Saturday, April 21, 2012

Week 14


I found an article on the “flipped classroom method” called How the Flipped Classroom Is Radically Transforming Learning written by two teachers named Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams. A flipped classroom delivers instruction through interactive videos created by the students’ teacher. Although the lecture is watched online, the homework and class activities will be done collectively in the classroom.  

One of the benefits described by Sams and Bergmann that stood out to me in their article was the increased teacher/student interaction.  Student interaction grew for them under the flipped classroom strategy because the teacher became more of a guide and learning coach, rather than a lecturer. In this method the traditional role of the teacher transitions to one a tutor, or a facilitator. Teachers can observe whether the student understands the material and can gage each student more accurately. Instead of the students watching the teacher talk, the teacher can watch the students work.

The flipped classroom is very beneficial for students who miss a lot of class due to sports, music, etc. This method will allow students to stay caught up with the class material and not fall behind (similar to Panopto). I do wonder though, if you carry out this method for the whole class’ setting, how much will each student remember when watching the lecture online prior to class time? Will this all become counter productive or create a greater difference in the level of understanding from student to student?

2 comments:

  1. I also read a little bit about the flipped classroom method. I thought this was a very interesting concept especially because the article i read about it highly endorsed the practice. I think it would be beneficial for those students that miss a lot of class, but your question is also a good point, how much will students really remember when they come to class? I know I zone out when I watch Panapto recordings and in my mind I was thinking how is this any different then assigning reading as homework?

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  2. This is very interesting. I think that I would really like this idea as a student, but as a teacher I do not. I think the classroom should be a place for learning and teaching, not individual work. Of coarse some days this is called for, but something the world is missing as of late is real life interactions. People are becoming so antisocial in a world based on relationship with others.

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