Guidelines for Recording Students During Online Classes

To avoid any penalties under the Illinois Eavesdropping Statute, students should be notified via the class syllabus that they may be recorded during recorded during course activities such as synchronous sessions. This should be implemented by adding the “syllabus statement” and “privacy statement” linked below, to your course syllabus:

Syllabus + Privacy Statements

To limit the circulation of recordings of students (e.g. recorded synchronous sessions, student presentations) beyond the classroom, and their possible use for “commercial purposes” as described in the Illinois Publicity Act, students’ ability to download video recordings will be restricted beginning in Spring 2018. All systems currently used by Loyola for recording (Panopto, VoiceThread, and Zoom) will be set to prevent students from downloading videos.  This will not impact students’ ability to view the recordings when the student has an internet connection. If there is a need for students to download specific recordings, please contact the Office of Online Learning for guidance (online@luc.edu). Faculty retain the ability to download recordings.

In alignment with Illinois law and the University Privacy Statement (above), instructors who wish to use an online class recording that includes student activity beyond the class in which it was recorded may do so only with the informed written consent of the students involved or if all student activity is removed from the recording. A release form created by the Office of the General Counsel must be signed by students (Appendix A). We are currently working with ITS to develop a digital consent form that will allow for a student’s digital signature. This will enable online students to more easily access and sign this required form. Details regarding accessing and storing written consent forms was sent to all online faculty in January 2019.

Student Recording Release Form

Faculty are asked to follow the following guidelines regarding recording students in online classes:

• Only store recordings on Loyola-approved systems that restrict access to class members (ITRS can provide instructions).
• Inform students that recordings will only be available to members of that class and that all recordings will be unavailable to students in the class when the Sakai course is unpublished (i.e. shortly after the course ends, per the Sakai administrative schedule)
• Inform students that video recordings cannot be downloaded and can only be viewed when the student has an internet connection.
• Request that students share any concerns they may have about being recorded privately with the instructor prior to the first recording (e.g. the first synchronous session) and provide an option for students who request not to be recorded to participate via audio-only.