SXSW 2012

PowerPoint is boring. Today, professors are letting students pass virtual notes in class on Twitter. They're trying "clickers" that turn classrooms into game shows. They're videotaping classes to let students watch lecture reruns to cram for the test, or to share the knowledge with the world on YouTube. They're monitoring how many minutes students spend reading online textbooks to see who needs help.This session will explore some surprising ways tech is changing classroom dynamics and leading to the end of the lecture as we know it. While enthusiasts see the high-tech changes as a needed upgrade to a model that is hundreds of years old, others see dangers ahead. Is all that gear a distraction? Is academic freedom threatened when Web tools and video make public the once-sacred space of the classroom?Participants are asked to watch a 5-minute video (chronicle.com/lecturefail) before attending the talk, which will serve as a starting for an interactive presentation and discussion.