Online Education - Introducing the Microlecture Format — Open Ed. Most college students would likely concur – fifty minute lectures can be a bit much.
With current research indicating that attention spans (measured in minutes) roughly mirror a students age (measured in years), it begs the question as to the rationale behind lectures of such length. Given that it is tough to justify the traditional lecture timeframes, it is no surprise to see online educational programs seeking to offer presentations that feature shorter podcasts. But in an astonishing switch, David Shieh of the Chronicle of Higher Education recently took a look at a community college program that features a microlecture format, presentations varying from one to three minutes in length.
The Micro-Lecture While one minute lectures may be beyond the scope of imagination for any veteran teacher, Shieh reports on the piloting of the concept at San Juan College in Farmington, N.M. The concept was introduced as part of a new online degree program in occupational safety last fall. 21st Century Connections. Apophenia: The Economist Debate on Social "Networking" The Economist is doing an “Oxford-style debate” on the following proposition: “Social networking technologies will bring large [positive] changes to educational methods, in and out of the classroom” Given that MySpace and Facebook are ubiquitous, can social networking be defined as the “collective power of community to help inform perspectives that would not be unilaterally formed” or is it simply a distraction for students?
Can these tools could be used in the classroom? While I think that the Economist’s question is quite intriguing (albeit a bit problematically defined), I was sorely disappointed with the two responses.