Education Idea: Flipping
I found this interesting:
Students watch short online videos of lessons at home and do homework in class with their teacher’s help….The videos are mostly created by the district and led by the best teacher on a topic. And when kids do homework, they’re getting help from their teacher, rather than parents at home….Teachers say the method frees up time to make sure students understand.
“It’s made my job a lot easier,” said Chris Carpenter, a social studies teacher. “I do like this model, because what we’ve done for the last 10 years just wasn’t working anymore.”
…flipping allows the school to put the best expert in front of students at all times. The best teacher on a topic makes the online videos, so one teacher can reach hundreds of students.
And when kids do homework in class, they’re getting help from their teacher rather than parents who might struggle with the material. Teachers say flipping at times quadruples the amount of time they spend working directly with students — ensuring students have a firm grasp of the lesson.
The initial returns are good, but it’s a small sample and there are hazards (as always). Regardless, it shows how technology allows us to break old models and try new ones that may work better in today’s day and age.
I really like this, I’ll bet it will be more effective than traditional classes for the ‘YouTube Generation’.
If public schools had ‘flipping’, ‘traditional classrooms’, and ‘hands-on intensive tutoring’ instead of just the middle option, I’ll bet we’d have much better results at similar costs (since the savings on the former could pay for costs of the latter).
Bryant held a workshop on this concept. The Khan Academy has thousands of short videos (free) for schools unable to resource making their own. The Gates Foundation is pouring money into his initiative.
http://www.bryant.edu/programinnovationblog/?p=14