Journal Article Blog The Third

“Remixing Chemistry Class “by Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams

This article discusses how the authors decided to do all their chemistry lectures on vodcasts, so that the students could watch them on their own time and more class time could be used for experiments. They originally used the vodcasts just for review or for students who were absent, but then they realized that if they pre-recorded their lectures they would have more class time to do lab activities, demonstrations, and to help students who were struggling. They make the vodcasts available in many different ways. They have them on their Web sites, on Google Video, iTunes, classroom computers, and DVDs. They were concerned that students wouldn’t watch the vodcasts, so they got a system than allows them to check if the students have watched them. Students have said that they like the vodcasts because they are able to pause and rewind the lecture and learn things at their own pace. One student said she had her grade raised a letter and wished that her other classes would use vodcasts. The authors compared state science test scores from before and after their change to vodcast lectures, and they found that the average score post-vodcast was nearly identical to the scores before.

I like the idea of recording lectures. I’m not sure if I would only use vodcast lectures, though. I think they are definitely a good idea so that students can review information and, like the authors said, they will be able to go back and hear information they missed and listen at their own speed. You would be able to devote more class time to discussions, answering questions, doing creative lessons, and other activities that don’t involve just sitting and listening to the teacher. I would still be a little concerned about my students not watching the videos even if I had a system to check if they had watched them. Just because they had the videos playing doesn’t mean they were paying attention to what was being said. It also requires students to have some kind of technology available to listen to the lecture. I know most kids have some kind of access to computers, and probably more so by the time I’m teaching, but it could still be a potential problem for some kids.