Flipped Classroom

[Texsox]

Last month I attended a workshop on the flipped classroom concept and have been busy converting my classes. The hardest part so far is learning to produce quality screencasts with decent video.

 

Basically the idea is delivering new content via video as homework and then the students work on what was homework, in class. Using Bloom's Taxonomy it would be having the student working on the lowest levels, comprehension and knowledge at home and the higher levels, synthesis and evaluating in school. I was using the free trial of Camtasia to record video and audio together with a PowerPoint presentation. The software is nice but not $300 nice. Then it seems to drop to freeware that is a struggle to get working correctly.

 

I know we have a couple educators here and perhaps a video person or two.

 

And as a student what do you think?

 

Any thoughts?

[bigruss]

Last month I attended a workshop on the flipped classroom concept and have been busy converting my classes. The hardest part so far is learning to produce quality screencasts with decent video.

 

Basically the idea is delivering new content via video as homework and then the students work on what was homework, in class. Using Bloom's Taxonomy it would be having the student working on the lowest levels, comprehension and knowledge at home and the higher levels, synthesis and evaluating in school. I was using the free trial of Camtasia to record video and audio together with a PowerPoint presentation. The software is nice but not $300 nice. Then it seems to drop to freeware that is a struggle to get working correctly.

 

I know we have a couple educators here and perhaps a video person or two.

 

And as a student what do you think?

 

Any thoughts?

So I'm not sure about the classroom part, but I've had college courses where the professor essentially reused a taped classroom/ppt video set for almost all the teaching. There was a discussion session each week that would go over some of the problems. (Quizzes and homeworks were done/turned in online).

 

You really have to produce a good set of videos, just because it's on a computer doesn't mean the student will pay attention. In fact, it's probably harder to since the internet, aka Facebook, is right there then. I would really suggest having parents download the videos, and turn off the wifi setting on the desktop/laptop the student is using, that way they are forced to pay more attention.

 

I highly suggest trying to make the videos interactive somehow still, so the student has to pay attention (maybe have quizzes on the content at the end or in class at least).

 

The great thing about this is once done well, it can be reused by the teacher, or can be replayed by the student if they didn't initially understand it. If they need something explained twice, they don't have to hold up the rest of the class. And in a world where critical reasoning is starting to fade, having teachers on hand for that part in class could be useful as well.

[kjshoe04]

I personally would have never watched. I didn't do homework at all until college.

[Leonard Zelig]

I like the idea, but I am curious about the practicality. What about students who have no internet at home? What do you do when the student was "too busy" to watch the lesson?

Edited January 15, 2013 by Leonard Zelig

[Texsox]

You always have issues with students not doing homework. If currently 25% of your students are not doing their 20 math problems (for example) each night, will that number increase of decrease when the homework becomes watching a 20 minute video? Most students will gladly trade 25 math problems for a 15-20 minute video.

 

The teacher will check their notes from the video as "proof" that they watched the video. In a science classroom (where this really took off) if the student did not watch the video they would be sent to a computer and they would watch it then. Of course they would be excluded from the experiment that was going on. In a math class, don't watch the video and you will be watching it at school and doing the problems that night at home. Most students quickly learn it is less painful to watch at night and do the "work" with a teacher close by.

 

From a classroom management perspective those minutes trying to keep kids engaged to a lecture are he most difficult. So 15 minutes of content take 25 or more minutes to deliver.

 

Ideally the teacher will have a unit's worth of videos ready. The easiest way to deliver them is via the internet on either a video sharing site like youtube or teachertube (check there are already 1000s uploaded). We use Moodle, a Blackboard or WebCt type environment. We could also download the vids to a student's device (phone, iPod, tablet, etc) finally burning DVDs is the last resort but will capture the rest of the students. There is the option to watch them in the library before and after school.

 

Most of the time the best time for the teacher to be around is when the student is using the new knowledge.

 

 

[Texsox]

This is also excellent for students that are absent, for reviewing, or tutoring. And teachers don't really need to produce all the videos. There are already so many great videos available. Other issues it addresses are the "teacher going to fast / too slow. Giving the student access to the pause / rewind / play buttons they can pace themselves.

[IlliniKrush]

Most of the time the best time for the teacher to be around is when the student is using the new knowledge.

Good point. Never heard of this flipped classroom idea but it makes sense. Instead of the helpless child asking the parents to re-read a textbook or sample math problems and then help, the teacher is right there. Then you might not "waste" another 20 minutes going over the last night's HW since half the people couldn't do it, etc.

[Quin]

Good point. Never heard of this flipped classroom idea but it makes sense. Instead of the helpless child asking the parents to re-read a textbook or sample math problems and then help, the teacher is right there. Then you might not "waste" another 20 minutes going over the last night's HW since half the people couldn't do it, etc.

 

This. 1000 times this.

 

Nothing would be more frustrating then learning something at school then sitting in front of a calculus textbook for 3 hours to do one problem.

[ptatc]

Last month I attended a workshop on the flipped classroom concept and have been busy converting my classes. The hardest part so far is learning to produce quality screencasts with decent video.

 

Basically the idea is delivering new content via video as homework and then the students work on what was homework, in class. Using Bloom's Taxonomy it would be having the student working on the lowest levels, comprehension and knowledge at home and the higher levels, synthesis and evaluating in school. I was using the free trial of Camtasia to record video and audio together with a PowerPoint presentation. The software is nice but not $300 nice. Then it seems to drop to freeware that is a struggle to get working correctly.

 

I know we have a couple educators here and perhaps a video person or two.

 

And as a student what do you think?

 

Any thoughts?

This is kind of the updated technology version of the socratic method of teaching. They get the knowledge on their own time and spend the time with the instructor discussing it to understand it. Like you said with Bloom's the lower knowledge on their own then analyze, synthesize and evaluate with instructor guidance. however, as stated it only works if the majority of the class comes prepared.

[Texsox]

I don't think there is a way to really help students that do not come prepared.

[StrangeSox]

I was just talking to my wife last night about how the Common Core standards are attempting to make the students much more accountable for out-of-the-classroom preparation, or at least that's how I understood what she was saying.

[Texsox]

I was just talking to my wife last night about how the Common Core standards are attempting to make the students much more accountable for out-of-the-classroom preparation, or at least that's how I understood what she was saying.

 

Common Core is one of the events and resources that came together at the right time to add momentum to this idea. It makes it easier with so many teachers being able to share lessons that are spot on state standards. If you don't understand this explaination, go to teachertube / youtube etc and find a presentation that does make sense to you.

[witesoxfan]

This. 1000 times this.

 

Nothing would be more frustrating then learning something at school then sitting in front of a calculus textbook for 3 hours to do one problem.

 

I hated this stuff in college. Whether it was my microecon, macroecon, finance, calculus, econometrics, whatever class - the teacher would go over the simplest problems he could, and then he'd assign 4 or 5 ridiculous problems, and the one on the test would always have some stupid catch that made you stop and question what you were doing.

[bigruss]

I hated this stuff in college. Whether it was my microecon, macroecon, finance, calculus, econometrics, whatever class - the teacher would go over the simplest problems he could, and then he'd assign 4 or 5 ridiculous problems, and the one on the test would always have some stupid catch that made you stop and question what you were doing.

Well, I don't have a problem with having to think about a hard problem on a test

 

But I definitely know what you're onto, a teacher goes over the simple problems, assigns harder ones, and tests on either A) Ridiculously hard questions B) Material you haven't even seen or talked about in class before.