If you have ever sat through a college lecture, no doubt you notice the professor using all sorts of techniques to keep the class interested and prevent the students from yawning or catching 40 winks during that time. 

It is one thing to have a bunch of students on laptop computers, busily typing away as the professor lectures the class. But does what a professor uses in his lectures translate well to a high school class?

Yesterday’s students got writer’s cramp from all of the penmanship they practiced. These days they are liable to get stubby fingers from all of the typing they do on computers.

What if each student got an IPad? The trend these days is to supply students with tablet computers, which are either donated from companies or included as part of a bulk purchase by the school district. Students could be instructed to download an app and follow along with the teacher as they talked about the subject.

Instead of seeing a bunch of words on a chalkboard and hearing a professor drone on and on about a subject (okay, maybe not all professors talk like Ben Stein did in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), students may be visually stimulated by what they see on screen. At least letting the students follow along in the lecture with visual aids may keep them interested.

If IPads are not plentiful in number for students and a professor knows Power Point or some sort of lecture-presentation program, he or she could use a clicker to guide students through a lecture with key points shown on the screen. You can still type along on a tablet or a laptop (or check out other sites as the professor is talking, but remember you are there for the lecture). Visual aids are meant to stimulate students or anyone that attends a lecture or presentation. They can prevent a lecture from falling into dull deadliness.

One of the dreaded features of a class is the exam or test. Not every test has to be given in the classroom, however. Many professors use what are called open-book tests or take-home exams. You might think that defeats the purpose, but many professors will say you are at least cracking open a book or checking online to find the answer. Therefore, you had to do the research. Take-home exams are something high school teachers may frown on, but even high schools have been known to do little tests and quizzes open-book style.

These features are built for college classrooms, but the beauty of take-home exams and lecture presentations is they can be attended from anywhere. You could live anywhere from Montana to Massachusetts and want a degree from an online Christian college.

These features are also meant to liven up lectures that have been dull in the past. So many things make today’s lectures more fun to attend, if the words lecture and fun can be used in the same sentence. From IPads to take-home tests, attending college courses can be entertaining.

When you get your degree, you can thank your professors later.