Flipping the Classroom. Basically, it’s a whole new approach to teaching as it puts a lot of the learning responsibility on the learner themselves. Its fascinating and new and has lots of possibilities, but I don’t see it working everywhere.
While there is no one model, the core idea is to flip the common instructional approach: With teacher-created videos and interactive lessons, instruction that used to occur in class is now accessed at home, in advance of class. Class becomes the place to work through problems, advance concepts, and engage in collaborative learning. Most importantly, all aspects of instruction can be rethought to best maximize the scarcest learning resource—time. (http://educationnext.org/the-flipped-classroom/)
The process requires the teacher or teachers to create media that can be accessed outside of school to not only teach students who miss work, but to reinforce lessons taught in the classroom. If you do it right, you’ll actually create content that is required to be viewed home in order to support the classroom lesson.
This works all well and good in a district that has residents with the means to access technology from home, however there are many districts with populations who don’t have that kind of access. How are you supposed to require a kid who’s looking for his next meal or living in a group home to have computer time to finish a lesson? Even in districts that overcome that by getting iPads for all the students, there are still issues with bringing those iPads home. Its easier, and safer, not to bring those home sometimes.
The concept of the Flipped Classroom can really be utilized better at a concept than as a solid practice. One would be hard pressed to even find one technique that applies to all situations. As with all concepts or ideas, the best thing to do is to build your own system that works for your particular circumstances.
I’m more interested in reading the dissenting view of any “Edufad” than the endless evangelizing that occurs in these same echo chambers. The challenge here is to figure out how to overcome the clear obstacles set before implementing this model in real life. Think about the “adjacent possible” What is out there that you are not readily aware of? I think there is some way to meet these students in the middle somewhere. Is the digital divide as prevalent as we both perceive? I’m not sure…
I’ve done plenty of background research and commentary on the different levels of the “digital divide” but I mostly keep my focus on the theories involving just the US population demographic differences and not so much on the original country to country idea. I don’t see any easy way to make this work, even with all the grants in the world.
I mean, you could have Bill Gates walking down the streets of Paterson, New Jersey throwing computers and iPads (well probably not iPads) and anything else he thinks could help to the masses and it will still not do any good. The inherit nature of many high poverty high crime areas to horde anything profitable away from the population for personal profit would make it practically impossible to be effective to the magnitude necessary for actual change to occur. The only true way to bridge the divide is to fix the system itself and THEN work towards equal opportunities for everyone.
Dan, you make some very valid points. I think – like Rob was telling is today – in districts like these the flipping can be done in the classroom. Instead of directly teaching, using the more interactive videos as a lesson.
I have actually been giving this a lot of thought since class. I have one class of twenty or so students who are at extremely different writing/speaking/reading levels. This has made it difficult for me to individualize their learning. However, with this new flipped classroom concept, I’m thinking about creating a few tiered videos (some more remedial, average and advance). By doing this I’d be able to have my students not only work at their own pace but at the appropriate level as well. Wish me luck!