Flipped Learning Classrooms

With the increasing demand of expectations in the classroom the question of education today brings into light how best educators may progress and update their classrooms. A new idea being invoked is relatively revolutionary and is serving to turn the education world upside down. Flipped learning, as it is so appropriately referred to, takes the concept of the Bloom's Taxonomy's levels of learning and essentially turns their role in the classroom on their head. What once was the standard delivery in the classroom of memorization, understanding, and basic application has turned around to become the home study portion of the lesson. With current technology as an aide, a classroom instructor can how have the means to deliver the content of a lesson at home via videos or other applications and reserve the classroom time allotted for more guided, higher-level learning tasks that can be accomplished under direct guidance and encouragement. In such a way, teachers are slowly Flipping the Classroom.

Such a new idea has its pros and cons, of course. In such a discussion, this video showing teachers being introduced and re-introduced to the concept of Flipped Learning tends to voice some of the ultimate real-world applications and possible shortcomings of the new method being applied in education.

As is discussed by these practiced veterans, change can be hard to accept in the classroom, especially when routines and comfort zones are already well established in their own instructional methods. Students may not be able to be relied on to get the work done at home, or may not have the means to have technology available to them. Parents may discover concerns about them becoming the instructors, or worries that instructors may "make themselves irrelevant". Relying too heavily on the technology may become tiresome or monotonous to the students, quickly losing interest and drive to learn with the new method.

However, this method may just deliver far more bang for the buck. With instructor made videos, students would be able to learn at home at their own pace, able to rewind, pause, and watch over concepts that were unclear or missed the first time. This would also leave far more time for the instructor to go over the application of the material and the critically applied questions and creative thinking rather than leaving the focus on rote memorization and rapid-fire note-taking. Tests could be created online rather than on paper so that students could have instant access to their scores and teachers given a calculated grade immediately.

I do see benefits not just in general, but for my own future classroom as well. Supplemental materials and video lectures on art history can be used in conjunction with art projects in the classroom to give students time and experience with both. Tutorials for learning Photoshop processes and other art design programs can be recorded to help students move at their own pace, and SEE the process in step-by-step action (not to mention get more information out of the instructor speaking than reading written instructions). Lessons could be recorded for review later, so that if a student is ill or taken out of class they can catch up on material reviewed or demonstrations that were shown. The possibilities are only as endless as the creativity to used conjure them.

Source of the Day

 Let's further our reach in Flipped Learning, shall we?

1)  Self-Grading forms Using Google? - With a simple google document form, you can have your students submitting and self-grading their own test electronically, as well as receiving an email shortly afterward with their scores and having an on-hand evaluation of their success.

2) All-In-One Recorder - an all-in-one digital whiteboard and screen recorder from right on the web. Nice and convenient for when you have a projection screen and no whiteboard to help out!

3) Screencasting on your Iphone/Ipad - a neat link to show you that it's not just your computer that can give you a leg up. Try using one as a document camera!