In-person lectures are not obsolete because students still like the format, but those who never show-up are still learning the content Laurie Chapin (Victoria U) reports in a new paper for the Australasian Journal of Ed Tech.

Dr Chapin surveyed psychology students to find no difference in final results for students with different use patterns for WBLT.

Findings:

* 75 per cent of students used WBLT and 22 per cent “utilised” all the recorded lectures. “The students who lecturers do not see in their lecture halls are often utilising the recordings and report they are confident they are getting the same information,” she writes.

* there are no dominant reasons why students use/not use WLBT. With individuals working out a mix of lecture consumption that suits their circumstances and/or learning styles.

* “despite different combinations of lecture attendance, WBLT and associated study techniques used by students, the outcomes are comparable.”

 Take-out:

“This has important implications for educators who have generally worried about the impact of lecture recordings on attendance and so have been less enthusiastic about embracing the potential of WBLT,” Dr Chapin writes.

“The technology is very flexible, and this was reflected in the different patterns of number of recordings accessed, frequency, and reasons why many students liked using WBLT or why others preferred not to access them. As new and improved education technologies are developed and adopted by more students, educators, and researchers must keep up with them in order to understand how to maximise student learning,”