Taking the Plunge (into tech ed)

Video can be a very useful tool for education, but so much of what is available is above the level of my 7th grade students to understand independently, which renders it mostly useless for the flipped classroom. That is why I love Brainpop. Its videos make perfect entry-level introductions to a wide range of topics in history and other topics . Furthermore, it provides follow-up activities and lessons, allowing me to hold my students accountable.

I have used Brainpop videos often this year to introduce or reinforce lessons taught in class, usually at home (flipped model), and sometimes in the classroom.

Just last week I used one in the middle of our research project to reinforce the concept of source reliability. Given the world wide web (literally world wide), I can’t think of a much more critical lesson for students in the modern generation, students who think that Google is their major source of information, rather than understanding that it is only a window to other places.

Flipping the classroom with Brainpop creates great learning!

To help the students with one step in this process of understanding the world of information, I used Brainpop. Following some tips I picked up from other bloggers, I gave my students with an overarching question to consider before they went home to watch the video: How do you know if your source is reliable? It’s been a subtheme for our research all year, and I felt like now they were ready, based on their experience and prior lessons, to truly evaluate sources on their own. Up until now, we have basically required students to follow the steps provided, which forces them to begin with the most reliable sources (academic encyclopedias and databases).

After a very brief intro to the question and topic, I sent the students home. I assigned them to watch the video at home, complete and submit the related quiz, and then answer the questions on a worksheet I provided for them.

The next day they came to class full of ideas around reliability, and I wanted them to reinforce and apply their understanding. For the final stage I used a think-pair-share around the questions on the worksheet. This got them discussing their thoughts about reliable research. Once they were done with that, I gave them a list of 10 types of sources and asked them to rank the sources as a team. This sort of evaluation forces them to really consider the relative merits of each type of source, and hopefully, sets in their minds the learning objectives, 1) that all sources have some reliability, 2) some are much more reliable than others, and 3) even 7th grade students can use their knowledge and skills to help determine reliability.

Overall, I feel that the combination of video, discussion, and application in a flipped classroom model is a powerful learning tool that motivates students and engages them in higher levels of learning without even realizing it.

I’ve been having a lot of fun exploring other people’s ideas about using video as part of effective teaching. The internet, and most especially the blog world, is rich with anecdotes that build on my understanding. Many of these do not even touch on history, yet they inform my teaching as well as any history blog.

The blog below, by “Nev,” explores the power of video in math instruction. He nicely presents a very logical argument for the power of video to engage students through “authentic” instruction.” He says, “engagement is enhanced when students are interested, challenged and feel that the work / task is important.” Video, when it is used well, can engage the students by encouraging them to ask and then answer questions about math in ways that textbooks and lectures probably won’t.

I agree. Video can be engaging, when it is used well. But it should never be left to itself as a means of instruction. What I liked most about Nev’s message is the idea of “unpacking” video, exploring the assumptions, equations, and methods inherent to its story. This is similar to the way that I used the Schoolhouse Rock video to challenge students with the idea that history is founded upon the perspective and goals of its authors.

Ma and Pa Kettle Do Math

Here are my notes from the blog, excerpted with the great tools of Diigo.

Exploring education: Mathematical engagement – images to delight, ignite and excite

• Any number of studies have endorsed this notion that engagement enhances achievement. The next issue is how to generate engagement?

• Authentic learning is defined as that which is cognitively challenging and connected to the world beyond the classroom.

• The study found that student engagement could be improved by up to 22% by shifting to inquiry-based problem solving as the method of instruction.
• Several educational reformers,   such as the teams at the Apple Classroom of Tomorrow Today and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, also advocate the increased and improved use of technology and multimedia in our classrooms to enhance both engagement and learning.

• A good video cries out for “unpacking”.

• The Internet is a rich source of such videos.

• The use of such images is one way that we can delight,  ignite and excite our students – or at least increase engagement.

 For my final project, I will examine the ways in which video can enhance learning in our unit on Westward Expansion in U.S. history. I am inspired by the new character education program in our school, which used several brief, 2-minute video scenes as launching points for great discussions about character. I am encouraged by the new YouTube channel for teachers, which demonstrates a growing need for educationally sound and child-safe videos. I am intrigued by the potential of video to capture moments in time and historical perspectives. And I am challenged by the possibilities of using video as the basis for a flipped classroom.

For my final project, I will be asking, and hopefully answering, a number of questions, about the use of YouTube and other video sharing sites:

·        Do these video sites offer meaningful video content for my classes?

·        Do these video sites offer developmentally appropriate content?

·        How can I safely share these videos with my students?

·        How can I use video to prepare my students for the flipped instruction?

·        How can I find good video material?

·        How can I store the links or the material itself?

·        How can I edit the material so that I only use what I want?

·        How can I do all of this efficiently?

When I am done, I expect to be a much more efficient and effective user of video in the classroom, demonstrated by the ways that I embed video into my unit on Westward expansion.

I still feel like a newbie here, but I’m liking the sound of the flipped classroom (great infographic here that illustrates the concept well), especially now that I’m teaching 45 minute classes. Forty-five minutes goes by so fast, and it seems that all I am able to do so far is present and review the basic material. But what if my students could pick up the basic facts themselves? Would I need all 45 minutes to present them? I could do much more with that 45 minutes.

There are some challenges in this model, for sure. Most seventh grade students do not possess strong study skills, so they do have difficulty accessing the material on their own. Last week, when I assigned some questions from the textbook, a number of my students struggled to answer the more complicated questions, even when the answers were in the textbook.

If flipped classroom is going to work, the material needs to be quite accessible to the majority of the students without much intervention from the teacher. Technology can certainly help here. Brainpop videos, which I have used quite a bit this year, work very well.  Unlike the vast majority of online resources, they are designed for middle school students, and presented in a way that is very accessible, even to students with limited language skills.

But even in a flipped classroom, some sort of preview is necessary before sending students home to access the material. They need a frame of reference, a box in which to put the new information. This daily preview should give them enough of a starting point to get them through the material alone, without my help.

Here’s one way to work around this challenge: Scaffolding. If I set up several different levels of information, I can offer basic learners material that fits their needs, but challenge the stronger students with more in-depth info. This could prove meaningful in the classroom portion as well, as students who prefer the challenging material can take off with the topic and develop their interests. I have one student who watched all the Brainpop videos on American history over the summer, and now he can answer nearly all the questions in class. This is a perfect candidate for the flipped classroom – instead of using class time going over the same basic concepts, he can now use class time to run with the big ideas, putting them into play with some type of project that truly engages him. I could even set him up with a few peers who share his passion, and watch them roll!

without internet!

All week, I’ve been without a convenient internet connection. And I’ve paid the price.

All day Monday, I sat on pins and needles, trying to find out if my fantasy team had won or lost their matchup this week (they won!). This is important stuff!

Then I struggled with the 3G connection on my iPhone trying to find out the weather forecast. I finally gave up.

I also wanted post to this blog, but I just couldn’t find a good internet connection to do it.

Life is hard … without the internet. Especially when you live in the cloud. Buyer beware!

I love the advantages that the cloud brings (see my last post), but none of those are any good without decent internet, and I’ve really noticed that this week. For so many of us, technology performs such amazing tricks that we begin to expect miracles. With the right technology, we begin to think, we can solve any problem.

The problem is, there are always problems. And most of us are beginning realize this. Adoption of technology is very much like the path of adjusting to a new culture (or spouse): the honeymoon (we romanticize it); the near divorce, (we almost hate it); and finally, the successful marriage (we appreciate all of its wonderful traits while accepting some that we will never love.)

I think many people are now reaching the last phase with technology – a content marriage. We are beginning to reach a certain understanding: if this technology is going to work for me, I am going to have to accept some rough patches, to be creative in problem solving, and to ask for help.

With our growing reliance on the cloud, we face an even greater threat to our technologically dependent lifestyle – the lack of internet connection. Without internet, The Could is as useful to us as any other cloud floating in the sky. If we live in a modern, vibrant city, we may be lucky enough to have constant, reliable connections (and grow very dependent on those). However, the moment we move away from these safe situations, we encounter unknown difficulties, and our lifeline to the outer world can be desperately cut off.

So, like any other challenge in life, we learn to compromise our dreams to match the reality around us: the cloud works, and it can work well, but you need to have a backup, and you need to be a creative problem-solver. If the internet goes down, what else can you do? Can you store documents on your desktop? Can you patch together a connection with your phone? Can you communicate with text instead of email?

There is no simple solution, but there is usually a solution of some sort, especially if you plan ahead. And then, when there isn’t … well, it’s time to appreciate our grandparents, who also lived, survived, and succeeded without the internet!