O.M.G. Oh My God! That's what I first thought about when I heard about flipping the classroom. What a wonderful idea, to have the students do the lecture at home and the problems/applications in school. Would the students do it because it smacked of technology? Would they do it because it was someone else besides their teacher giving lecture? Would they do it at all? Or would it quickly, in the first few minutes, loose it's appeal and novelty and fall by the wayside like traditional homework does? What about those who don't have internet access at home? What about lower level learners? Would the content apply to them? I teach Special Ed, so would my students be able to watch and understand? They are certainly getting more out of videos I show in class than hearing me lecture. Would a lecture video be the merging of the two?
After viewing some of Khan's history videos, I would have to say that I couldn't use these videos as the sole lectures for class. They don't give out enough background information or vocabulary knowledge for my students to be able to understand them. I constantly have to define words that we read in the text book, or are even in questions from the text. He doesn't do enough of that, and I find myself thinking about this as he's speaking, saying, "but you have to define monarchy," or "you have to tell them where that is."
In theory I can't wait to try flipping! I can't wait to see what kind of classroom I end up with next year. I think that if I am with a higher grade (maybe 3rd-5th) I will try it. One of the best ways to try it would probably be with math as Khan seems to have a lot of videos on math. The video on basic addition really teaches step by step with counting objects as well as the number line. So in reality I don't know how I'll be able to "flip" next year. If I were to continue in my current assignment teaching Sped Social Studies (US History & Geography) at MAUHS I would probably use videos as a teaching tool just like I do now. I don't think I can rely on them to get my kids to mastery. But I can surely supplement the topics that we discuss in class. I don't think I can assign them for "homework" as I will have students who don't have internet access. That is an essential problem with assigning technology based work not done in class. It SOUNDS like a good idea, but not everyone has this access.
I agree it sounds like a good idea, but I think your idea of using the videos as a supplement is perfect. I think we just need to start small and start adding in these new tools slowly. I am getting ready to use my first blog for a summer reading program and I am very nervous! My luck I am stressing over this and only one or two kids will even try it!
ReplyDeleteMy initial reaction was similar—mostly because of how it could "free up" the school day for exciting, project-based, out-of-doors activities that can reinforce concepts or provide time for expansion of ideas. The more closely I looked at the videos, I saw what you describe: lessons in isolation of the bigger ideas. With all this connectivity are we losing the interconnectedness of ideas?
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you about Kahn's history videos. I watched one and thought his approach was too logistic. I think history is taught best through stories. Really the video I watched could have been just as effective as an audio recording.
ReplyDeleteIt is funny that you say that you couldn't use the lesson in Khan to be the sole lecture. After teaching many lessons on an Algebra topic, I had the students explore a few of the videos that might "broaden" their exposure...some of my students were more confused than they were when they started!
ReplyDelete