A lecturer at a West Yorkshire university has abolished traditional lectures in favour of podcasts. Dr Bill Ashraf, a senior lecturer in microbiology at Bradford University, says the move will free up time for more small group teaching.
Students will ask questions about lectures via text message, which will be answered in Dr Ashraf’s blog.
The lecturer has also been putting his appointment times online so students can check if he is available or book a meeting without coming into the university.
Dr Ashraf said the move would better suit the needs of distance learners, part-time students and those balancing studies with family and work.
He said: “Some lecture classes have 250 students, so I question the effectiveness of a didactic lecture for an hour.”
Overdue. I know it ain’t news; but, I haven’t seen any discussion on how well it works.
That’s great idea, although I would prefer that the podcasts were a supplement to flesh-and-blood lectures rather than a substitute. OTOH, it does free up everyone’s time.
I’m surprised that more people aren’t doing that or that universities don’t record and podcast at least some lectures as a matter of policy.
One of my lecturers had podcasts as a supplement to the flesh-and-blood lectures, and I must say its great. The danger is, if there are podcasts, some lecturers think that nobody would show to the lectures, and they’d be wasting their time preaching to 3 or 4 people.
Wasn’t it the movie Real Genius…
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089886/
…which used something similar? – more & more students leave tape-recorders in the lecture hall, until a student enters the hall [late for the lecture] to find the professor has a tape-recorder playing-back his lecture to a hall full of tape-recorders.
Howard, Apple’s iTunes Music Store hosts iTunes U, a program that helps colleges prepare and distribute audio and video podcasts of their lectures. Some of the best colleges in the U.S. are members and more will be joining.
You can learn more about iTunes U. here:
http://www.apple.com/education/solutions/itunes_u/
I used to be on staff of a graduate school and I argued for better use of media – but nobody had enough vision to pick up on it.
Besides audio, I think DVDs with their flexible menus could be an excellent education tool.
I became convinced that a hybrid system was best — not just media.
It seems to me that the straight lecture could be put on media, leaving classroom time for questions, debates, student presentations, etc.
I also argued that DVDs and audio would be an excellent way to do educational extension. The class could have listened to several hours worth of lectures before they attending their evening or Saturday class.
For me, one of the least interesting thing is computer-based education. Most seem just like boring multiple choice on computers.