Flip The Classroom

Flip The Classroom

by Frankie Kam -
Number of replies: 14
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Hi. Does anyone have any thoughts or opinions on the buzzphrase or paradigm shift "Flip The Classroom"?

http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.com/2011/03/flip-classroom-every-teacher-should-do.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/salman_khan_let_s_use_video_to_reinvent_education.html

http://www.learningconversations.co.uk/main/index.php/2011/03/19/flipping-the-classroom?blog=5

Yes, I've watched Salman Khan's talk on TED, and was quite blown away by the coolness of the LMS. From what I understand, flipping the classroom is about where students view lecture material (online videos or presentations) pre-lecture and post-lecture time. In Salman Khan's Academy, students engaged in the LMS with a game-like formative assessment system (10 correct answers in a row to proceed to the next level or topic). So during the scheduled lecture time, the facilitator is having more quality time interacting with the students who do exercises and tutorials in the class itself. So contact time becomes more of student learning time as opposed to the traditional lecturer teaching time.

I teach Information Technology at my college. In my (just concluded) semester, I spent more time in summarising chapters through bubbl.us mindmaps as compared to using the full 2-hour slot to explain "sleep inducing" Powerpoints of IT chapters. The "Sage on the Stage" approach I used in the past led to many yawns and bored looks among my student. I also spent a fair bit of time in the computer lab on practical work like MovieMaker and video editing and Weebly website creation - this was to prepare them for their assignment.

My moodle site had lots of Powerpoints, converted into iSpring flash presentations. I expected and instructed the students to view those presentations before the next scheduled classtime. I also gave them open-book quizzes which would close at midnight at each deadline.

I have only just found out about the Flip The Classroom paradigm. Most of my students did not spend much time online. The only time I noticed at least 10 to 15 students online was during the quiz deadline days. Out of 24 students not more than the 3 or 4 faithful were online almost everyday. And out of the 24, four did not have Internet access at home - they went to their friends' houses to do the online quizzes.

Not everyone read the notes or viewed the video/flash presentations prior to the next class. And I still had to give the odd "I speak they listen to me" type of powerpoint presentation. Information technology for business students isn't the same as mathematics, financial accounting or statistics where there is much working to be done.

I haven't managed to flip my classroom yet. But with my Moodle site I'm getting there slowly - more like "slanting the classroom" rather than actually "flipping". Maybe it was because I didn't have online videos of me giving lectures on each topic.

SO, what do you think of the "Flipping the classroom" paradigm?

Have a nice day
Frankie Khan...I mean Kam

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In reply to Frankie Kam

Re: Flip The Classroom

by ben reynolds -

You might find this video useful, although Alex explains that it's really for displaying conditional activities.

Course, Chat and Match – Creating a Moodle Course as a Game

Alex Buechner, Synergy Learning

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In reply to ben reynolds

Re: Flip The Classroom

by Frankie Kam -
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Ben

I enjoyed that presentation from Moodle Moot UK 2011.

Thanks.

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Re: Flip The Classroom

by Eric Millin -

Like you, I've done plenty of lecturing as an instructor.  I enjoy a good lecture, but I'm in the minority.  Plus, there aren't many good lecturers out there.  Regardless, there's tons of research showing that lecturing is one of the least effective forms of instruction.  I think there are several studies showing that Power Point makes it even worse.

It's no surprise then that my best learning experiences were with instructors who "flipped".  That was especially helpful in IT related courses.

I was going to raise an objection about the problem of flipping in regards to the humanities, which is what I taught (history, specifically).  Namely, it's difficult to "flip" when your students don't read the material.

However, I have a friend who teaches religion and philosophy at a two-year college and he finally took to spending part of every class reading aloud.  He said the students get a lot out of it.  So maybe it's just as true in the arts as in applied areas.

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Re: Flip The Classroom

by Thomas Brown -

What gets read aloud? How does it help?

tnx...

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Re: Flip The Classroom

by Eric Millin -

Here's his response.  Two notes: first, he's teaching at a rural 2-year college; and second, when he refers to "Southern Culture", he's refering to the culture of the southeastern US.

 

Let's see.  I've read Brave New World as a whole over the course of a semester.  I stopped alot and made sure they were getting it as they read along.  We went over vocab and discussed the ideas along the way.  Many are not used to reading, so it was a new experience to read a novel fully, actually understand it and think about it.  The book itself added much to the course, Technology and Society.

In the course, Southern Culture, I regularly read short stories to the class.  "A Good Man is Hard to Find" (while discussing religion) and "Revelation" by O'Connor (social class), "Dry September" (race) and "A Rose for Emily" (post war class) by Faulkner, the Col. Grangerford section from Huck Finn (honor codes), first chapter of John Ehle's The Landbreakers about early Appalachian settlers.

I did this because most students would not be able to read and understand these on their own, to get the rhythm and the beauty of the language and proper emphases and tones.  But in class, with the text in front of them and with me reading aloud, they get swept up in a story, some for the first time.  That is a huge success in my book!  And if they really "get" a story, then they are able to connect it to the themes in the course and it all becomes more real.  That's another reason to choose classic stories and excellent writing.  I've had a lot of students tell me they really like the whole process and look forward to it.

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Re: Flip The Classroom

by Thomas Brown -

Thank you Eric for the explication. I will have to try that.

I'm thinking that just modeling how to read a text--any text--would be enlightening for many students. So few of them read at all, and of the minority who do read, most don't know how to get beneath the surface.

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Re: Flip The Classroom

by Frankie Kam -
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The nothing like reading a good book and getting a refreshing dose of story-telling for the intellect and the soul.
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Re: Flip The Classroom

by Derek Chirnside -

Thinking about story telling . . .

Have you guys seen Qwiki (Just when you thouht all the great 5 letter domain names were taken!!)

http://www.qwiki.com/about-us

I quote: "Whether you’re planning a vacation on the web, evaluating restaurants on your phone, or helping with homework in front of the family Google TV, Qwiki is working to deliver information in a format that's quintessentially human – via storytelling instead of search"

Please let me know if it embeds nicely in Moodle.  It probably does.

-Derek

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In reply to Frankie Kam

Re: Flip The Classroom

by William Hamilton -

Actually Frankie, I think you're onto something here! Flush it out and somehow we can link this to a pedagogical strategy that can be documented and measurable... i.e., can the Moodle Teaching Guide Tool somehow shed some light? I'm stretching and babbling on but I think you see what I'm reaching for?

Additionally, here in Malaysia, we need to see if we can get all the 8 required outcomes from the Malaysian Quality Agency's Framework into our ccurriculum, maybe not all courses, but...;

The MQF 8 domains learning outcomes for educational programs

Knowledge
Practical skills
Social skills and responsibilities
Values, attitudes and responsibilities
Communication, leadership and team skills
Problem solving and scientific skills
Information management and lifelong learning skills and                           Managerial and entrepreneurial skill

If I'm babbling, I appologize but I'm excited about nailing down anything that can solidify a plug and teach concept like the tool guide that zeroes in on pedagogical strategies that are documented and measurable...

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In reply to Frankie Kam

Re: Flip The Classroom

by Stephen Anderson -

I have flipped my College Algebra class (at least it is severely "listing" ;)

utilizing an online learning platform from Hawkes Learning Systems to allow (require) students to read the e-text, view the online video modules I create, and perform the practice at home. IN class, we are not unlike a one-room schoolhouse, where some may be in chapter 3 section 3.4, while the student next to them may be stuck on 3.1, or accellerated into chapter 4 or 5. We do have target dates for chapter exams (tried ONE semester without these target dates--NEVER AGAIN!!!).

As Khan suggests, the technology has PERSONALIZED the course in a way I have not experienced in my 40 years of university teaching. I can analyze the exact sections a student may be stumbling on, create personalized video to address the area (that MANY utilize even when they THOUGHT they knew the material), spend QUALITY 1-on-1 time while IN class working directly on their individual problems! No more "one-size-fits-all" lecture and lock-step learning. The drop rate has improved, and those who DO drop learn EARLY in the course they are either under-prepared or under-motivated. 

Rather than "teaching them math," we are facilitating their LEARNING math by DOING... 
I would be very wary of driving in a world where drivers were only "lectured to" before they were issued a license… or where a driver’s training class only let the student sit in the passenger seat, passively observing someone who already possessed the appropriate skill and knowledge set—even if the instructor were a GIFTED speaker and presenter. I have mashed up some video which suports these ideas... Since they were publicly posted on YouTube, I am presuming that I am not violating copyright by editing and merging them...

http://www.screencast.com/t/NdI0uSe5uw


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In reply to Frankie Kam

Re: Flip The Classroom

by Don Hinkelman -
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Great topic, Frankie. I love the phrase "Flip the Classroom" because it is catchy and I can explain it better to my teaching colleagues. Actually, I have been doing this for years with Moodle, calling it "blended learning" but that is not so cool a term. The problems I have had with my 'flip the classroom' system is twofold:

  1. Multi-media authoring: Time to make good material that students love to try. Is iSpring the best?
  2. Module setup: An easy way to make the 'formative assessment' system you speak of, such as ten questions right in a row to move to the next level. That's game-like in itself, and should work well with my students. Are you using the Quiz Module for this? Do we need to make a new module?

Once I get some EFL material worth sharing, I am going to set up a Moodle Hub to do some serious bartering. Make sure you all are using 2.1!

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Re: Flip The Classroom

by Stephen Anderson -

I would never have had the time to create the infrastructure for assessment and teach my overload schedule... probably not even with decent release time... khanacademy.org has LOTS of well paid programmers... supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (as they deserve!)

I use Hawkes Learning Systems for math... VERY good stuff and cheaper than a standard text book (and comes WITH the text book should they like it as well as the e-text.)

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