A Lecture is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject. Lectures are used to convey critical information, history, background, theories and equations. Usually the lecturer will stand at the front of the room and recite information relevant to the lecture's content.
Though lectures are much criticised as a teaching method, universities have not yet found practical alternative teaching methods for the large majority of their courses. Critics point out that lecturing is mainly a one-way method of communication that does not involve significant audience participation. Lectures delivered by talented speakers can be highly stimulating; at the very least, lectures have survived in teaching as a quick, cheap and efficient way of introducing large numbers of students to a particular field of study.
One big disadvantage is that the participants can hear and learn about interculturality, but as interculturality is only produced by interaction, not experience real interculturality.
Virtual Forms
Lectures are not only in face-to-face a quick, cheap and efficient solution but also easy to transfer to virtual learning by video-recording or video-streaming.
It proved good to not only record the lecturer speaking but also include the slides or board/flipchart etc. This can be achieved by a wider angle when filmig, by including the slides as a separate file (e.g. by presentation-sharing technology) on the same site or by using Multi-Media-Formats of video-streaming (like RealPlayer) where the slides can be included directly to the video. Furthermore the participants should be given the chance to download and print out the slides.
From a time perspective one can differentiate between two different forms:
- synchronous and
- asynchronous
In synchronous lectures the lecture is transmitted instantly to the participants. It reminds more of the "real" face-to-face lectures and with some additions can be done more interactively, but on the other hand limits the big advantage of learning independently of time. Synchrony can be achieved either by using video-conferencing systems (small groups) or live-streaming technologies (larger groups).
Asynchronous lectures are normally recorded and centrally stored. Often Videoservers of Universities are used or they are distributed using video-sharing portals. Asynchronous lectures have the big advantage that the students are able to learn whenever the wish to and don't have to be online at a specific time.
Additional features to create more interactivity and interculturality:
- If synchronous lectures by live-streamingare combined with a Chat, then participants can ask Questions via Chat, and the lecturer can include the answers to his lecture. Q&A sessions for small groups are of course easy when using video-conferencing .
- More interculturality can be achieved by combining lectures from different countries to an international and interdisciplinary lecture series.
- If a central learning-plattform is used the lecture can be combined with a Forum, where international/ intercultural audience can discuss the lecture and by this create intercultural interaction.
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