Moving to a primarily digital degree- are we getting our money’s worth?
Tu che’
Emily Ryan, Publications Officer 2016
There have been a lot of conversations happening lately about how university is changing. Gone are the days of attending lectures with notepad in hand and frantically taking down notes, as the lecturer speaks from the podium sans PowerPoint slides. In many cases, podcasts are now the norm in lieu of lectures. Whether in a single hit or broken down into 10-minute, bite-sized morsels, they are undoubtedly easier to digest than a two-hour informationintensive marathon where attention spans are likely to waiver. In recent times, tutorial recordings have also been provided to the delight of those with inflexible work arrangements. Attendance isn’t graded and you have the luxury of ‘pause’ to ensure your answer structures are wordperfect. In addition to this, virtual-reality scenarios following the exploits of ‘Jess Astrid’ are often available to supplement your knowledge and test your understanding in “real-world” scenarios.
There is no question that these developments are welcome advances. Speaking with students around campus, the issue that seems to be arising is that these advances are often being implemented without any option for a face-to-face alternative. Largely, it would seem the only notable difference between an internal and external student is whether you study in the library on campus, or at home. Universities are obviously recognizing that times are changing however, and ‘feet’ speak for themselves at lectures and tutorials that offer recorded alternatives. It is fair to say that presenting to a theatre with a handful of people in attendance would feel like a less-than-optimal use of time. However, it could be argued that the people who do attend are taking away benefit. A solution could be that the recorded podcast is created with an option for attendance. It should also be noted that this lesser ‘face-time’ is not across the board.
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