Journal
Two: Are Traditional Lectures Dead?
Objective:
In
this day and age we are all wired and wirelessly connected to an endless matrix
of knowledge that we can access at anytime, a time appropriate for our
schedules. Bowen, J.A (2012), p.187, states “The widespread availability of
Web-based content means that those hours could be better spent improving
learning rather then reinventing mediocre or even great lectures”. Today’s learners have many roles and
responsibilities, as educators we must make in class time as engaging and
productive as possible. Ambikairajah, E., Epps, J., Sheng, M., & Celler, B.
(2008) p.152, maintain “ studies have shown that students prefer to study in
their own time, when they are less fatigued, rather then attending regular
structured classes”. We now know that students expect a lot out of a class is
they are going to take the time to attend a real time lecture, therefore a
traditional old fashioned lecture will likely not make the grade.
Reflective:
I
would be a liar if I said I have not given a theory lecture that created a room
filled with bored, unengaged, learners that seemed to be drifting elsewhere.
According to a study of 211 university students reviewed by Mann, S., &
Robinson, A. (2009), p.243, “Results reveal that 59% of students find their
lectures boring half the time and 30% find most all of their lectures to be
boring. The consequences of being bored included students missing future
lectures and there was also a significant association between level of boredom
and grade point average”. When I reflect on the research I have done and the
learners in my own classroom it is clear to me a traditional lecture on its own
is not enough. I have been teaching for five years, within the first year I
soon understood standing and delivering in the conventional sense was not
reaching my audience. I immediately starting educating myself on ways to make
my class engage and participate. The 3240 Media Enhanced Learning course is
helping me to cultivate new ideas and draw new sources of inspiration.
Interpretive:
The
students that enroll in the hair design program in which I teach tend to be
very visual and hands on learners. My students have told me I keep lectures
interesting with humor, role playing, and sharing real world stories from the
field. Well that is flattering I know lecturing is not the most suitable mode
for many course objectives and learner, I have to keep lecture time short and
relevant. Hairdressing students thrive when they are presented with live
demonstrations and video presentations. This past year I started to text my student’s
videos before and after lessons, I chose content that represented what we were
about to learn or had just learned. While I provide live demonstrations that I
feel are excellent I can not always assume all students are having a good day
or are able to keep up.
In a recent study comparing video material to
live lecture Ramlogan, S., Raman, V., & Sweet, J. (2014), p.32, state,
“Video has the advantage of offering media-rich audio and visual stimulation
covering a wider spectrum of learning styles or preferences. Video has the
ability to be forwarded, rewound, or repeatedly viewed allowing users to peruse
the content within their own time at their own pace”. At the present time our
department as a very old and lacking curriculum with very little technology or
online presence. I find this very frustrating and feel it is a great injustice
to our students. I personally hope to be involved in future curriculum
development for the Hair Design Program. I visualize videos of all lectures and
demonstration materials online for the students to access, many times our ESL
learners cannot keep up in class, this would be so beneficial for them. Nast,
A., Schäfer-Hesterberg, G., Zielke, H., Sterry, W., & Rzany, B. (2009),
p.1042, studied a group of students presented with traditional learning and
e-learning, “ making lectures available online and on-demand was highly
welcomed by our students and has had a positive impact on the total number of
students benefiting from the lectures. This indicates that the students did not
view e-learning as a replacement for traditional teaching methods, but rather
as a valuable addition”. I feel lectures will always have a role in the
classroom but they are changing in shape, format, and accessibility. Technology
is required to bring lectures to a whole new level and is vital to keep the
lecture alive and well, not to mention engaging to the learner.
Decisional:
As
I reflect on the course readings and research that I have reviewed I find
myself even more aware of the urgency to revamp traditional lectures and
learning. The students in my classroom are frequently young, mature, and
international. All three of these groups have their own learning challenges and
needs, which can often be impossible to meet by a lecture or face-to-face class
time alone. Even though I try to speak at a moderate pace and try to chose
language that is easy to understand I still sense students in the room that are
not able to follow. I spend a great deal of time after class helping those
students to find clarity on a topic. I feel if our program had a better
e-learning center students could be more self-directed with their learning,
helping themselves to understand the course materials. Furthermore todays
instructors are as busy as ever and often lack prep time or an assistant, an
online supplement to a course would certainly provides some relief to the
teachers workload. I can not count the times I have re-watched or referred back
to videos and content for the 3240 course, it has been very valuable. In
closing this exploration I conclude that lectures are still of value providing
they embrace technology and create a more interactive opportunity for the
learner. I see all humans as life long learners, but we are learners with
limited time and attentions spans. We are obligated to ourselves as well as our
learners to be relevant and intentional, nobody has valuable time to waste.
Moving forward I aspire to create a classroom that is more interactive both in
real time and online. In being honest with myself even I find the traditional
ways of yesterday boring and disengaging. I’m very grateful for the
encouragement and inspiration the 3240 Media Enhanced Learning course is
providing me.
References
Ambikairajah,
E., Epps, J., Sheng, M., & Celler, B. (2008). A new mode of lecturing for
self-directed learning—virtual classroom on a DVD. AIP Conference
Proceedings, 1007(1), 152-161. doi:10.1063/1.2937602
Bowen, J.A (2012). Teaching naked:
how moving technology out of your college
classroom will improve student learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Mann,
S., & Robinson, A. (2009). Boredom in the lecture theatre: an investigation
into the contributors, moderators and outcomes of boredom amongst university
students. British Educational Research Journal, 35(2), 243-258.
doi:10.1080/01411920802042911
Nast,
A., Schäfer-Hesterberg, G., Zielke, H., Sterry, W., & Rzany, B. (2009).
Online lectures for students in dermatology: A replacement for traditional
teaching or a valuable addition?. Journal Of The European Academy Of
Dermatology & Venereology, 23(9), 1039-1043. doi:10.1111/j.1468-3083.2009.03246.x
Ramlogan,
S., Raman, V., & Sweet, J. (2014). A comparison of two forms of teaching
instruction: video vs. live lecture for education in clinical periodontology. European
Journal Of Dental Education, 18(1), 31-38. doi:10.1111/eje.12053
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