Don't Lecture Me

This is another e-mail inspired by Donald Clark's blog. His most recent entry refers to a talk he gave called 'Don't Lecture Me' to the Alternative Learning Technologies Conference in 2010.

He encourages you to think about effective learning and whether a lecture is a good way to deliver learning. I think I can count on one hand the lectures that 'stuck' and made a difference. Invariably they were poorly delivered and as I recall I learnt most from watching the responses from students to some of the remarks the lecturer made. Invariably the best learning experiences took place in seminars, particularly where there was an academic involved whose real skill was in managing the learning interactions. I recall a Dr Coulson, then as probably now a leading expert on Cardinal Newman, who had the ability to create a learning environment in which all contributions were valued and 'supportively' examined. As a result his seminars were always full to the brim.

Now my best learning continues to takes place in small group discussions but is now augmented by the ability to drop into videos, blogs, websites and forums. For example my current learning is primarily focused on open source solutions and their application to learning. I have not attended a lecture yet about this subject nor ever thought about doing so.

I do not think I am unusual in adopting this approach although I still expect to receive the usual prospectus from our local college full of courses that are based on lectures. I was also reminded about how far we have to go by a discussion yesterday with an NVQ verifier/assessor about the relevance of electronic systems to NVQ assessment. They clearly have a 'paper-based system' in place through which they have managed to 'perfect' a process that takes a learner successfully through to their Level 2 qualification. They are a Grade 1 training provider so it is difficult to argue with them but heaven help any learner who wants to stretch themselves and take an alternative path; or the one who can see an easier way of capturing what they have done on their phone rather than in a paper-based description.

It could still be a long time before the lecture-based pedagogy becomes redundant.