Solutions: If this, then that.

 If you guys are looking for several practical ways to convert proven face to face activities into an online format, please check out our "If this, then that" page.

In the far left column you'll find face to face actives that many teachers use.  In the center and right columns you'll see online approximations of those activities and how to make them (in the far right column).  

Have fun pursuing through this resource.  If you happen to have an online activity you'd like to share, just reach out to us and we'll add it to the growing list!

To Flip or Not To Flip - Part 2

     Let's dive back into the flipped classroom and see how it works with the last two components of our blended learning model.
     When people think about the flipped classroom, they generally envision the teacher assigning one video for everyone in the class to watch at some point that night.  Although there is nothing innately wrong with this, there are so many other possibilities to use flipped classroom as a way to offer flexible pathways.  Let's take a look at one example.  As the teacher, instead of giving my students one video to watch, I'm going to offer different options based on levels of readiness and preferred modalities.  I'm going to offer 3 different learning levels.  You could name them something like novice, intermediate and expert levels.  At each level, you can offer students different ways to learn such as videos, articles, or even pages from the textbook.  Then let the kids choose how they want to learn and at what level.  Maybe I have no idea what a ratio is, so I start at the novice level and watch a video.  After I finish the 3 minute introduction to ratios, I want to learn more so I move up to the intermediate level.  This time I choose to read the corresponding pages in the textbook, and I can also watch the video if I want. I can choose to stop there or I can go on to the advanced level and become an expert in ratios.  Meanwhile, another student already learned ratios previously, so they might start at the intermediate level watching a quick video for a quick refresher then move on to become an expert.  Now students are able to choose their own learning path while the teacher works to support, reinforce and challenge students as they move through this journey.

Image from Meme Generator

     Finally, let's dig in and look at how data really ties all of this together in the flipped classroom environment.  I know what you might be thinking at this point.  So, all my students are out watching videos and reading articles in class, out of class... all over the place.  How will I ever know what's going on?  This is where data comes in.  Teachers still need to keep tabs on their kids to see if they are actually learning.  Using available tools such as quizzes in your LMS and online sites such EdPuzzle or PlayPosit will allow you to continually gather data each day to see which students have mastered the concepts and which students have not.  This is where all that free time you created for yourself comes into play.  If you give students a quiz as part of their flipped learning experience, then you can check the quiz grades each day.  This will guide you as you make decisions on who needs to meet with the teacher in a small group for reteaching on the concept and who can continue working at their own pace as they are progressing along nicely.  One word of caution, make sure to find time to meet even just for a few minutes with all students so that you can continue to build relationships with everyone.  The only difference is that what you do in the small group might look different.  If I pull a group of student who performed poorly on today's quiz, then I will be working to find out where misconceptions lie and reteaching the concept.  Then I might pull a group of students who scored very high on the quiz.  With this group I would challenge their thinking, ask high level Bloom's questions to make them think critically and maybe even assign them a challenging task or problem to solve.
     By combining all the elements of blended learning with flipped classroom experiences, you can offer students personalized learning experiences, establish better relationship through small group and individual interactions and not go home exhausted every night.

To Flip or Not To Flip - Part 1

   

Image from 123rf

     Let's face it. People either love the flipped classroom or they hate it. I'm right there with you. I was there trying out flipped right from the beginning.  I went to all the sessions about it at EdCamps all over Texas.  I learned all the "dos and don'ts" of how to do flipped such as make sure to quiz students over their flipped videos, punish those who don't watch, do activities in class, etc.  Well, some things worked for me and some didn't and some I just flat out didn't agree with.  Does this mean that I decided to throw the whole strategy out?  No!  I tried it out, some things worked and some things didn't,  but I kept at it and tweaked as I went.  There's no flipped classroom police that will arrest you if you don't follow all the "rules of flipped classroom."  So, I did what worked for me.
     You might be wondering why I'm even bringing up the flipped classroom in the first place.  Well, flipped classroom is one of the models in blended learning and it can be a really great place to dive in to blended learning if you are just starting out; however, I've seen it done well and it gave students tons of flexibility and really allowed for personalized learning, and I've also seen it done poorly where there is no real benefit to the classroom.  So, let's talk a little bit about how we can make flipped meaningful and beneficial to you and your students.
     Let's take a look at flipped learning through the blended learning lens.  Using the blended learning graphic, we'll start out by looking at flexibility in time.  The idea of flipped learning is that the teacher assigns a video to the students to watch at home before returning to class the next day.  The video replaces typical lecture and the students are ready to jump right into activities where they can apply what they learned in the video.  This seems like sort of a no-brainer when it comes to flexibility in time, right?  Students can watch the video anytime they want after school, at night, or in the morning before school, so what's the problem?  The biggest complaint that I hear about this set-up from teachers is what happens if my kids don't watch the video?  What if they don't have internet access at home?  Instead of letting these things become a problem that prevents you from trying out this model, let's think about how we can adapt to make this a win-win for everyone.  Here's my argument.  Flipped videos are supposed to be a maximum of 3-5 minutes long.  We are not talking about hour long lecture videos.  What if a student couldn't watch the video at home and they come to class?  Why can't they just pick up a device and watch the video for 3 minutes?  What's that you say?  We can't allow students to do this.  Then everyone will do this.  Now, let me ask you this?  Why is it so bad to give them the freedom to watch the video at home or in class?  Is it going to completely ruin your class if some students take 3 minutes of class time to watch the video?  I dare say no.  I gave students this freedom and it became more like on-demand learning.  Some students watched at home, some watched at the beginning of class and some watched at a later point in class when they needed the information.  This became a wonderful set up that allowed students to access help and instruction when they needed it.  They could watch a video more than once or even stop and start while they are working alongside the video.  The best part for me as the teacher was that I was now freed up to help students who needed extra help either individually or in small groups.  The years that I did this in my classroom were probably my favorite and I would say more students learned more that year than students in other years.

Image from Meme Generator

     Now that we've got the time issue worked out, let's take a look at place.  Offering students some sort of flipped experience, which by the way doesn't have to only be a video, gives students 24/7 access to learning.  No longer is the learning confined to the classroom on a specific day at a specific time and if you miss it, then tough luck.  Let's hope you never get sick!  Now, students that are sick can still keep up with the lessons in class and you don't get bombarded with questions at the beginning of class such as did we do anything yesterday?  Think about all the reasons students miss class - vacations, school sponsored activities, ISS, etc.  Now if kids miss your class for any reason, they have the flipped experience to guide them in their learning rather than depending on you, the teacher.
     Finally let's take a look at pace.  Thinking back to every class I ever had, (and there were a lot of them) I had students that needed me to go faster in my teaching, those that needed me to go slower and those that liked my pace the way it was.  I'm sure this is true for every teacher in America.  If I'm standing in front of the classroom teaching a lesson to the whole group, there is only one of me.  I can only go at one pace so I'm only meeting the needs of about 1/3 of my students.  That means the other 2/3 of my students are either bored or lost and confused.  By using the flipped classroom model, you can provide students with scaffolded lessons that they can access on their own when they need it.  What if we are talking about prepositional phrases, but I'm confused because I don't remember what a preposition is.  Now as a student, I can return back to a previous video or other learning experience about prepositions to refresh my memory, then I can return back to the current lesson.  While there is usually only 1 teacher in a classroom, this becomes a problem if you are teaching everything whole group.  But, if you are using the flipped model, students have many resources to help them learn what they need, essentially multiplying the teacher and also freeing that same teacher up to work with individuals that really need some one-on-one instruction and guidance to clear up confusion or further challenge them.
     So far we've looked at 3 of the 5 components of blended learning in this blog post.  Check back in next week when we look at flipped classroom can add flexibility to path as well as how we can continue to collect and use data to guide learning.

What Does Data Have to Do With It?

     If you look at the blended learning visual, you'll notice that data is the handle that supports the rest of the structure of blended learning.  You might be wondering why we decided to give data such a prominent place on the image when really the accepted definitions of blended just talk about having flexibility with place, pace, path or time. 
     Let me give you an example to illustrate how data can really change the game.  Let's say I decided to use the Flipped Classroom model. I assigned my class a video to watch at home before coming to school the next day.  I offered my students flexibility in place and time by allowing them to choose when and where they will complete their work.  The next morning, the students all came in to class.  I handed out a worksheet and asked them to complete it in class.  Now, I want you to think about this scenario.  What are the benefits of doing things this way?  How is it better than the teacher teaching the lesson live where students can ask questions and the teacher can check for understanding along the way?  Your answer might be that its not better.  Or you might say it allows the teacher time to assist students as they complete their worksheet.  Either way, I think we can agree that the benefits are small while the issues that arise such as students not having access to the internet at home may potentially be large.

image from 123RF

     Let's take the same scenario but incorporate the use of data this time.  This time the students were assigned a video to watch at home, but this time the video was in EdPuzzle with embedded questions.  The next morning the teacher pulled the report and saw all the grades of her students, which students didn't even attempt the video and which students started but didn't finish.  Now the teacher can use all of this information to guide what happens in class.  The students who did not complete the video, started out watching the video and answering the questions.  The students who received low scores on the questions started out meeting in a small group with the teacher for a reteach.  The students who were middle of the road started on their assignment while using the video for support if they get stuck.  The highest students went right to their assignment and completed it quickly or they could even be offered a challenge assignment instead with a video for support if they needed help.  Once the teacher finished meeting with the first small group, she was free to walk around and conference with individual students or pull more students to meet in a small group if needed.
     By just making a few tweaks and using our data, this lesson became an extremely personalized way to teach students.