Future_Scenarios_Lecture_2.0
A blueprint for the future
As we learn more about the types of learning environments that engage today’s learners and the skills needed to compete in a global economy, the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative is embarking on a collaborative project to create a blueprint for the “classroom” of the future -- realizing, of course, that it may not be a classroom at all.
With wikis as our workplace, we’re asking the EDUCAUSE community to share their ideas and expertise to help us, as a community, a vision of what the ideal learning environment might look like. Comments will be used to construct simulated course environments, starting with easy-to-implement solutions for rethinking the traditional lecture format and scaling to “blue sky” initiatives that include global collaboration and opportunities to “learn by doing.” We hope you’ll also take this opportunity to share the unique and innovative ways that your campus is already transforming learning in the classroom, on campus, and in virtual worlds.
*Note: Please submit any content before moving to another wiki page. Any unsubmitted content will be lost.
Building Lecture 2.0
More than four years ago, Joel Foreman called the large lecture a “leading candidate for the title ‘most worthy of change.’” Yet, across the nation, they are still one of the most enduring features of the pedagogical landscape. In situations where large lecture halls are still the most cost-effective and comfortable teaching environment for faculty, what changes can be made to accommodate for Net Generation learning styles and current pedagogical trends? If the lecture is to remain the main method of content delivery, what changes would usher it into the 21st century?
Physical classrooms are already extremely diverse in their design and configuration, and we can expect this diversity to increase, not simply because of technology, but also because of (for example) a demand for flat cabaret-style configurations, or more horsehoe classes which are common in business schools. It should not be assumed that physical classrooms will become over-run by technology - the core rationale for assembling in one physical place is for some type of social face-to-face engagement, rather than technology-mediated engagement for which participants could be more or less anywhere. So we may also see technology-less classrooms where laptops are banned, to enable oral discourse to flourish, and to overcome "continuous partial attention".
Conversely technology in the form of digital media may find a new creative role in the lecture. Media intervention strategies may help to set social contexts, engage and empower students and provoke debate and action beyond the lecture event. Student-generated media (outputs from group research or creative expositions on a topic, for example) may be brought in to inform the learning event. In this more fragmented and active scenario it is student voices, perhaps orchestrated by faculty, that can be heard.
What would the learning environment look like?Take a moment to think about the physical space and the virtual environment. What components would it include? How would content be delivered? How would assessment be done?
- Content is still king but we might consider changing the actual delivery of the lecture to reflect the way that Net Generation learners consume information in their everyday lives. The lecture might include multimedia (videos, simulations, etc.) or frequent breaks for student interaction.
- The idea of using frequent breaks for student interaction is a good bridge in going from a very traditional lecture format to a classroom experience that engages students more. The physical setting still needs to support the activities of student groups for these small group discussion breaks. If seating is fixed, perhaps set up in tiered rows as in many traditional lecture spaces, it will be difficult to have effective small group discussions. Therefore reversable seating will allow students to tun and face each other.
- Consider starting with the physical aspects of the auditorium. E.g., two rows per tier, with swivel chairs in the first rows to enable discussion groups; inscribe-able walls for brainstorming; display flexibility to allow screens from other sources to be shared. Promoting interactivity within the context of the lecture probably begins with the physical design of the space, which is then leveraged by technology.
- With a shift towards active, autonomous learners the frequency of the lecture is likely to change. The lecture, if it is still called that, is an opportunity for learners to touch base and recognise the benefits of belonging to a social cohort and to develop their collective identity. They come to compare notes and inspire each other. They find the content elsewhere more often than not. The lecture is an opportunity to be challenged rather than informed.
- Personal response systems remain a good option to increase activity in an auditorium setting. Opportunities are using any web-capable device for responding and seeing if activities other than multiple choice could be supported.
- Lecture content delivery systems will need to take into account the individualized tools that students use to learn. For example, a low vision, learning disabled or blind student may benefit from using a screen reader. Accordingly, the articles, course outlines and other documents need to be created in a format that work with screen readers or other auditory delivery systems.
Are there particular tools or software programs that can facilitate the course design? Are there noteworthy open-source programs that institutions could use?
- The nanohub (www.nanohub.org) is a comprehensive, web-based resource for research and education in nanotechnology. Faculty can find simulations and animations to add multimedia to their own lectures. It's a great example of online portals for lecture resources.
- An equally important question: what pedagogies and kinds of pedagogical activties are needed to realize this potential?
- EASI: Equal Access to Software and Information (http://www.rit.edu/~easi/) offers trainings and links to tools available to support different learning styles.
Is your institution already designing or employing solutions to the challenge? Share your specific projects here and, if possible, include links for further exploration.
For further reading
Share links to any related readings or resources on the Web or on your campus.
- Foreman, Joel. "Next Generation: Educational Technologies vs. The Lecture."
*Note: Please submit any content before moving to another wiki page. Any unsubmitted content will be lost.
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When we sit in lectures, even the driest, chalkiest of them all, we are not just catch-basins for content, our living minds are actively making connections among and between what is being said, heard, seen and felt and our prior experiences, ideas and memories. Wouldn’t it be useful to harvest these connections in a lecture tagging scheme in real time?
It is striking that the phenomenon of tagging has been used for storing, parsing and accessing information on the internet, in some libraries and on our own desktops, but we haven’t developed a means for tagging lecture content while the lecture is happening. There are bloggers who blog in class, but blogs are typically as highly personalized as lectures can be, so the benefit of the group knowledge is unyielded.
What if learners were asked to create tagging schema that would reflect their knowledge and connection to the content so that it could be built upon and accessed by fellow learners.
One of the benefits of technology, is the pace at which things can happen – videos are posted seconds after incidents happen, images are available to the world immediately, even peer-review journal articles can now be accessed much more swiftly than ever before. Why not apply this theory to the lecture, making it an interactive, collaborative and content rich experience that can grow like our files, email storage and bookmarks do?
Infrastruture for this could be as simple as students with laptops, internet access and a wiki site with visualiztion tools or as complex as a learning management system with authentication, metadata protocols, reference tools and various levels of discovery and dark storage.
Outcomes could include enhanced engagement of the learners, products available for self reflection, as well as use by other researchers and a growing body of informed content that could be compounded overtime by other learners. It could also provide an assessment lens for faculty to understand learners and their understanding of the lecture.