity to keep up with her work virtually during quarantine, she said that her music classes were much more difficult to follow in Teams than other classes.

“We are asked to sing constantly, and music is not very compatible with livestreams,” Horton said. “Sometimes the pitch is off, and other times the computer buffers while trying to process the sounds. It is practically impossible to hold choir or band practices over Teams for that reason alone.”

With its advantages and disadvantages, Microsoft Teams and hybrid teaching will be part of Bluefield College courses for the foreseeable future.