I love lectures
There you go, I said it.
And I can’t believe I’m alone on this. Yet, and forgive the exaggerated simplicity, the message I regularly hear* is that lecture theatres are out-dated and lectures are bad; small group work and discussions are good. Now, don’t get me wrong I see a great value in flexible furniture & small group discursive stuff. But I also love lectures. Why?
- The biggie – they give me time to think
- They give me time to (independently) find, look at & store related material
- Occasionally they allow me to switch off… of course I’m not actually switching off but thinking about other stuff!
And now, thanks to the wonders of technology and social networking tools such as twitter:
- They provide me with an opportunity to interact (as much or as little as I want to) with others who are keen to do so because they are participating in the same lecture
Let’s not give up on lectures just yet. Instead, let’s encourage better ‘lectures’, delivered by engaging teachers who are better supported and willing to push the boundaries in (of) the lecture theatre:
*and where do I hear this? Usually in lecture theatres…
