FLIPPED CLASSROOM
MATEMATICAFISICA
Why i flipped my classroom
Five years ago I attended a meeting in our school with a colleague Claudio Marchesano. He works in a Comprehensive Institute of Rome: "Federico Caffè". The theme of the meeting turned to the notion of "flipping the classroom".
This is the idea that teachers shoot videos of their lessons, then make them available online for students to view at home. Class time is then devoted to problem solving – with the teacher acting as a guide to one, two or teams of students. It’s a great approach that flips the delivery of the lesson to homework. More about flipping here.
The Flipped Classroom is a teaching model designed to give teachers more 1:1 time in the class for interactive learning, by creating instructive content that gets put online, so that the students can watch it outside of class hours. So the bits that don’t require you to be face to face with the student they can watch online at their own convenience, meaning the precious time you are together in class gets put to better use.
How it came about
Who is using the Flipped Classroom model so far?
The American’s have got the right idea as they are already using the Flipped Class model to great affect. You might also have heard of Salman Khan who has become famous for his ‘Khan Academy’, which is an online library of over 3,200 free educational videos (Salman Khan started Khan Academy in 2005 to help his cousins. In addition to setting the vision and direction for Khan Academy, he still makes a lot of videos, although he's not the only one anymore. Sal holds three degrees from MIT and an MBA from Harvard.)
. But I put in my blog a Spanish video from Julio Profe for example, that in South America he has more visualization than Shakira. In math there is also a nice cartoon on youtube: Schooltoon, that for the first years is sufficient and friendly for the students.
Why should I be interested if I’m a teacher?
DRAWBACK of a flipped classroom
However, there has predictably been some criticism to this bold new model of teaching and learning.
1. It can create or exacerbate a digital divide
One of the most prominent issues is the necessity for students to have access to a computer and Internet in order to view the lectures. This is particularly hard on students from low-income districts who already have limited access to resources.
2. It relies on preparation and trust (student partecipation not always detecteble)
There is also the concern that since flipped classrooms are dependent on student participation, one must trust students to watch the lectures at home. Unfortunately, there is no way to guarantee students will oblige or cooperate with the flipped model.
3. There is significant work on the front-end (lesson planning greater amount work in)
Additionally, there is a concern that implementing a flipped classroom adds an extra workload on teachers, as there are several elements that must be integrated carefully to allow the class to flourish. Responsibilities include taping and uploading condensed lectures, which take time and skill, and introducing activities in the classroom that will enhance the subject matter as well as motivate students to participate and prepare for class. Though teachers can gradually integrated flipped elements into their classrooms, it will still require additional time and effort from teachers.
4. Time in front of screens–instead of people and places–is increased
There are some who believe that if every teacher starts flipping their classrooms, students will spend hours in front of a computer watching the lectures. One may argue that this has the potential to cause serious problems to student’s learning processes, as not everyone may be as adept to learning through a computer.
The focus here is on the type of learning and how it is addressed. Recall your Bloom’s Taxonomy:
The Flipped Classroom focuses on what is happening during the live interaction with the facilitator. What level of Bloom’s Taxonomy is being addressed while you’re with the facilitator? I would argue that the majority of the time, facilitator time is focused on the bottom layers of the triangle. In the Flipped model, facilitator time is primarily used in the top layers like application, synthesis, evaluation, analysis.
Here’s a simple example that all parents will understand:
Your child learns all about something in class like Chemistry. (I shudder!) Then, your child has homework. He (or she) needs help because, well, – chemistry is hard! If you’re lucky, you did well in chemistry class and remember the basics. You are able to interact with your child and help him. However, if chemistry happens to be one of your least favorite subjects ever – you will not only be unable to help your child, you’ll end up with total frustration for both of you.
In the flipped model, your child would come home and watch a video on chemistry, read a chapter, or review something the teacher has provided on the subject. Then, tomorrow at school, the child will spend his time in class working on the assignment. He will be able to get help and guidance from the teacher. All those things that are difficult to understand will emerge as part of class. …and there will be peace in your home.
Using this model has so many advantages that we can synthesize:
• You get to spend more one on one time helping students
• You can share information with other faculties, substitute teachers, students, parents and the community at large
• Students are able to re-listen to lessons and therefore make sure they have absorbed and understood all the information
• The classroom becomes a more collaborative learning environment
Here is a seven-step how to:
1. Start slow! Pick a single upcoming lesson or unit that you already plan to teach.
2. Recruit a few of your savviest students to do the research to find existing online video material to support the lesson. They should include a text overview defining what the students should be looking for in the video.
3. Also work with the student team to develop an in-class activity that students will do after viewing the video.
4. Post the video lesson to your content manager. Don’t have one? Just use a free Google website – very easy to embed or link to videos there.
5. Then run the video as a pilot lesson for the whole class. Part of their assignment is to decide what they like (and don’t like) about the each component of the lesson. In other words, they assist in the design of rubrics for selection of videos and integration of the video lessons into a classroom activities.
6. Then repeat step 1-3 until you get a good basis for selection of future videos.
7. Repeat 1-6, as needed, until your students have curated a collection of online content to support your classroom. They would also be responsible for better defining what constitutes “high-quality” online content and how that can be best used to support a more student-centered classroom. Extension: You might even consider adding some pre-assessment for upcoming units – using a formative pre-test or student self-assessment rubric to let students decide which elements of an upcoming unit need video support. Then based on the formative assessment – assign teams of students to curate online content while you work with them in class to design future follow up class activities. If this process works, think of all the class time you would free up. No concerns of running out of time to “cover” the required material. Instead of class time being filled with the pointless transfer of information from teacher to student, you and your students would have the time to apply and explore the content in a more engaging and project-based classroom. Who knows you might gain so much time that you’ll have the chance to discover your inner Scorsese – and go on to produce your own instructional videos?
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