Some professors make a recording of their lectures and ask students to watch this recording before class so that they can do more practice or discussion in class. Do you think this is effective?

Some professors make a recording of their lectures and ask students to watch this recording before class so that they can do more practice or discussion in class. Do you think this is effective?

With the development of technology, it is convenient for professors to use various methods of teaching. Some people claim that asking students to watch the recording of their lectures could save time in order to do more practice or discussion in class. However, I hold the opposite opinion.

The recording of lectures is not effective due to the absence of a face-to-face discussion with the professor. Last year, my chemistry professor decided to let us watch the recording in advance in order to practise and discuss more in class, which might enable us to gain distinguished academic performance. In the recording, there was only several chemical equations and oral explanations. When I watched it, I felt confused because I did not understand why one of chemical reactions that he had said in the recording could occur, and I asked other students, but none of them understood it. As a result, I could not keep pace on the recording and neither could other students until the professor drew details of the reaction mechanism in the later class.

Watching the recording before the class is a time-consuming task. As technology advances, people have more forms of entertainment than before, which causes the problem that students who lack self-discipline might play video games or browse Instagram instead of concentrating on the recording. Thus, such students learn nothing before the class and could not participate in the discussion in class. Therefore, the professor sometimes has to stop and explain what he has said in the recording. As a result, it is a waste of time for the professor and students who have watched the recording.

It is true that students could practise more in class after watching the recording, but they could do it after class, which takes the time as long as watching the recording before the class. Because some students will not watch the recording conscientiously, it would be better to not bring the recording forward.