In an article titled "The Lectures Are Recorded, So Why Go to Class?", Echo360's Mark Jones defends classroom recording. Many professors worry that as soon as recordings are available, classroom seats will collect dust. "It's by far the No. 1 fear," says Mark. He then points out that the availability of recordings improves learning and retention, especially in rigorous technical courses.
But not all instructors agree. Amazingly, the article prescribes 5 ways to keep students in the classroom during lectures. Some are downright Draconian.
- Make classes more interactive.
- Give regular in-class quizzes.
- Shut off the camera when talking about what will be on the test.
- Wait 10 days after each lecture to offer a replay.
- Stop offering recordings if class attendance drops.
Makes you think about the challenge of being an instructor these days, doesn't it? But my experience is that attendance is not a problem if the instructor is really engaging the students. Instructors like Howard Rheingold, who teaches Digital Journalism at Stanford and Berkeley, actually encourage backchannel communications using Instant Messaging, and other collaboration tools. Who'd want to miss that?
1 comment:
I agree with the statement not to say the students can stay at home. Further more research at bigger Universities like the LSE shows that the (normal)students won't stay at home and they use the captured lecture for repeating the lesson and to improve their grades (and that is proved!)
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