Lecture capture and media management: New features now live
Faster, simpler and interactive – read about the latest update, quiz features and improvements to the service.

Over the summer our Lecture Capture and Media Management service has been updated by IT to improve performance and offer colleagues and students a better user experience. The service has introduced a new quiz feature, an improved search function and has readied itself for future updates. A new retention and deletion policy has also been implemented.
New features
- A fresh new look for faster navigation around Mediasite.
- Find your content more easily with an improved search function.
- A better experience on mobile devices
- Interactive learning via a new quiz feature that teaching colleagues can quickly and easily embed into their videos (see below for more information).
- A new look to VideoLeeds, the platform where we host videos for internal and external audiences.
Students really benefit from being able to review lectures and teaching sessions at their own pace, said Professor Neil Morris, Director of Digital Learning.
In the last academic year alone the service received 1.7 million views and over 300,000 hours of video were watched. Thats enough screen time to run for 34 years - which is why improving and updating this service is essential.
Were really pleased that we could carry out this major software upgrade and colleagues will certainly see a difference. Our Mediasite platform is now in the best possible shape for the future, ready for some exciting developments that we have planned to enhance the student experience further and give teaching colleagues more options when it comes to learning at Leeds.
Jim Bird, Application Support Manager in IT celebrated continual service improvement as an underpinning principal for success. Commending efforts from across IT Jim added, the importance of working collaboratively to accomplish this service improvement, and the coordination efforts from Luke Haywood, has been pivotal.
It is thanks to the Lecture Capture and Media Management Operations Groups support and everyone involved that this change is now resulting in large benefits being realised.
The quiz feature
This new interactive element is available for teaching colleagues to embed into their digital content during the editing process. For students, the quiz feature turns passive viewing into active learning and offers immediate feedback on their understanding. For teaching colleagues, the feature offers insight on the collective understanding of a topic and where further support or instruction may be needed.
Watch this 30 second demo video to see what the quiz feature looks like and read this handy how-to guide to start creating your first quiz.
If youre new to lecture capture, the introduction to Lecture Capture and Media Management webpage is a great place to start. You can also access a range of how-to guides on the IT self-service website.
Retention and deletion policy
Since its launch in 2014 the lecture capture system has grown significantly, it now holds 240TB of recordings which is around 121 thousand hours of content!
So the service can continue to meet our growing demands, a retention and deletion policy was introduced to ensure colleagues and students continue to receive a high-quality service and that system storage is effectively utilised.
Summary of policy
- Period of retention: Scheduled recordings will be available on Mediasite for three years from the date they were recorded. After three years, the content will be deleted following the completion of the main examination period for the academic year.
- Storage quotas: Storage quotas for students and staff have been introduced for ad-hoc recordings, media uploads and desktop recordings. These quotas do not apply to scheduled recordings - which are timetabled recordings of lectures.
The Lecture Capture and Media Management operations group are reviewing storage options, and encourage you to review content and delete any recordings you no longer need.
Using technology to make the most of class time
Hear from four university colleagues on how theyre using the Lecture Capture and Media Management service to make the most of class time on the changing landscapes webpage.
Posted in: University news