Higher Ed Online

One of the greatest benefits of technology is that it gives you options in the classroom.

What is a flipped classroom?

Flipping the classroom is a recent method of instruction that has been brought about by the advances in the delivery and ubiquity of web video. It is an inversion of the traditional (class is for  lecture and home is for homework).

In the flipped and blended classroom, the students watch recorded lectures or absorb other material at home, and the class time is occupied by high levels of  interaction and discussion intended to clarify and solidify the ideas and concepts of the material reviewed the night before.

Read The Flipped Class Manifest

Why flip?

Remember that in education, technology should be used to serve learning. Flipping your class is just an additional tool in your teaching kit. One ‘trick’ isn’t going to work for every student. Gradually work it into your curriculum by utilizing it one or two days a week. As with everything else, before trying it learn about it. Look at what others have done, and create good content. And before you make the final leap, decide how to make the best use of the class time liberated by the lack of lecture.

Increase focus on active learning: If you accept the premise that lecture is mostly passive learning and homework is mostly active learning, then when should the student and the teacher spend the most time together – during the active learning  time. (I know that there are some very interactive lecturers out there, please don’t be offended. The added qualifiers are there for you.) But consider, if you really are a dynamic live lecturer then that should easily come through on a recording – I’ve seen it happen.

Increase student-teacher interaction: Consider that with a recorded lecture watched at home the student can rewind and watch it again or pause and take a break if they are tired, and they can watch it once for content and then watch it again for notes. In a classroom lecture, if they’re tired, or they miss a point, or they can’t take notes at the speed of the lecture, they can miss a lot of information.  What they don’t understand from the videos can be covered in depth in class thereby reaching a higher level of comprehension and spending more time on the active learning.

Give parents a break: Since the students are doing the bulk of work in class, parents can be released from the duty of homework helper. They will love you. However, they will need to make sure that the student is dutiful and views the required material at home.

What tips can the pros offer?

David Truss’ 3 keys (3 keys to a flipped classroom) can be summarized as:

• Homework – not all students will do it, no matter if it’s traditional homework or flipped content, but you should try anyway.
• Lesson Quality – remember the basics of video lectures. Keep it chunky. Short topical recordings will engage more students.
• Production Quality – it’s a fine balance between an art film and a blooper reel. You don’t have to be entertaining, but you should be engaging.

Additionally:

• You should be mindful of how you use the newly available class time. It should be hands-on, directed, and active. This point was added in the comments by John Sowash (read Flip your classroom through reverse instruction).

What technology can help?

What you use will vary based on what you have experience with, what works best for the situation, and what your school is willing to pay for. We use a variety of applications to get the job done. But here are some categories and specifics:

LMS – A learning management system is framework to house your class; it’s a one-stop-shop for your student to access downloads, view videos, click on external readings, and et cetera. You can use:

• Blackboard.
• Moodle.
• or even a well-managed website will work. But it’s more work than most have time for.

Video capture – An application to capture audio and video of you and/or a computer screen while you show slides or work problems for the students to watch. The ability to edit the recording is nice to have, and a place to host the files is a must. You can use:

• Echo 360 – classroom capture or personal capture run from a laptop.
• Camtasia – a mid-level audio/video recording software with relatively easy editing.

Hosting video – You’ll need a place to host that video. Options:

• LMS – if you’re lucky your LMS can host your recording.
• YouTube – free and easy, but the drawback is that you may not want them public. But then again, if they’re good, share. Also limited to 15min for each video, but that’s okay remember to chunk your content
• Vimeo – like youTube

Web conferencing – A synchronous online meeting place where you can discuss (audio), collaborate on a document, and maybe view (webcam video) each other while you do it. You can use it for evening office hours, meet with your students when out of town, or bring in a guest speaker.

• Skype
• Blackboard Collaborate
• Google + Hangout w/Extras – soon you’ll be able to record Hangouts On Air

What results are instructors getting?

Read about 15 Schools Using Flipped Classrooms Right Now

Clintondale High School in Detroit decided to flip for freshmen. Before the flip 55% failed English and 44% failed math. After the flip 19% failed English and 13% failed math.

Created by Knewton and Column Five Media

References:

• 3 keys to a flipped classroom
• An Introduction to the Flipped Classroom
• Flipping/Blending/Disrupting the Classroom with Online Video
• How the Flipped Classroom Is Radically Transforming Learning