Face-to-face lectures are no longer

appropriate in the digital age

Peter Bryant

Head of Learning Technology and Innovation

London School of Economics

@peterbryantHE

Gibbs in 1981 told us the 20 reasons why lectures are terrible

LSE New Theatre c.1981

I am going to offer five of my own

LSE New Theatre c.2015

‘Our learning institutions are acting as if the world

has not suddenly, irrevocably, cataclysmically,

epistemically changed – and changed precisely in

the area of learning” Davidson and Goldberg 2009

1The nature of knowledge and

learning has changed in the

digital age

Two2The practices of teaching have

changed in the digital age

…for many of the smartest students, it’s fashionable to try

to get an A without going to any lectures—meaning that the

cream of the crop is beginning to boycott the basic model of

pedagogy.’ (Tapscott and Williams 2010)

3The way in which knowledge and

media are consumed have changed

in the digital age

Four

Lectures squander the power of the crowd

4 Lectures squander the power of

the crowd

‘The best potentials of the crowd are squandered by a desire to build something that makes sense’ (Morris and Stommel 2015)

5 The lecture is a persistent

technology