Opening Pandora's box

Once upon a time, teachers used to close the door behind them, and then begin their lessons. To all intents and purposes, what went on inside the classroom stayed inside the classroom. Then along came technology. New technologies have the potential to undermine the 'sanctity of the classroom' as they open up what is said and done for the world to see. It is not unusual in my classrooms to see students using technology to record and share my content and their interactions with anyone who is interested.

It started off in sedate style a few years ago, when several students began to ask if they could audio record my lectures and seminars to play back later. Next came the introduction of the lecture capture tools, video and audio as well as the ability to synchronise these in sequence with slides. Soon students were tweeting the highlights and soundbites of lectures, and now they are liveblogging entire sessions from start to finish. Those of us who frequently present at conferences also expose ourselves to live video streaming for hidden audiences worldwide. Many lecturers object to this 'technology enhanced exhibitionism', and in some cases ban capture tools from their lecture halls. Others are ambivalent. A few, myself included actively encourage the recording, sharing and broadcasting of our lectures.

What are the benefits and dangers associated with the use of these tools? On the positive side, students are able to revisit lectures in their own time, and in their own place. They can also view lectures even though they may have missed attending due to illness or for other reasons. For social media savvy lecturers, lecture capture is a means for disseminating good ideas and best practice farther afield. Sharing slides or lecture casting opens up the classroom and affords an entirely new audience out there beyond the boundaries of the classroom, one that can be exponentially larger than the original tutor group. Many social media tools also enable discussion beyond the original event. All of these can be seen as positive spin offs of lecture capture.

Yet some might ask whether this is opening up a Pandora's box of trouble? Are we going a tool too far? On the less positive side some lecturers are uneasy about exposing their ideas and content to an outside audience. Some simply feel uncomfortable about having every word they say, every mannerism, every hesitation recorded for posterity. Others may feel the intellectual property of their content is being compromised. Still others may believe that they will be exposed to criticism they do not deserve. One objection to live blogging is that students may misinterpret what has been said, or misrepresent ideas, thereby compromising the integrity and academic standing of the lecturer. Did he really say that? Was that really his intention? Many of these objections are understandable, and for less confident lecturers in particular, may be enough to cause them to ban the use of lecture capture technology of any kind in their class room.

My view is that the benefits of these tools far outweigh the risks. I'm very comfortable with being recorded, live streamed, tweeted and even live blogged if it will improve students' chances and enrich their learning. But what do you think?

Image bu Fotopedia


Opening Pandora's box by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at steve-wheeler.blogspot.com.