Rob Kamrowski
Welcome to this Multi-Touch Book Welcome to this interactive book. It is much different than any book you have read before. In order to make your experience optimal, I have included icons to point out interactive features and a guide to explain their meaning. meaning. I hope you enjoy the experience.
Tapping the plus icon will increase the size of a photo or re veal more information about a photo or interactive feature.
Tapping the play icon will launch an interactive, video, or audio feature.
Tapping the side note icon will launch a window that will entail a question, pose a thought or just an aside.
While the iBook format allows for all media to be accessed without the internet, in order to keep the file size manageable, media has been inserted that will require the internet. Look for this symbol to alert you of such media. Unfortunately, this means that some videos and links will take sometime to load while other may eventually be taken down by the owner and not work. I apologize if this happens but will try to stay on top of it to avoid the frustration. Links will be highlighted in this color and color and will also require internet access. Occasionally, you will see words that are highlighted in this color and formatted in this style. style. These are simply points I felt needed extra emphasis.
Finally, this iBook is my very own experiment of a flipped activity. Therefore, at the end of Part two, three, four, and and five I have included interactive elements to highlight the main ideas of the part and allow for review and reflection. reflection. They will be noted with the above icon. Please try these learning activities and let me know if you find them valuable.
1 What is it?
Let’s Get Something Straight I Am No Expert I have been teaching for roughly ten years and I have come upon no quality teacher who believes they are are an expert. Instead, I have observed experimenters--teachers who constantly change, shift, and try new things to improve their craft. I respect experimenters. They are never satisfied with the status quo. They always seek to improve--themselves and those around them. They look to the future and, rather than wonder what kind of future we will live in, they ponder what kind of future they can make.
The Pilot Program It was with the inspiration of these teachers that I decided to try a new approach to education in my classroom in 20122013. During the last two quarters quarters of the school year year I implemented a version of what has become known as the flipped model of teaching in my classroom. I did my research, I wrote up a proposal, and away I went. The purpose was three fold: 1. Pilot a one to one classroom classroom in which the school school gave every every student an iPad Mini. 2. Establish a workflow for a blended classroom classroom in which resources and activities were done online as well as in the classroom.
tent and be exposed to more higher level thinking, as defined by Bloom’s Taxonomy, than p reviously done within the classroom.
Purpose of this Book The role of this book is to share the insight, tools, and analysis from this experiment in hopes that it may be of value as the one to one program is implemented within my school district. In addition, and and perhaps more importantly, I hope it serves as a catalyst to continue my experimentation and perhaps spark all you experimenters to share so we can learn from you.
The Future The world is a much different place today than when I was in primary and secondary secondary school. Change is happening at a rapid pace and in the field of education we need to feel comfortable to experiment and develop the best possible educational experience for our students to be successful in the future. We do not know what the future will entail for current and upcoming generations of primary and secondary students--but we do know that it will be much different than now.
and
“If we teach today as we taught
3. Test the flipped model of teaching as a method that would have students achieve a level of mastery of lower level con-
yesterday, we rob our children children of tomorrow”
-John Dewey
Let’s Get Something Straight
2 What is it?
Flip Learning: What is it? Flipping the classroom is a pedagogy that has become very popular over the past few years and been discussed and defined by many different characters. Thus, the definition has been muddled from its original form and has even lead to some controversy among teachers.. Due to this lack of clarity, debate of the usefulness teachers of the method has resulted. resulted. Therefore, it is important to take in the whole realm of views and methods that are classified under the title “Flipped Learning.”
The Te Technical chnical Definition Definition The tw o teachers who coined the term and have made it into the the popular model it is today are Jon Bergmann and Aaron Sams. They taught high school science courses in Colorado and wrote the book titled: Flip Your Classroom-Reach every student in every class every day and and recently released Flipped Learning: Gateway to Student Engagement.. Engagement.. They define flip learning as "...that which is traditionally done in the class is now done at home, and that which is traditionally done as home work is now completed in class." This definition has been morphed into video recording lectures, assigning these as homework, and using class time for higher order thinking activities as defined defined by bloom's taxonomy. taxonomy. And, for the most part, this is what Bergmann and Sams Sams did. They have since
explained that flipped learning can mean many different things and is an evolutionary process Recently, they have issued a more solid definition to try to clear up misconceptions.
Variations of the Technical Technic al Definition I feel it important important to recognize that the method method does not have to be mired in in technology and video recordings.. There are many variati many variations ons of flip teaching/learning teaching/learning and and teachers should be encouraged encouraged to experiment. experiment. The model does not not need to be implemented implemente d every day and and in every lesson. lesson. It should only be
Flip Learning: What is it? used when and where appropriate. In fact, Bergmann and and Sams discuss in their book the different approaches they took year after year. They did not create one formula to fit every need. Sams said he wanted he wanted to be available to help his students when they got stuck. The rest of the content could be learned on their own time--he didn't need to have his students listen to him yak during class time. Therefore, Sams and other flip teachers, when preparing a lesson, ask two questions to decide if something should be relegated to be worked on at home or worked on in school: 1. Do
I need to be there for students to do this? and 2. Is this the best use of my limited time with students? If the answers to those questions is no, no, then flip it! Record it, post content to a website, or create an interactive activity that can be done individually--whatever the task might be, it can be done somewhere other than during your face face to face time. The classroom should be where students have access to you, the teacher, and your expertise. And this fact should be kept sacred. Too many definitions have focused on implementing the homework side of the equation and not the classroom side.
For the Sake of this Book For the sake of this book, Flip Learning is an activity that can be done effectively outside of a teacher’s direction allowing a gain of time for activities that re-
quire a teacher’s expertise. expertise. This is hardly hardly a radical idea. idea. Indeed, teachers have been assigning activities outside outside the classroom since one room school scho ol houses houses dotted the countryside. So what’s what ’s the big deal? big deal? Why has this become a controversial contr oversial method method?? In a word-Technology! Tech nology! The use of technology has made it made it possi ble ble for teachers to take elementss out of their classroom, that for some, ment have been have been the core the core methods of how they teach.. While this teach While this can be frightening, it shouldn’t shou ldn’t be. Indeed, it can be liberating. In part part 3, I explain my top ten reasons for incorporating incor porating some flip learning ideas into your classroom.
Part 2 Learning Activity: Answer the Questions
3 Why? My Top 10
Flip Learning: Why? My Top 10 Reason #10: We Can! I know this is not a pedagogical reason, but it is worth mentioning. Twenty years ago it it would have been virtually virtually impossible for a teacher to record a lecture or create animations that every student in their classroom could access, 24 hours a day for seven days a week, and use use as a learning learning tool. Okay, so it was possible—but unthinkable. unthinkable. It was expensive, skill intensive, and time consuming to do well. In our current world, my four year old son can record video, take pictures, and find videos on the computer. Honestly, tools, skills, and time are no longer a reason not to record lectures or make our own interactive content.. It requires a change in workflow and more work on the tent front end. This is true of any pedagogical pedagogical change one would implement in their class. You will find more information about this in Part 4 of this book.
The fact that this technology has become so accessible has changed the very world we live in--including the nature of education.
Reason# 9: Content is Everywhere The content of our subjects should not and cannot be the focus of our our classroom. Wow! As a Social Studies teacher that was a hard statement to make--but, it's true. When I was going to school information was power—and it was limited. It existed in three locations: locations: a library, the television, television, or teachers. Of course, times have changed and this is no longer the case.. I came upon this realization in late 2012 case 2012 when my principall asked a small group of us to listen to the CESA technolcipa ogy director director and distance learning coordinator discuss recording cor ding lectures and making them available available for students. Initiall y, y, I was opposed to the idea. My concern was who owned own ed the rights to my lectures (as if they were a product to be patented) patented) and the possibility of administrators trying t o reduce red uce staff and increase class sizes sizes through technology. I then the n went home and did a Google search on the lesson I was preparing prepa ring to teach in one of my classes and found numerous lectures on the topic. The truth is, people were already doing "my" lectures and posting posting them on the internet. Information is everywhere! We live in an information saturated world. Content is a vehicle to transport our students to understand, analyze, and evaluate concepts and issues in the world they live in and then hopefully to create
Flip Learning: Why? My Top 10 solutions, products, and relationship that improve their lives and those around them. Content is important important and necessary. It is the building blocks for the higher level thinking thinking we want students to do. It cannot, however, be the end goal of our lessons. If lecture is the focus focus of the classroom students are not challenged to reach the higher levels of thinking. We should mov e away from what Paulo Freire Freire calls the “banking concept of education.” Put your assessment assessment through the Google challenge and and see how it measures up on Bloom’s Bloom’s taxonomy.
Flip Learning: Why? My Top 10 Reason #8: Play, Pause, Rewind There is no pedagogical reason for distributing information to a group of people once and expecting them to retain, understand, and evaluate the information. Everything in developmental psychology and neuroscience neuroscience has led us to believe that repetition increases learning. Making content available for students students through video allows students to play, pause, pause, rewind and repeat the process as needed. Indeed, when I surveyed my students students it was clear that they liked having this ability. ability.
Highlights from Student Surveys and Reflections
Flip Learning: Why? My Top 10 Reason #7: Differentiate Flipped learning is differentiated learning. It is a method that ensures choice for students. By simply recording lectures that corresponded with readings that, in the past, I had assigned from the textbook (This is the very basic form of Flipped Learning) I provided different modalities for my students to acquire content. My students had the choice to watch my lecture, read the corresponding corresponding text, or do both. I also encouraged them to look for other experts that may teach the content using a method more engaging or understandable understandable than I. In the future, I intend to ask students to more actively find alternative resources, share them with the class, and help me build a library of diverse content per topic. In addition to diversifying content, flipped l earning opens up class time for students to show their understanding in a method most conducive to their learning style. Ultimately, my plan is to design activities that will allow any student to be working on completely different content and activities at at any one given time. Thus, allowing accelerated accelerated students to not be be slowed down by students who are struggling and for slower students to not feel pressured to move ahead in the curriculum when not ready.
Reason #6: The World It should be no surprise that the world has flipped learning. A fellow teacher informed me that he learned how to fold socks
properly by watching a video on YouTube (Yes, apparently there is a correct way to fold socks. In case you are are curious). ous ). My wife learned how to cut our boy’s hair through video. And, I learned how to use iBook Author primarily by watching video tutorials. If you search YouTube for any do it yourself project most likely you will find a video of a person instructing how to complete the project. Furthermore, university instructors are flipping learning (Yes, this is taking off in the University of Wisconsin System), System ), and since the beginning of recorded video, the workforce has flipped learning to provide training for their workers. This is not a foreign concept and it would be a benefit to our students if we directed directed their attention to the wealth of information available to them and how to use it to learn new information and skills. skills. Sending our students to school after high school with no experience in Flipped Learning would be a disservice.
Flip Learning: Why? My Top 10 Reason #5: It’s a Mirror One of of the greatest aspects of the flipped learning process for me is the is the fact that it forces me to reflect and rethink how I am teaching. teaching. Before I post videos for students to watch,, I would watch them myself. This simple process watch helped helpe d me to think about what was essential and how I could enhance enha nce the lecture and lesson so my students would understand the stand the content. Furthermore, I have completely changed the view view of my role as educator. With lecture out of the classroom,, I have reflected on my role and, I believe, become more room impactful. impa ctful. I now view myself as a designer of educational educational experiences perie nces rather than a source of knowledge. My primary role is creating creating experiences that encourage students to think deeper, deepe r, own their education, and engage their curiosity. Know ledge ledge is plentiful and I don’t need to be the only source of knowledge knowledge for my students. students. Instead, I help them curate curate it, make sense make sense of it, and apply it.
Reason Rea son #4: Make Them Own It As stated stated in reason #6, the world has flipped. There is more information infor mation available to students than ever in the history of mank ind. ind. Yet, I am amazed how often students and and parents believ e that the responsibility of educating is solely on the shoulders shoul ders of teachers within the confines of the school day. Flipped Flipp ed learning puts the responsibility of education on the shoulders shoul ders of the student student and the teacher. When I experi-
mented with flipping in my history course I always had my students submit a reflection on what methods they chose to learn the material and what class activities helped them understand it more. By giving students options and maki ma king ng them them reflect, they began to develop an awareness awareness of ho ho w they learn best and their role in the learning process. It seemed like less focus was put on how, or what, the teacher taught but rather the choices the student made.
Flip Learning: Why? My Top 10 Reason #3: Engagement There are great lecturers in the world. People who know how to weave weave a good story into into a lesson. People who can speak speak for an hour and hold the audience in the palm of their hand hand the entire time. This is not something everyone can do, and and it is certainly certainly not something anyone can do day after day. day. Our Our classrooms classrooms are less engaging when we fill them with lecture. Brain research tells us that people are more are more engaged and more likely to retain, understand, and evaluate evaluate information when they are physically active, active, able to discuss/debate topics, topics, and allowed to create meaning meaningful ful products using new skills and knowledge. Technology allows for the classroom to expand beyond the walls of a building. buil ding. Learning can happen anywhere, with anyone, at any time. Flipped learning allows us time to make these connections and have our student network with the real world. These activities engage. Indeed, in my flipped classroom, time was freed up to focus more on these engaging engaging activities. I did more simulations, debates, discussions, and projects than ever before in my years of teaching this course. Yet, their scores on assessments indicated that their understanding of the content was high and their unit reflections and sur vey results show high levels of engagement.
Donald Clark Speaks on the Use of Lecture
Flip Learning: Why? My Top 10 Reason #2: Relationships Great educators develop meaningful relationships with their students. Indeed, this fact alone is evidence that that online education could never do the job that on site educators do everyday. By exporting direct instruction to the digital world, or at or at least allowing students the option to obtain information you you would offer with direct instruction through their own means, means, the time to simply connect with students on a daily basis and have personal conversations increase exponentially.
Reason #1: Keeping the Classroom Sacred Online education is on the rise. Technology has already altered the world in a dramatic way. The same will happen in education. Some critics of education in the United States States have argued that students can be educated completely online-offering a cheaper and better alternative to brick and mortar schools. Virtual schools have been created with this line of thought. Other schools are using using online tools to increase class sizes and reduce licensed teachers. These approaches are wrong and reckless. These approaches poison the opportunities that technology can offer within our schools.. By flipping the learning of our stuschools dents, I firmly believe we counter these approaches by showing that learning happens at a much deeper level within the
classroom. By flipping we are conceding conceding that some learning (the lower levels of Bloom's taxonomy) can happen in a digital environment but the higher levels of learning require face to face time with a quality educator. Indeed, this is why our classrooms always have been and always should be sacred ground gr ound within education.
Part 3 Learning Activity: Summarize Why Flip
4 How?
Flip Learning: How? Flip A Disclaimer As mentioned mentioned in part two, flip learning is not a silver silver bullet. It is not for everyone and it is not for every moment. It is a teaching teachi ng method and philosophy to be implemented when appropriate. propri ate. It is not as simple as making videos, or any digitall content, and throwing them in cyberspace and digita assigning assig ning them for your students to consume. consume. There are many many elements that need to be in place before this becomes a comes a successful method in your classroom. classroom. All those things good things good teachers do, and believe, apply when using this
method. The flipped learning network has has released a graphic of the the four pillars of flipped learning to emphasize this point.
Step Ste p One: Prepare Yourself Before you enter the world of flip teaching and learning you Before need to need to sufficiently prepare yourself. Make certain you understand stan d the concept, have an appropriate reason for using the method, met hod, and can explain explain it to others. You may want to bone up more more on the concept by looking at resources resources I I have curated on the the topic.
The most powerful aspect of the flip concept is the ability to create another dimension in your classroom. Essentially, you are able to clone yourself when and if the lesson deems it appropriate. Therefore, you want to sift through your current current lessons and apply Bloom’s taxonomy to determine the level of cognitive activity involved in your lessons. lessons. If a lesson is on the
Flip Learning: How? lower level of Bloom’s or is mostly direct instruction—it most likely is appropriate to flip. Step one, then, is to make certain you understand and explain why you are using the method and view or create create your unit learning objectives, highlighting the pieces within your unit that may bode well for flipping.
Step Two: Ask Yourself Some Questions Questions Ask yourself, how yourself, how are you going to: 1.) assess if student’s did the work outside of the classroom (If you are assigning the work to be done outside of class) 2.) make certain students understood the flipped lesson, and 3.) increase the level of cognitive activity on Bloom’s Taxonomy in your classroom? If you were/are a big user of the lecture, number three may be the hardest question for you to answer. In my classroom during the pilot program, I would always began the class by allowing the students to ask me questions about the homework. Students would would then take a quiz, using their notes, to assess if they had acquired the basic knowledge from the lesson (This would be the very bottom of Bloom’s taxonomy). We, as a class, would go over the quiz and clear up any misconceptions. The rest of the time was freed up for us to do all sorts of
activities that would fall under the upper levels of the taxonomy. We researched, analyzed analyzed sources, did project based learning, played games and simulations, discussed, and de bated. I believe the focus must be on what happens in the classroom. Do not spend hours creating flipped lessons and then find yourself staring at a group of students students who learned the basic content and are waiting for you to figure out how to make your face to face to face time valuable. valuable. The whole idea is to increase increase the quality of your face to to face time—so that is where you should spend most of your time planning and preparing. Step two is to create higher level thinking activities for your face to face time. You most likely will not be doing a great deal of direct instruction instruction anymore. Make certain to ratchet up the expectations of your class according to Bloom’s taxonomy, add more relevancy, and more student centered activities. Take a look at my curated resources on project based learning and gamification gamification for for some ideas.
Step Three: Prepare Your Students It is critical that you prepare your students. students. There will undoubtedly be a diverse set of reactions to this method of teaching. Students who have been successful with the traditional model of education may resist this change in your teaching style. Students who have not been success-
Flip Learning: How? ful might be excited but not know what to do to become successful successful with this approach. Students who have attention deficit disorder may start start working on your flipped lesson and find themselves being drawn to twitter or (insert your digital d igital distraction here) by some superior superior urge to be distracted. Attempt to thwart this by preparing a lesson on this method of teaching/learning. teaching/learning. In my class, class, I created a flip video that explained the concept of flip teaching/learning. teaching/learning. Students watched the the video in class with one student stude nt in charge of the controls—pause,play, trols —pause,play, and rewind. Students Stud ents were asked to watch the v ideo, ideo, take notes (anyway they saw fit) and be able to explain what plain what flip teaching/ learning learn ing is, why we were doing it, and and how they could be successf ul ul with this approach. When Whe n the video was done we discussed discu ssed everything. everything. We disdiscussed cusse d why the person in chargee paused the video when charg he/shee did, what note taking he/sh methods meth ods they used, if they understood derst ood it and if not what they could do make certain they did reach a level of understand.. We then made a t-chart stand and identified positive and negative things about the approach. We discussed discussed the
Flip Learning: How? points and strategies to try to make everyone successful. successful. The next day students were given a short short quiz to ascertain their understanding of the concept. If students did not receive a perfect score on the quiz, quiz, we chatted about the ones they got wrong and why. This activity was adapted from an example in Jon Bergman and Aaron Sams Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day . It would also be a good idea to explain the method to parents parents and get them on board. Here is a letter letter I I sent home with my students for their parents. Therefore, step three is to prepare your students by teaching them the concept and practice using a flipped lesson in class. class. Discuss concerns and give them strategies to make them feel more confident about the process.
Flip Learning: How? Step Four: Prepare The Content of the Flip Lesson By this point you have set the ground work for success. success. You have a conceptual understanding of flip learning, you sifted through your through your lessons lessons and identified appropriate places to insert the flip the flip meth method, you have you have designed in class activities that are on the higher the higher level of Bloom's Taxonomy Taxonomy and that require you, the expert, to be a part of the learning process for success to occur. Now, and only now, is it time to think about the content that will be available for the student in replace of face to face class time. There are two options for acquiring the content you offer during your your flipped lesson: curation and creacreation.. Curation is the most appealing. Creation, however, is tion most likely the more effective approach for your lesson goals. Curation is easy because it is what teachers have always done. In the traditional method teachers review textbooks and select the one that fits their curricular curricular goals. There is a plethora of material to select from in the digital realm as well. Sites such as Khan Academy , TED-ED TED-ED,, Crash Course on Course on YouTube, iTunes U, U, iBooks iBooks,, and many others have very good material (Open-ED Open-ED has has curated material for teachers and aligned the content to the Common Core Standards. Standards. One only needs to perform a search on their site to find a list of potential material to use). However, the problem with curation, curation, whether it
be textbooks or digital content, is curriculum curriculum becomes limited to what is available and our students lack a connection with the creator of the content. This method is fine fine to use, especially when just starting out. You can learn a lot by observing others created content. As you progress, however, you are going to want to create, and have students create, material. material. This will offer more flexibility and your students will appreciate seeing a face or hearing the voice of someone they know and see each day. When creating, there are two items to consider--how to create the content and the form of the final content. In order to consider consider both items you should begin with the form of the final content. In my opinion, there are three forms of flipped content--lecture/demonstration, story, and interactive.
Flip Learning: How? F ORMS Lecture/Demonstration Lecture and demonstration are simple. simple. You either 1.)record your lectures or demonstrations demonstrations as you deliver it to your students 2.)record your lecture or demonstration with a camera without your students (Here is a great tutorial by Keith Hughes on Hughes on how to do this using a camera and iMovie) or 3.)take your power point/keynote, record your screen, and lecture or demonstrate like you would in class. class. Take a look at the exam examples ples to get some ideas. (Note: Exam Examples ples require WiFi)
Example: Dr. Lodge McCammon
Example: Keith Hughes
Example: Jon Bergmann Bergmann & Aaron Sams
Example: A ScreenCast I made
Flip Learning: How? Suggestions for this this Method
Computer
If using this method, I would suggest staying away from live recording with students in the classroom option. Audio quality is usually lost in this process and most likely the material will not be as direct as you would like like for a student watching on their own time. You will find that, while the content is the same, the manner in which you deliver the material is going to be different because the nature of your audience audience changes when you move the content from outside your classroom to an unknown environment for your students. First, there is no interactivity with the students. There is no need for rhetorical questions or lengthy stories. The idea is to deliver the content. Keep them, if making videos, videos, direct, short, and focused on one concept. Jon Bergman and Aaron Sams recommend recording with another person. person. One person plays the student asking questions and the other the teacher. I have not done this but clearly one could see how this would be more interactive and engaging..
1. Quick Quicktime time (for Mac) (Tutoria Tutorial) l)
Tools for this Method In essence, you really only need a video camera and the tools you have always used (white (white board, markers, eraser, etc.). If you would like to do screen recordings look at my limited list of some software that will be helpful with this. I have also attached a link to tutorials I have found or made for each:
2. Keynot Keynotee (for Mac) (Tutorial Tutorial)) 3. Screencast-o-matic (Web Screencast-o-matic (Web Based) (Tutorial (Tutorial)) 4. Screenflow (for (for Mac and has a cost) 5. Camtas Camtasia ia (for (for Mac or PC and has a cost) iPad 1. Explain Explain Everything Everything ( (Paid) Paid) (Tutorial (Tutorial)) 2. Vittle 2. Vittle ( (Free Free and and Paid Version) (Tutoria ( Tutoriall) 3. Educre Educreations ations (Free) (Free) 4. ShowMe ShowMe (Free) (Free) 5. Doceri (Free and Paid and Paid Version) 6. iP iPad ad Ca Camera and iMovie iMovie (Free--You would be surprised how powerful these these two can two can be)
Flip Learning: How? Story Story has long been a form to teach. With the advancement of technology, you have the power to create attention grabbing grabbing stories to teach a concept. Many examples of this form exist--everything from graphic graphic notes (made famous by RSA) RSA) to TED-ED animations to the “In Plain English” format made famous famous by Lee Lefever and the Common Craft Company. Take a look at the examples to get some ideas. (Note: Examples require WiFi)
Example: Wikis in Plain English by Lee Lefever from Common Craft
Example: R.S.A. Sketch Note of Sir Ken Robinson lecture
Example: My Version of Flip Learning in Plain English. English. I used Explain Everything to make this one
Example: My Version of what is a stock. I used Keynote to make this one
Flip Learning: How? Suggestions for this this Method
Computer
First and foremost, you are not going to create an amazingly animated story your your first time. Keep in mind that the aforementioned companies are experts in this format and spend a great deal of time and and money getting things just right. Second, begin with a script--a narrative. I find it much easier to fill in the visuals after I have a story written. written. Third, have fun with it. If you are having fun making making the story it will transfer and the students will be engaged.
1. Keynote Keynote (for Mac) Mac) (How (How to make a Common Craft Video using Power Point/Keynote Tutorial Tutorial)) 2. PowToons PowToons (Free (Free with options to buy premium features) 3. Moovly (Free (Free with options to options to buy premium features) 4. Go Animate(Paid) Animate(Paid)
Tools for this Method 5. Sparkl Sparkl Video VideoScribe Scribe (Paid) (Paid) There are many ways you could create create these stories. I have seen some really neat things done with people just setting a camera on a tri-pod and recording their hand drawing images. Stop motion is a technique used where a story is told through a series of photographs that are put together to make a video. For those of us less artistic, here is a limited list of software that i have found to be helpful.
iPad 1. Explain Everything (Paid) Everything (Paid) (Tutorial (Tutorial)) 2. Vittle 2. Vittle ( (Free Free and Paid Version) Version) 3. Sparkl VideoScribe Sparkl VideoScribe App App (Paid (Paid but much cheaper than the subscription subscri ption for the computer) the computer) 4. StopM StopMotion otion Studio Studio (Free (Free and Paid Version) 5. iPad Camera and iMovie (Free--You would be be surprised how po werful these these two can be)
Flip Learning: How? Interactive The interactive method allows for short breaks in the delivery of the content to ensure student understanding, provide opportunity for reflection, recode new content into the student’s own language, language, and review to foster solidification of the memory. Indeed this is infusing brain brain based research into the deliv de liv ery ery of the content you want stude want students nts to know. It may also also allow for achievement of higher levels levels within Bloom’s taxonomy tha than n can be achieved by simply assigning assigning a reading or watching watching a video. video. It requires the student to be more active in the learning proce process ss and usually includes elements ele ments of text, lecture/demonstration lecture/demonstration videos videos and stories to deliver the content. the content. While there are a fe w sites sites helping to make videos some videos some what interactive, my favorite favorite format format has become the iBook. Look Look at the examples below for som s omee ideas. Of course, this iBook iBook ser ves as one. (Note: Examp Examples les require require WiFi)
Example: Anthony DiLaura’s DiLaura’s iBook
Example: This is an an Educannon interactive video I made
Example: Zaption explanation video. Many more more elements than EduCannon--but you have to pay for them them
Example: This is a look at Videonot.es at work. Downside is it only works on a web browser and does not have an an app
Flip Learning: How? Suggestions for this this Method
Computer
Start with one of the other forms and then experiment making them better by incorporating them in this form. While this form is ideal, you are going to want to create all the pieces and then put the puzzle together. When you get into working working with this form, be cautious about using all the “whizz-bang” features. Your project could could very easily easily become too busy. Instead, consider the purpose of each extra element you add. Ask yourself, is it necessary, necessary, does it enhance the learning experience?
1. iBooks Author Author (Free) (Tutorials (Tutorials)) 2. EduCannon EduCannon (Free (Free with Paid Features) (Web Based) 3. EdPuzzle EdPuzzle (Free) (Free) (Web Based) 4. Zaption Zaption (Free (Free with Paid Features) (Web Based) 5. VideoN 5. VideoNot.es ot.es (Free) (Free) (Web Based) Based)
Tools for this Method As mentioned earlier, in this form you will want to take existing content and place it in an interactive interactive format. Therefore, you will use a lot of the same tools mentioned earlier. The list that follows is one that consists of tools to help you form what you have into something interactive.
iPad 1. Book Creator (Free Creator (Free and Paid Version) 2. Creativ e Book Builder Builder (Paid) (Paid) In step four, four, you want to want to decide whether you are going to curate or create the content for the lesson, what form the content content will take, take, and the tools needed to complete your content curation curation or creation. or creation.
Flip Learning: How? Step Five: Distribution
L EARNING M AN AG EM EN T S YS TE MS (LMS)
The final step is to distribute the digital content to your students. This can be done using several several methods. Select the one that works best best with your workflow. Please note, students do not need internet to receive these materials. If you use an internet form, simply have the students students download the content on their devices before they leave school. All the internet resources listed have a web presence and an app. They all allow for offline storage. Make certain to inform inform parents of this so students do not misinform them and you have angry parents wondering why they have to supply internet or wifi for their children’s education.
A learning management system is an an online student/teacher classroom. They usually involve storage for content, the abilability for online discussions, online assessments and grading, communication tools and more. These require students students to create an account and enroll in a course you have created for them to be used. The one exception is iTunes U. Below is not a complete list but rather a range of ones I am aware of and have tried. tried. Currently, Currently, I am a user user of Schoology. I find it fits my needs more needs more than than the others. A more complete list can be found her heree.
N ON -I NTERNET M ETHODS All students at our school will have iPads iPads and therefore will not need these methods. However, it is entirely possible students may loose the privilege of using the school tablet at home or at all. These methods might come in handy for such an occasion.
1. School Schoology ogy (Tu Tutorial torial)) 2. Edmod Edmodo o 3. Canvas 4. Moodle 5. iTunes U
1. Bu Burn rn to DVD DVD
C LOUD S ERVICES
2. Save to USB USB Thumb Drives Drives
A cloud service is simply online storage. storage. The main difference between cloud services and an LMS LMS is the absence of features such as discussion threads, online assessment, etc. but th ey have the benefit of emailing a link to anyone and granting them access to files without setting up user accounts. In addi-
3. Make available available on your school servers
Flip Learning: How? tion to Schoology, I also save my content to Google Drive and make it available to students. Note, these services offer a certain amount of storage storage for free. After you have reached reached that limit, you will need to buy more storage . Keep this in mind when making and distributing distributing your content. 1. Google Drive ( Drive (Tutorial Tutorial)) 2. Dropbox 3. Box 4. One Drive 5. Evernote In the final step, select you will select a distribution method, or perhaps perhaps multiple multiple methods, that fits in with your workflow and is easily easily accessible accessible by your students.
Part 4 Learning Activity: Complete the Mind Map
5 What’s Next?
Flip Learning: What’s Next? A Story During the summer of 2014, my wife and I decided to enroll our son Elliot in a summer learning program to prepare him for 4k school in the fall. He had been going to the daycare my sister owns and operates for almost his entire life and we felt it was time to transition him away from this sheltered world he has become very comfortable with and have him start to experience meeting and socializing with other people. The night before he was to go to his "summer school," that's what we called it, he decided he did not want to go. He wanted to stay home. He wanted to stay at his Aunt's. He wanted to do all the things he has done his entire life. My heart was broken. I sympathized with the little guy. There was a part of me that didn't want him to go either. This was a big change and I knew it would be painful. I knew he did not do well in new social situations--he is an anxious child. However, it was time for him to grow. And so, I tried to explain to him that things that seem scary at first usually become the most worth while experiences of our lives. I asked him to recall the time he was scared of the climbing wall in the park. Today, the wall is trivial. "See," I said, "there are bigger and better things to conquer. It
will be an adventure!" Well, the story didn't work. He was not a happy camper the morning of his first day. Of course, we forced him to go and it was a painful process. process. But, we believe we have begun to foster a mindset that will lead him to challenge himself and strive for growth in his life. At least we tell ourselves that this this is the case.
A Mindset I tell that story because because we have all all had moments similar to the one described about about Elliot. Indeed, Indeed, there are grown adults ever y day that refuse that refuse to tr y something new-refuse to change- because they are comfortable of where they are and fear the unknown. If you have made it this far in the book, my guess guess is you are not one of those people. You have at least considered trying a portion of the flipped method in your class and want to grow as a
Flip Learning: What’s Next? professional. Nonetheless, change is difficult. difficult. And too often, when f aced aced with difficulties we go back to our comfort zone. Unfortunately, Unfort unately, there will be challenges when you begin to implement pleme nt the model in your classroom. Most likely, it is not going to work to work perfectly the first time. I remember distinctly the moment mome nt I realized that things were not going as I had envisioned with sioned with the mastery approach I had established and had to alter alter the format of the course. course. It’s important at that point not to give up and go back to your comfort zone. Instead, continue to to experiment. Reflect on why the approach did not work but but continue to move on. on. Psychologist Carol Dweck has researched resear ched and written about people who have a growth mind-
set verse a fixed mindset when approaching challenges. Her research re search has concluded that individuals who exhibit characteristics ist ics of a growth mindset are more likely to reach their full potential te ntial than those with a fixed mindset.
A Tip Tip Start small! I did not. I jumped in Start in with both feet and it it was stressful. str essful. I felt pressure to see see the pilot program through because ca use I had accepted that responsibility when I agreed to pilot thee idea in my class. Had it not been for that fact, I may have th went we nt back to my comfort zone. Rather than flip an entire course, co urse, start with something manageable. Here is a limited listt of some ideas to start your flipping experiment: lis • safety procedures (In Example: For the science lab, automechanic shop, or weight lifting room. Make certain to asassess them well before giving them the green light!) • how to use a certain digital tool (Web based or mobile app). • instructions for a project (In Example: How to properly cite a source) source) • a simple skill (In • a virtual field trip • record a guest speaker • a single lesson
Flip Learning: What’s Next? • record you giving feedback on a paper, piece of writing, or project to individual students so they can hear and see what you see The important thing is that you start with something and build from that from that point forward. To keep you informed, I have included a hand selected selected list of resources that I will continually update. update. Some resources resources are curated things mentioned earlier in the book the book and other other are brand brand new. They are located here for easy easy reference.
Curated Curate d Resources 1. Furthe Furtherr Reading on Flipped Learning (Books) (B ooks) 2. Flipped Learning: What 3. Flipped Learning: How 4. Tools f or or Flipping the Classroom 5. Noted Flippers to Follow 6. iBooks Author 7. Gamification 8. Project Based Learning
Part 5 Learning Activity: S.M.A.R.T. Goal
About About the Teacher Rob Kamrowski is a high school social study teacher of some years. He teaches in a rural school school district in western Wisconsin. Certified Certified to teach Broad Broad Field Socia Social Studies, History, Political Science, W orld orld Geogra Geography, and Economics, conomics, he he has taught a taught a variety of subjects and students students within within the the discipline of Social Studies. He earned his Bachelor Degree in 2003, his Masters Degree in 2008, and strives to earn the respect of his students, colleagues and family every day of every year. He has a strong interest in educational technology and transformative methods of teaching.
About this Book In no way is this book a product that represents the beliefs of the school Rob teaches at or the people for whom he works. The purpose of book is to serve as a reflective tool, a discussion platform, an historical archive, and a reference point of materials and information for anyone who dares to try something different in in their classroom. Digital discussions, debates, and collaboration are welcomed.
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