“We’re not saying that lecture is completely gone…” says WeVideo’s Director of Growth Marketing, former educator, and podcast host, Joe Wolff, but “The Lecture is Dead Podcast” exists to explore what’s replacing it. Learning today simply demands more active and innovative teaching methods that nurture how students absorb information.
WeVideo’s Director of Customer Marketing, former educator, and co-host of the podcast, Ryan Kochevar, uses his own experience with traditional lecture-based teaching to emphasize the monumental differences between explaining concepts to students versus engaging with them.
Though there are countless reasons active learning matters more now than ever, podcast guest, educator, and author Lisa Highfill says it best when she says, “...I build these digital lessons because I give them straight to the kids. They forget what I say out loud, they lose their notes, but these digital lessons last and last and last.”
Read on for more critical reasons and ways to activate learning in classrooms now, as explored in this podcast episode.
Create purposeful lessons with HyperDocs
Together, Joe, Ryan, and Lisa discuss why lecture is being rethought in classrooms, how knowledge absorption and retention is changing, and ways to innovate learning to better honor the educational landscape.
Lisa Highfill, Google-certified innovator, educator of thirty years, and co-author of “The HyperDoc Handbook,” reimagines learning through curiosity, innovation, and design. Having taught various grade levels with a specialization in technology integration, Lisa says:
"I noticed when I became the middle school teacher that the middle schoolers were just bored. [They were] like, ‘I can’t watch these video lessons and then these assignments, and then a quiz,’ and then it all begins again. And I knew they had more to offer. I thought…I’ve got the tool, I’ve got HyperDocs for this. I know how to package these lessons, so that even a middle schooler building their executive functioning skills…these will work for them…They can follow these lessons asynchronously, when they want, and be at different places and produce quality products."
Thus, came the HyperDoc movement, a leading digital lesson framework that fosters student agency and authenticity from the start of every lesson. She shares key insights that can be implemented by any educator below.
1. Let students explore first
When students explore assignments before having them explained, it promotes engagement and ownership in their work in a different way. Why does this matter? Lisa reflects:
"I see the articles out there and we're worried about engagement or we're worried they can't talk to each other. Then create a purposeful lesson that does those things for the students. Again, it's, ‘What can I do? What can I ask of the kids to help solve some of these issues that I'm seeing in the classroom?"
2. Have students show what they know
After exploring the assignment and having it explained, give students the opportunity to apply that knowledge. For Lisa, creating effective digital lessons is informed by the “explore, apply, explain” cycle of learning, plus design thinking and project-based learning frameworks.
Lisa explains how virtual students can create relevant work, whether it’s sports-related or a disability they’re struggling with that inspires a project. They’ll spend six months to create, engage, and break down that design thinking.
3. Reflect and repeat
As Lisa says, “Every good lesson ends with reflection.” Have students share their work with the class or in groups to promote connection and communication. Lisa helps educators know that beyond a worksheet to hand out, HyperDocs are living documents that can help control the flow of assignments step by step.
Listen to the episode
Check out the full episode below, where Lisa Highfill discusses the impact of the HyperDoc movement in and out of classrooms since its original publication 10 years ago.
Activate learning in your classroom
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