REF:66-2110-1084731 - Microphones for lecturers

Your comment: Lectures are recorded and this is great. However, it would really make a difference if the teachers could speak into the microphone. Some of them walk while they talk. I totally understand that as I would do the same. The problem is that they move away from the microphone and then the sound is not recorded properly. I often struggle to hear what they say. I have to rewind the video many times, which is time-consuming. Unfortunately it's often useless as I still can't catch a word. This is not the teachers fault. They are very good and they do a very good job. This is the university responsibility to anticipate that kind of problems and give the teachers the means to do their job. The University could provide the teachers with some lavalier microphones.

Our response:

Many thanks for your Tell Us Now comment. Please accept our apologies for any difficulties you have experienced with the lecture recordings. I'm happy to let you know that we are actively working to resolve these issues as soon as possible. Lapel microphones were available in all centrally timetabled teaching rooms to enable teaching staff to move around the rooms during a lecture without loss of recording sound quality. We removed these microphones as part of our initial Covid-19 response over concern that they could be a transmission risk by being an additional contact point. We have reviewed our risk assessment and based on our current understanding of the virus risks, we are now re-introducing them to all lecture rooms. We hope to have them all back in place for the start of next term, although some will be back much sooner than this.