Teaching Without Lectures at the Australian National University

Professor Anant Agarwal, President of edX, and a panel of experts, will discuss "Blow up the lecture? Is the traditional lecture on the way out?", at the Australian National University in Canberra, 2:30 PM, 26 February 2014 (register online).

ANU is currently accepting enrolments for its first two edX on-line courses: Engaging India and Greatest Unsolved Mysteries of the Universe.

However, my own view is that neither lectures, nor MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), are the future of university education. Lectures, live or via video, are a useful supplement to an education program, but are not essential.

Four years ago I gave up giving lecture based university courses and have been teaching ANU masters students on-line in an asynchronous (non-real-time mode) using text based materials. Where possible, I supplement this with some video materials and students can arrange to drop and and see me (or on-line in synchronous real time mode). But research shows that while students like to see and speak to their lecturer and to watch videos, this does not improve their learning outcomes. So in my view lectures, and their on-line equivalent, should be offered as an optional extra for the mainstream of education, which will be on-line, task based and text rich.

Information Session

Blow up the lecture?

Is the traditional lecture on the way out?

What will the classroom of the future look like?

Will the digital world transform the physical world of learning?

Will edX and other Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) providers change the face of education forever?

Technology is opening up new ways to teach and learn. It is also opening up new ways to understand how we learn.

What do you think the future of learning should look like at ANU?

Have your say and join us for an open panel discussion.

Featuring panellists

• Professor Anant Agarwal, President of edX and social entrepreneur
• Dr Inger Mewburn (The Thesis Whisperer) Director of Research Training at ANU
• Dr Paul Francis, Astrophysicist and co-leader of the first ANU edX course
• Professor Andrew Walker, Deputy Dean, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific
• Mr Cam Wilson, ANUSA President
• Chaired by ANU Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic)
• Professor Marnie Hughes-Warrington

(register online).