TV's are a poor medium for this anyway. I prefer to integrate the digital video into a multimedia presentation that is then displayed via data projector onto a large screen. As for whether the educational system would be better if the use of multimedia were removed and the students had to sit in the class for hours listening to the teacher lecture and take notes, you will probably find a lot of technological Luddites who hold that view, but it is rather ironic and amusing to see it being expressed on an internet forum where people copy articles for discussion and often post images and hyperlinks to add either information or humor to the discussion.
If I had more time, I'd find a link to the scene from Ferris Beuller's Day Off where Ben Stein is lecturing his class on the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act and the Great Depression as an illustration of the type of classroom environment you seem to be advocating.
“If I had more time, I’d find a link to the scene from Ferris Beuller’s Day Off where Ben Stein is lecturing his class on the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act and the Great Depression as an illustration of the type of classroom environment you seem to be advocating. “
OH OH OH EXCELLENT EXAMPLE!!!
It’s not a Luddite view, it’s looking at how the tool is misused as a crutch to replace skill. I got stuck watching Dr Zhivago 3 times in 12 months (sophomore English, global studies, and junior English), what is there really to learn from Dr Zhivago once, much less 3 times?! And that’s pretty typical of TV in the classroom.
As for “multimedia presentations” forget about it Power Point is a blight used to cover for poor speaking ability. It’s used to cover for lack of ability, it’s a tool for people that probably shouldn’t be publicly speaking in the first place to play to a dark room with people looking somewhere else.
There’s nothing wrong with students listening to lectures and taking notes. That’s how you actually learn anyway, it’s well known that some level of active participation (like writing things down and asking questions) assists the learning process, darkened rooms for TV or Power Point discourage and avoid active participation, and thus specifically avoid learning.
The fact that you want to post a video of a comedy scene about a bad lecturer just accidentally proved my point. Yes there are bad lecturers in the world, and if you really pay attention to the scene you’ll notice he’s just like a TV, no active participation from the students. The classroom I’m advocating is nothing like that, people who can’t give a good lecture shouldn’t teach, the crutch of TVs doesn’t make good lecturers, it just gives them somewhere to hide.