Comparing Lectures: Effects of the Technological Context of the Studio

This presentation compares how lectures are being performed in different technological contexts: that of the studio, for taping of videotapes, or in front of a camera for the purpose of videoconferencing, or, for a live presentation. The different contexts will be described according to the communication theory of the German sociologist Niklas Luhmann, and contrasted with findings from contemporary research on lecturing and teacher–student interaction. The comparison between the videotaped lecture and the live lecture reveals important differences as to style of communication. The taped lectures are more stringent and content-oriented, while the live-lectures are time-consuming and more focused on establishing dialogues with students. Videoconference-lecturing contains features that place it between the live- and videotaped lecture. This paper concludes that videoconferencing is problematic with serious problems to handle for students and teachers alike.