From my experience teaching introduction to computers class at the local CSU and Junior Colleges, lectures put students to sleep, no matter how animated you are. They need to be actively thinking and doing something to stay awake and learn something. There is a lot of research out there to confirm this, but here is one more article on the topic I found.
How does this relate to web design? Will putting interaction on a web page allow users to be more engaged in the page and therefore pay more attention to the message?