Yesterday’s Contra Costa Times had an article about the perceived decline of attendance by some faculty at UC Berkeley and an online forum of teachers discussing it. Webcasting and podcasting are seen as a potential factor by some. But all of the quotes in the article point to other factors or defend the technology. Here’s one by our extremely popular Astronomy professor Alex Filippenko:
“One thing about college students is that these students are adults and can make their own decisions.”
Statistics prof Ani Adhikari talks about being interactive in class. And finally Diane Harley, my old boss at the Berkeley Multimedia Research Center, has this to say:
Students “have tools available to them that make the concepts of space and time much more fluid… Students have lives, and the ability for students to sort of navigate and juggle their time reduces their stress.
“The new technologies offer convenience and flexibility, and students take advantage of that.”
Absolutely.
I was videotaping a class today for webcast (pinch hitting) and was amazed by all the students on the ‘net via wi-fi. Part of me was disturbed. I mean, the class was fantastic (Intro to European History) so how could they not be glued? But I saw them not so much surfing as actively checking online schedules (we’re only in Day 2 of the semester) and even saw one student browsing the History Department’s webpage. Students came in and out of the classroom, deciding if they wanted to add the class to their schedule. In other words, multitasking, taking care of business, or learning more about the course and how important it might be in their lives as they find their passion.
I’ve given lectures in one of our largest halls with a paltry amount of students present. It was a coursecast. And guess what? I see the stats and the lecture had a much larger audience later on. Heck, it’s Friday at 4pm, and there may be higher priorities at the moment. Some of our student workers who tell me about their experience using coursecasts are quite frank about missing class, but all have told me they got good grades.
It’s an interesting discussion with no simple answer. That’s probably why it’s the #1 question I get about coursecasting, and one that the media picks up on it so readily. Much depends on the attitude of the teacher and how they structure their class. I keep harking back to Filippenko: students are adults.
The reporter seems a bit skeptical about the the student response. No student wants an entirely online class. This is not a black-or-white issue, though the media knows that makes a better story to debate. It’s a mix of using technology to enhance teaching and learning, setting expectations, and giving students the freedom, flexibility, and respect to learn as they see fit.
