Flipped Out In School
The Flipped Classroom switches from traditional teaching methods, to technology driven methods delivering instruction online outside of the class (at home, in the library, at your friends house, on the bus) and moving "homework" into the classroom. You can listen or watch at your own pace, (if you miss something or don't get it just rewind). The teacher is right there helping you grasp the concepts they are trying to teach. Teachers get real time knowledge of how well one or all of their students are understanding the coursework.
Technology Makes Flipped Classroom Possible
This is done with ever evolving software that allows teachers to record and post lectures. Many teachers use the app Explain Everything ($2.99 in the iTunes Store). Explain everything allows teachers to photograph a note page or assignment and then explain it using an audio recording feature and even mark up the page using their finger or stylus to guide students to work out problems or answer questions. Teachers can then transfer their recording to YouTube and
Students can use Explain Everything to submit their projects or assignments as well. In addition, other software is available that has many of the same capabilities, some are even free. There are also websites geared toward online learning that can be used in Flipped Classrooms, Khan Academy is one of the most popular.
What do Students Think?
- Communicate with their classmates and teacher
- Finish their homework in class
- Engage in meaningful classroom activities.
Only 3% of the students believed their motivation had decreased and only 6% felt like their learning of math had not improved because of the flipped classroom
The Future of Flipped Classrooms
Currently Math and Science courses are the fasted growing flipped classroom as they lend themselves to hands on activities,e.g. science labs, working math problems. The Flipped Classroom might not work as well for all disciplines but one thing is clear technology is changing the way teachers are thinking about teaching.
What Do you Think! Would You like your classes Flipped?
