I have decided to use this blog to reflect on another pedagogical course that I am taking in parallel with the Open Networked Learning (ONL) course. This second course is called The Good Lecture and, in some ways, it could be considered the polar opposite of the ONL course.

The ONL course is about connecting people from different physical locations and learning in contemporary online environments. The Good Lecture (as far as I know so far) is about a much more old fashioned learning environment–the lecture.

The ONL course is about exploring different kinds of technology to facilitate learning. From what I have seen of the course so far, I suspect that The Good Lecture will be partly about removing certain technology from the classroom (the ubiquitous powerpoint, for example). In an example lecture I watched as “pre-reading” for the latter course, the teacher used no powerpoint slides but instead wrote and drew almost continuously on three whiteboards. He also used music and deep breathing to help students to put themselves into a relaxed state in which, he claimed, learning would be more likely.

However, I suspect that the differences between these courses will not be as significant as they first appear. I think that a good lecture will not only consist of moving away from technology. Rather, it will be about stepping back from certain kinds of technology while embracing others with the aim of allowing different kinds of learning to take place.

The first class is tomorrow, so then I’ll find out more.