As I’ve been spending so much time thinking about technology and teaching this summer and particularly this week, I’ve had lots of ideas. Some will deserve to be forgotten. But it seems that sharing them may be the best way of figuring out which are which.
So here’s an idea I had. I’ve been wanting for a while to record vodcasts and podcasts of my classes. Now that a number of classes at Butler have Panopto, it should be possible in the near future to record actual classes (although I will probably also combine powerpoints with a voice-over for some of them).
I wonder if it would make sense to contract with students at the start of the semester for grades in a certain range. If you want something in the C range, you can view or listen to the lectures at your convenience, and take the quizzes, tests and exams. If you want a B, then you have to actually come to class as well as listening to the lectures and all the rest. Class time will be devoted to discussion and not lecturing, since the latter has been made available online. If you want an A of some sort, then it will require all of the above plus meaningful and frequent participation in class discussion.
What do people think? It seems that this could, on the one hand, provide a convenient option for students who are only interested in getting a passing grade for core credit, while not having them drain the enthusiasm of those who are genuinely interested, since the classes might not include as many students who are there physically but are tuned out. On the other hand, it provides the convenience of podcasted or vodcasted lectures without having class time duplicate what is in those recordings.
Your thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated!
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