Mid-South Instructional Technology Conference
Teaching, Learning, & Technology
The Challenge Continues
March 30-April 1, 2003
Enhancing a Face-to-Face Course with Online Lectures: Instructional and Pedagogical Issues
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By: Thomas Keefe |
Abstract
Since 1999, and as part of an Ameritech grant, the author has systematically investigating use of streaming media to enhance face-to-face classes. Technology invites experimentation but raises questions about such things as student acceptance, student use, academic performance, and what to do with class time when lectures are put on-line. Students appear to easily master the technology, and today software is available to help the instructor with the task. The harder issues to deal with relate to instructional and pedagogical issues. For technology to be used to its full advantage, it should be used to create an active learning environment.
Description
In this paper I will discuss the use of streaming media to enhance a traditional face-to-face class. Since 1999, I have used courseware to teach 15 sections of on-line, face-to-face, and enhanced versions of courses. I consider an enhanced course to be one where activities have been selectively moved out of the classroom and on to the Internet to free up time for other classroom activities.
A traditional course is built around the time honored educational activities of lecture, interaction and testing. They occur in a seamless fashion, in a fixed order. In a traditional classroom, instruction begins with lecture that is used to provide students with a first-exposure to a course's content. Interaction follows and may take the form of a teacher/student dialogue. Interaction is used to assist students to more deeply process course content. Finally, testing occurs to assess knowledge transfer. The traditional paradigm implies a fixed order, but there is nothing sacrosanct about it. The approach I find most exciting is to use Internet technology to enhance instruction by freeing up time in the classroom for more interaction. In this paper I will talk about pedagogical issues involved in moving lectures of a traditional class on to the Internet. The challenge and opportunity of technology invites experimentation.
The possibilities of using technology in this way raises questions about student acceptance, student use, academic performance, active learning, and alternative uses of classroom time when lectures are put on-line. I have found that students easily master the technology, and today software is available to help an instructor with the task. The harder issues that need to be addressed relate to instructional design and student behavior. For the technology to be used to its full advantage it should be used as part of a strategy employing active learning.
Participants wishing to learn how to develop streaming lectures as part of face-to-face instruction are asked to attend the hands-on session presented by the author in Track 2.
Proceeding