Engaging Live Lecture

This weekend, Seth Godin posted an interesting idea on his blog called "Break the Lecture". In short, Godin is suggesting that we live in a digital age where interactive technology is nearly ubiquitous and people experience things less in person than they did years ago. One area he suggests hasn't changed is the classroom lecture, which has remained one-sided whether in person or online. He offers the idea of a "back channel" app that asks students questions throughout the lecture. This provides a means for engagement while offering a speaker feedback in real time. I like the concept and agree that lectures need to be rethought in order to engage with the audience. However, I don't know if using our digital technology is the best way.

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(Is that the lecturer from HigherEdJobs.com?)

Immediately, I think of my middle school and high school classrooms where technology is a constant distraction. This is particularly true in middle school. While Godin's theoretical app would block all other apps and programs, I wonder if it only exacerbates the distance that device use has created. Listening and discussing during a lecture is an important skill that will be of benefit to students in the future. Interacting with a live person - while becoming an incredibly less prevalent experience in our society - is a skill that needs nurturing; one might argue it to be one of the most important for children in the middle school years.

So instead of an engagement app, I propose making those lectures more engaging. A good first step would be getting some of that text off the screen (or at the very least, please stop reading what text is up there). Using tech to elevate engagement in the lecture will go a long way. In the end, it always comes down to the age-old "know your audience" and gear the presentation toward their needs and interests. Admittedly, with students, they also need to be willing to take that journey, but as a teacher it is my job - our job - to meet them at that point and provide an interesting path forward. Jordan Tannahill explores this idea within the context of creating theatre in his book Theatre of the Unimpressed. Plenty of strong ideas in there that can be applied to the classroom. I am trying to do this myself, but the jury is still out on it... but so far, so good.

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