Trinity has released a new policy on the recording of lectures in an attempt to outline the importance of privacy, copyright and intellectual property. Coming into effect this year, the policy highlights that, while lecturers may provide lecture recordings or summaries for additional learning resources, this is not a requirement being entirely at their own discretion.
Further, the policy stresses that the use of these recordings, when provided, is for Trinity students only, with their distribution elsewhere breaching University regulations and resulting in disciplinary action. The policy also discusses the role of personal data, as lecture recordings may feature student contributions and images, thus needing to be managed in line with data protection and copyright requirements.
Crucially, the policy emphasises that recordings are not to replace in-person learning, with attendance in lectures being expected from students. Providing further information via email to the student body, this announcement makes clear the university’s stance on lecture recordings.
This Policy outline may be in response to the Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU)’s demands for adoption of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in their Strategic Plan 2025-2030, where calls for incorporation of lecture recordings were made to improve “Accessibility of Education”.
TCDSU stated that the recording of lectures helps cater to the “Diverse needs of all students” by allowing one to review material at their own pace, improving their learning experience. TCDSU also drew attention to Queen’s University’s development of policy for lecture recordings, which involved both management and students to create a “Satisfactory” approach for all, including trade unions.
Trinity has provided a dedicated webpage for this new policy on the recording of lectures to make the newly enforced guidance clear.
Correction: The original version of this article stated that TCDSU’s strategic plan advocated for making lecture recordings mandatory, which is false.
