Tag Archives: flipped learning

When the Flipped Classroom opens a can of virtual worms⤴

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Firstly, I must apologise for my absence from this blog over the past month, I have a note…but the Unicorn ate it.

Anyway, as I have delved deeper into Flipped Learning as a concept, I have become acutely aware of the sheer volume, and variety of technological learning tools (try the twitter hashtag EdTech to see for yourself!) that are being promoted on a daily basis.  Many are great, and most are free too!

Opening this very pleasant can of worms has been a great exercise in realising the potential of technology to have daily impact on learning and especially on engagement, in our classrooms.  Prior to flipping my classroom, I may have been guilty of dismissing these innovations as gimmicky and lacking in real value…I have since changed my tune considerably.

BYOD?

Whilst browsing twitter, if that’s indeed what you would call it, I came across the acronym BYOD.  Now, I should preface this next attempt at humour and holding your attention with cheap laughs with some background info, I grew up in a town near Glasgow, Scotland where BYOD means Bring Your Own Drink!

In our case though BYOD stands for Bring Your Own Device.  This could be any internet enabled device, like a smartphone for example, that most young people in our classes have anyway.  I have found, so far, an excellent product called Socrative (will link soon!)

Socrative is a free product that allows students to simply join a ‘room’, so no login required – it’s is really quick and clean.  The teacher can then pose questions in a variety of formats (multi-choice, true/false, short response) which the students can respond to in real time, seeing their responses displayed on the teachers screen.  They can then vote on responses or simply discuss them collaboratively.

There are options, such as quiz sharing, that I have not got around to using yet, as the basic functions are too addictive to be honest!

The students that I have used Socrative with loved the potential for anonymity when offering answers.  I felt a possible ‘way in’ to embedding a culture of trying without the fear of public failure that to a teenager, makes the four horsemen of the apocalypse seem like ‘My Little Pony”.

The world of Educational Technology truly is expanding at an exponential rate and we as teachers, need to critically select those resources that bring value to the learning experiences that we provide.

I’ll finish this post with a quote from Ken Robinson that is particularly apt:

“…preparing kids for a world we cannot predict using methods that we do not change..is alienating millions of children”

So go on…get the tin opener!

 

time to open a can of worms!

time to open a can of worms!

 

When the ‘Hot Seat’ is just ‘too darn hot’⤴

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In my last post, I omitted certain details of my assessment model as I felt that I was droning on, and on, and on…..  there is one aspect that I would like to share further though, so I’ve put it in a new post (I’m a teacher, I clearly can’t help droning on!) So, to alleviate any potential boredom, and as a wee thank you for all of the great feedback that I have had on the blog so far, I’ll open the post with a song:

‘Hot Seating’ has been, and still is, all the rage in teaching and has a variety of different approaches.  For good reason, as articulating your learning is an excellent way to evidence it.  If I can talk to a young person about how to approach a problem, then I know that they understand it by their responses, their confidence and other subtle cues that simply cannot be replicated with pencil and paper.  I have used this strategy effectively in my Flipped classroom, mainly due to the extra face to face time that I have with students to allow me to actually have a conversation!

It has been my intention during the entire process of preparing for ‘the test’ to try as much as possible to take the pressure off of the students so that they will perform better, and see taking a test as a part of the fuller assessment process and not ‘Judgement Day’ where they make or break their entire life with 12 questions of Mathematical hell!  The ‘Hot Seat’ in my case has been re-branded by my students as…the ‘Cool It’ seat!

Spot the geographically inaccurate Penguin!

Spot the geographically inaccurate Penguin!

Assessment, a few thoughts…⤴

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                  “The challenge for today’s educators is to lift their focus from the inevitable granular character of our national obsession with measurement, to the future which is broad brushed and uncertain. I do not underestimate this challenge but surely to constrain our debate as we habitually do is failing to educate the next generation in a way which is right for them and their lives in tomorrow’s world.”

from a very interesting blog post on the Stephen Perse Foundation…some very intriguing and inspiring content.

Somehow, just giving a standard test as the only evidence of learning just isn’t enough this time around.  In the past, as a Maths teacher this has been the standard modus operandi but this model carries with it a whole host of issues.

I am a little conflicted in my opinion on this, as irrevocably, our young people will have to undergo a barrage of examination at some point in their lives so we should as educators prepare them for this.  Does this mean preparing them to exclusion of all other methods though?  Increasingly, Universities and Colleges are using coursework to assess final scores in their classes, should schools not be following suit more consistently?  The focus on reproduction of Maths in a test environment is completely unrealistic in the real world.  In an age where answers to any question are a mere ‘Google’ from our fingertips, and the idea of working alone on… well, anything is bordering on the ridiculous.

So what do I do with all this conflict?…My assessment model has changed somewhat from the tried and tested (geddit?!) summative model.  This still exists, as it serves a purpose;  If I wish to assess benefits in attainment to students I must compare them on a like for like basis.  Therefore they sit the same test as their peers in other classes.  The approach to revision for the test is where we can apply a little lateral deviation from the norm to enhance the meta-cognitive process.

Mastery is a concept that is often combined with Flipped Learning as it lends itself well to the self paced, autonomous environment that a Flipped Learning methodology can provide.  Basically, the student must prove Mastery in a concept, usually through online formative testing (think Edmodo) before being allowed to sit the test.  This means that, in theory, students will get very scores and their anxiety will be very much reduced as they will know that they have already performed well in the material.

My model in this case has differed in that I provided the class with summary sheets of each unit of work to be assessed, along with additional video tutorials using Explain Everything for iPad.  The students were self paced, and could choose to work on whichever aspect of the course they wished in class and at home, over a period of one week.  They were provided with answers also, which I craftily located on my Sophia page, right next to the tutorials in an attempt to drive the students at these.  The criteria for ‘Mastery’: over 85% in each topic before we, as a class would consider testing.

I know…this conjures up images of 30 children wishing to sit assessments at 30 different times, so , in order to preserve the unseen nature of a test I have to make 30 different assessments right?  As it turned out, through working collaboratively (not directed to by me, they chose to work together) the students all wanted to sit the test as a class on the same day.  I was amazed!

The feeling in the room was much more relaxed on test day, with each student secure in the knowledge that they already knew the work, and just had to prove it in a test environment.  all the while reassured that they had already proven their knowledge to me through our various activities…

“the test is kind of like a display case for your knowledge, you already have it, now your just showing it off!”

I could go on for aaagggeeeeees about this, and understand that if you have got this far and are not bored…well done, so I will end with this quote:

“The common sense rules of the “real world” are a fragile collection of socially reinforced illusions.”                             Timothy Ferriss

 

Training Screenagers to Flip⤴

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One of the little obstacles that I have dealt with whilst flipping my classroom is the ‘mystery of the forgotten quiz’… all too often, otherwise conscientious students were just forgetting to complete the quizzes that accompany my videos.  You can see the platform that I use at www.sophia.org .  These have an important role in the teaching and learning process, and the results help me to tailor my teaching and respond to learning needs from the class.  The question is, why was this forgetfulness happening?  The students were watching the videos, and taking notes but they were somehow overlooking the quiz?!  As you can see, it’s not hard to miss…Spot the Quiz?!

I had no answer for this conundrum until I considered some personal reading on the power of habit and ritual (‘Daily Rituals’ by Mason Currey-check a review out here)…sounds a little prehistoric and gory, but stay with me…young people today only seem to consume media/look at screens in a passive context.  Therefore are they habitually hardwired, when their laptop or tablet is in front of them, to disengage their learning brains?

These digital natives, these Screenagers (a term that has been around for a while but was coined for me by @animationchefs so a hat tip to them!) are not accustomed to learning from media in any sense.  They are, in many cases, psychologically unprepared to watch a video and complete a quiz in an online learning  environment, using a piece of hardware that is generally only used for leisure.  This paradox has to be consciously overcome by the young person, and as a flipped educator it is my job to bring their attention to it.  It is also my job to make my videos as engaging and active as possible, and as such, embedding questions in the videos will be my next project!

There has, of course, been much written about the power of gaming in developing neuro-plasticity – more on this here.  I support much of the theory behind this and believe that there is value in games based learning.  However, it is in many cases for many young people, learning through the back door.  They are certainly learning and developing their brains, yet during a game of ‘flappy bird’ can you evaluate what you have learned?  Did you even intend to learn anything?

I must admit that once aware of this potential issue, there has been a much more uniform engagement with the quizzes and forms and a general appreciation of what it means in a wider sense, to learn in a flipped classroom.  The revolution that is surely just around the corner in learning, means that we have to prepare our young people, our screenagers, to learn in a digital environment.

Active Learning in the Flipped Classroom⤴

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What is ‘Active Learning’?  Well, for me it is a little more than getting the young people out of their seats!  There is something magical in seeing a group of pupils really get their hands on their learning…and for me the flipped classroom approach has allowed me the time to do this more often, and with greater impact than before.Whilst discussing Pythagoras’ theorem and specifically Pythagorean Triples , the question came up “where is this used in real life?”  Some hasty research later came the answer…the builders of the Pyramids used a variation of the Pythagorean theorem, and a class project was born!

A 22 metre climbing rope was issued, with some instructions on how exactly these historic builders used triangles to help them in their efforts.  The class were then able to use the concepts learned in class to create a giant (I didn’t anticipate the size to be honest!) right angled triangle using equally spaced knots to measure side length.

Using the climbing rope to create a '3,4,5' triangle in the school hall!

Using the climbing rope to create a ‘3,4,5’ triangle in the school hall!

As I watch my flipped classroom evolve, and the young people become more and more acquainted with the new ideas and approaches we are discovering together, it becomes easier to let go somewhat in their learning process.  However, I feel that a level of proficiency in certain skills is required before you can become confident enough to tackle a practical problem.  So we worked for a little while on traditional problems until we achieved a level of mastery (more on this another day!) that we were all happy with as a class before tackling the practical activity.

Pre-activity working with Pythagorean Triples

The impact on the learners in the classroom, well maybe not quite in the classroom, was striking in terms of their enjoyment and their engagement with the task.  Even a week later(an eternity if you are 14!) they still remember Pythagoras’ theorem accurately and show a level of understanding that I have not experienced before as a teacher.  Maybe this ‘deep learning’ stuff does work after all…

Watching yourself teach?! Cringe?⤴

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One of the guidelines that I have given myself when producing the videos for the Flipped Classroom project is that they are ‘one take’.  If I screw up, then I do it live, just like I would in class, recover from the ‘deliberate’ mistake and move on.  We have all thought from time to time, no matter our level of experience “I wish that I’d explained that better” and it is this kind of reflection that makes you a better teacher.

What better way to do this then, than watching yourself give a lesson on video?  This in itself is an extremely brave thing to do…just ask any actor, and will make many people cringe with absolute embarrassment.  I have found though, that it is a very valuable way to reflect on my own teaching practice.  That is not to say that I have made drastic changes to the way that I teach, but I have noticed little things, for example, I say ‘OK’ waaaaayyy to much!  See this video for liberal sprinkling of OK!

Of course, lecturing to an empty classroom feels weird.  There is no interaction with your audience, no questioning throughout the lecture portion of the lesson, and let’s face it…you are speaking to a wee camera on a tripod!  This means that you behave differently in front of the camera to your regular scintillating personality in the classroom.  Another challenge of flipping, is to not let this happen, bring your hidden Oscar-winning acting skills to the fore and deliver the lesson in an engaging and interactive way.

The main thing is, that as teachers we reflect and evaluate on a consistent basis.  In the hurly burly of curriculum change, exam preparation…I could go on forever but you get the point – we are BUSY! Flipping the classroom has allowed me to reflect on aspects of my repertoire that I would not normally, and it has been a cleansing and worthwhile experience.