Flipping the Classroom

There is a great deal of talk lately about the need for mobility in the education world. What does that mean for teachers though? What does it mean to the administrative support teams (and especially technology specialists like myself)?

I was reading a great blog about this today and thought it answered these questions fairly well:

Whatever the answer turns out to be in your neck of the woods one thing is for certain: It means change. I am a huge fan of the Flip Your Classroom model. I have watched it grow from its infancy ad seen the research to back it up. If I were in a classroom I would be the teacher to try it out all on my own, spend countless hours in a sound booth, and fight the battles with administration to make it work. Unfortunately I am not and I cannot force teachers to give up any semblance of a social life for the next 18 months to give it a shot.

Salman Khan has great ideas on the subject as well.

Here is what I would recommend in a perfect world, perhaps one with a one-to-one laptop initiative... Create a 3 year plan to migrate from the traditional classroom setting to the Flipped model. The first year said teacher would record common activities and lecture while presenting to the class in a normal fashion. Resources for the lesson would be organized in a digital format and posted to a shared location. Ideas for this location range from internal share points to Google Drive. As long as the area is relatively secure and functional, it should work fine. If the first year is too stressful to capture the entire course, try focusing on one class or section.

Once successfully captured, it is just a matter of transitioning into the "workshop" model of class time with lecture and individualized instruction at home. Without internet access this could be a bit of a challenge ate home, so be sure to provide multiple means of interacting with the teacher's content.

Year two is a time to practice the methodology of Flipped classrooms and streamline procedures... not to mention evangelize for the cause! By year three the teacher is a pro (fingers crossed) and the students are familiar enough with the process to make it work. Participation at home will be a key, of course but it is definitely a real possibility. For more information about tools that can help you streamline the Flipped transition click here. Contact The Chariot Group in Anchorage, AK for more details.