The modern world as we know it is calling out for us to use technology in education. There is such a veritable wealth of resources available that it would be foolish to disengage from the revolution that is taking place outside the classroom walls. However, ‘with great power, there must also come — great responsibility (thank you Stan Lee/Spiderman)!’
Many points from Teach Thought rang true with me. Especially number 4, namely ‘How will this tech empower students to control their own learning?’; number 5, ‘Am I more enamoured with this tech toy than my student’s learning?’ and number 9, ‘Will all students be able to access and leverage this tech?’
I completely agree that our focus must always be the children in our care. Lessons have to be delivered that are relevant and always to positively enhance the school experience for our students. We must innovate, and leverage the potential of technology to do so; but always in a way that is practical, effective and truly embedded. It is imperative that we avoid the error of our whole focus being on a fancy gadget which we heard about online, but also conversely of just ‘bolting on’ technology to already dated teaching. We have to strive to embed technology properly.
To Flip Or Not To Flip?
I have been interested in the concept of ‘flipped classrooms’ for some time, which has particularly piqued since reading blog posts like this one by Philip Arneill. The ideas surrounding this pedagogy have also been around for quite some time, after being introduced to education communities by Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams, and detailed extensively in their book here. I believe that if this is delivered well, then it should tick many (if not all) of the ISTE Standards.
Yet, to simply embark upon this approach without thought would surely mean that I (and more importantly, my students) would fall straight into many of the pitfalls listed in the paragraphs above. The warnings that echo from the Teach Thought Article would become a reality in my classroom. So, just how do I go about adopting aspects of this approach in a way that is practical, effective and embedded – for my Year 3 students?
If the flipped classroom is truly to become innovative, then it must be paired with transparent and/or embedded reason to know the content – Andrew Miller on Edutopia.
My research about flipped classrooms filled my browser with an array of superb ideas and approaches. I focussed particularly on versions of the pedagogy for elementary level, as befits the children in my class. The sites that particularly resonated with me were created by Jon Bergmann (that man again) and Alison Doubet. It is time for my Year 3 lessons to perform the ‘In-Class Flip!’
Don’t flip a class: flip a lesson…start with a lesson that students struggle with and make a short video – Jon Bergmann.
This would appear to me to be something that will potentially empower my class, help them all to progress and should be an effective use of technology. I started with what the children need to work on the most, within the lessons as they stand. This led me to select Mathematics as the subject of focus, particularly how the children use reasoning when solving problems, particularly when they are open ended in nature. This is also a focus for all four classes in my year group.
I find that, as we find across the syllabus, different children have different needs. Some children benefit from having instructions repeated or from having further visual representation of the problem at hand. Others need exemplification of exactly how to expand the scope of their reasoning, especially when they are writing it in a book. Lastly, others solve the problem really quickly and require additional challenges.
I have decided that in some lessons through the week, I will set up video tutorials which enhance those three areas for the children. I will still teach them, so it will not be entirely flipped, due to the fact that the children seem to benefit from this process (particularly the excellent discussion that proceeds from it, or initial practical exploration). However, perhaps the use of video opens the lesson out and increases the potential for progress among all groups of students. The children should be empowered as they will access the videos independently, in the form of self-directed assistance or challenge. It may also free me up to give even more specific guidance, or to coach learning behaviours. I believe that it should also allow for more time in the lesson, with the focus being on additional experimentation with ideas and even…MISTAKES!
My intention is to experiment with different types of presentation methods, as I make these short video tutorials. I will allow myself to fail with this, potentially, and learn from it. Nevertheless, this article is an excellent list to start with. Later on, the children could take my lead and begin to make their own instructional videos for their mathematical solutions. Time to push them on to the next level of reasoning, and ultimately, understanding!
What presentation methods would you use?
How can I ensure that it is manageable, within the context of the busy school day?