Now, UC Berkley students can go on to YouTube and watch lectures in the comfort of their own rooms. In an interview with the CT, UC Berkley physics teacher Richard Muller said that the university is experimenting with the idea of videotaping lectures to see if it could develop into a helpful learning tool for students. UC Berkley has currently only posted lectures for physics, biology and chemistry. Janet Kodish, chief administrative officer at UC Berkeley told the CT, "I certainly hope other schools will follow in our lead now."
For a school whose motto is "Invent the Future," it would certainly be logical for Virginia Tech to take this opportunity to follow UC Berkley's lead in utilizing all mediums of technology when it comes to education. Posting lectures on YouTube is an excellent idea to give students greater opportunities.
Granted, the availability of lectures on the computer will encourage students to stay in bed as opposed to actually attending classes. However, actually attending classes has added benefits such as the opportunity to ask questions after class and interact with other students. A solution to decreased class attendance would be to make attendance mandatory. This would deter many students from just depending on the online lectures.
The videotaped lectures would primarily be a resource for students who miss classes due to inevitable problems, such as sickness or a family emergency. The lectures would also be a useful tool for reviewing and studying — students would have the opportunity to fill in any holes in their notes or just generally go back to the information.
Putting the lectures on YouTube would have benefits for students who are not taking the courses as well as the students who are enrolled in them. A student considering taking a particular class the next semester would have the chance to sort of "preview" the course by watching a lecture online.
That way, the student can decide if the class fits with his or her preferences regarding lecture styles and if he or she likes the teacher. The fact that lectures are videotaped and posted for the public would also encourage teachers to re-evaluate their teaching styles and work toward becoming more useful. Teachers would make more of an effort to be engaging or helpful if they knew that anyone from prospective students to administrators could view the lectures at any time.
With such tools as Hokie SPA and Blackboard, Tech is already using the Internet to keep students informed and organized. Posting lectures on YouTube is the next step in utilizing the Internet to widen resources for students. Videotaped lectures would be an added study tool, as long as students don't take advantage of the opportunity by disregarding their responsibilities as students to attend classes.
The editorial board is composed of Amie Steele, Joe Kendall, Saira Haider, Laurel Colella and Sara Mitchell.
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