September 15, 2006
Online Lecture Sales Suspended
A North Carolina State University professor who had been selling audio recordings of his lectures online was asked to stop on Wednesday after a university dean raised objections.
Since late August, Robert L. Schrag, a professor of communication, had been selling lectures from his classes to students and others through a Web site called Independent Music Online. The lectures, in MP3 format, sold for $2.50 each, with $1.00 going to Mr. Schrag and $1.50 going to the music Web site.
But Mr. Schrag said he had asked the operator of the site to take down his lectures after Toby L. Parcel, dean of the university’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences, told him that the practice bothered her. Mr. Schrag said he agreed to halt the sales—at least temporarily—while Ms. Parcel investigated whether the university would allow professors to sell their lectures. Mr. Schrag said the head of the department of communication, Craig Allen Smith, had previously given him the go-ahead to market the recordings. See The Chronicle’s full coverage (free link).
Do you think professors should be able to profit from selling their lecture recordings to students online?
Posted on Friday September 15, 2006 | Permalink |Comments
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If he required students to buy the recordings it would raise an issue that is no different from a professor requiring that students purchase his textbook (and it would be handled the same way in all likelihood), but there’s nothing in the blog entry that suggests these are required. So, if they are merely offered, I don’t see how it differs very much from the commercially produced sets of notes students can access (for a fee), commercial outlines for some classes (for a fee), and other study aids. It seems odd to suggest that everyone else but the professor should be able to offer value-added services to students.
— Georgia Harper Sep 15, 10:14 AM #
What makes this product any different from a book or other media? I use someone else’s published lecture in my ethics class ($6.50 apiece). So what! This is an intellectual property rights issue.
— Joe Adams Sep 15, 11:42 AM #
I question the practice based on the standing practice of professors forbidding the recording of lectures by students attending the class. The reasonings for this are varied, but, I understand that this policy was in place to preserve the academic integrity of the class and the institution (or whatever alternate reasoning exists). I can’t argue with that reasoning. Now, comes our professor who sees his lectures as a revenue stream, and acts with all the entrepreneurial and business savy that so reflects “higher” business er..I mean education today.
— Mark Madden Sep 18, 11:32 AM #
As long as it’s not mandatory, I see no problem with it, especially if personal recording is allowed in the same class. Then it’s a convenience issue.
— J. Lee Lehman Sep 18, 01:07 PM #