70
UPDATE
FOCUS ON
IN PRACTICE
HELP DESK
G
FOLLOw EDExEC ON
Blogging
www.edexec.co.uk/ technogeek
Tweeting
twitter.com/edexec
Podcasting and news
www.edexec.co.uk
Follow us on
twitter.com/ edexec (@EdExec) for the latest news updates and insight into the issues that affect the role of the business manager
Flip the script
Flipped learning seems to be the thing all the cool kids in education are talking about. So, what does it mean and does it live up to the hype?
Education trends are like health scares, you’re never hard-pushed to find the latest one. And like health scares, some turn out to be significant and have an impact on our lives for years to come – cigarettes – while some prove to be more of a flash in the pan – cunnilingus. One such trend that’s currently under the fad-or-fundamental microscope is flipped learning. In their book Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day,
pioneers Aaron Sams and Jonathan Bergmann offer a definition that is thankfully more concise than their book titled: ‘In this model of instruction, students watch recorded lectures for homework and complete their assignments, labs, and tests in class.’ The argument also goes that since students watch most teacher lectures at home and are receiving instruction as homework, they can spend class time working through any gaps or misunderstandings around the content with the teacher acting as a ‘guide on the side’. It also makes it easier for students who may have missed class to keep up because they can watch the videos at any time. Positive reactions cite the way that the flipped classroom offers truly
individualised learning for students. Teachers describe how pupils can now move at their own pace, review what they need when they need to, and the teacher is then freed up to work one-on-one with students on the content they most need support with. They’re free to watch the videos as many times as needed, pausing the content to take notes or jot down questions they have and reviewing challenging parts of a lesson, all in private. As a result, they come to class much better prepared to participate in follow-up activities. Teachers also say that creating short podcasts or videos for students to study
at home makes them pare down their traditional lectures and focus on the essentials, developing better lessons as a result, helping students master the basics and come to class eager to dive in deeper, while engaging with new media. The argument is that teachers deliver improved content and both sides can enjoy more productive lessons, with problem areas already identified before class. Of course critics point out that even in these times of technological
dependence, there will still be students who don’t have access to the necessary technology at home. Others say that reducing lessons to a 15-minute video eradicates all the nuance and depth from it. There is also the complaint that children are unlikely to engage with the content at home without a teacher watching over them, although surely that objection is true of all homework. With schools increasingly offering laptop and tablet access to pupils from
disadvantaged families, eradicating the inequality of equipment ownership, it seems this method could be here to stay. It’s inspiring teachers to change the way they’ve always done things, and motivating them to bring technology into classrooms through the use of video and VLEs like Edmodo and Moodle. It could be time to turn lessons on their head.
SEND US YOUR THOUgHTS
www.edexec.co.uk/technogeek/
september 2013 \
www.edexec.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72