The latest in online education: lectures that are over in less time than it takes to brush your teeth.
A growing number of online colleges are shortening their lectures to include just the essentials and letting students do the rest. A new article from the Chronicle of Higher Education explains:
"Take a 60-minute lecture. Cut the excess verbiage, do away with most of the details, and pare it down to key concepts and themes.
What's left? A 'microlecture' over in as few as 60 seconds. A course designer for San Juan College, a community college in Farmington, N.M., says that in online education, such tiny bursts can teach just as well as traditional lectures when paired with assignments and discussions."
The 60 second lecture is a smart way help instructors edit the "fluff" from their courses. Students are also more prone to pay attention when they know it's only going to be for a minute. However, it's clear that the microlecture has limitations. Sixty seconds leaves no time for professors to explain a topic in-depth or even pose the questions necessary for deep learning.
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