Let me explain. Picture me, best intentions in mind, leading my class through a slide show as they take notes. Now picture all 36 of my students, attempting to survive the note taking. Some are Instagramming each other under the desk. Two are engaged in a quiet spitball battle. One is shouting answers to my questions that continually end in the exclamation, “Aliens!” while another plays drums on his desk with a pen. Everyone needs to use the restroom. The twenty remaining students in the room are trying their best to ignore everyone else and at least get the notes down. I argue that putting adolescents in close quarters, and watching them struggling to pretend they don't notice each other's outrageous behaviors, is dehumanizing. It's not fun for any of us.
I am a novice at flipping lessons, but even so, each attempt I’ve made so far has been a win. In each case, engagement was high, which allowed me to walk around the room, interact with small groups of students, and generally enjoy the rich human-feeling of a room full of learners. So, can technology make you feel more human? Yes!
VoiceThread
- Why: Sometimes you just have to take notes. Works great for my students who need to hear text read to them, and is a fast alternative to accelerated students who can quickly read, make note, and move on.
- What worked and what didn’t: What worked for students was simple slides with clear visuals, so they knew what to write down- and a 15 or 20 minute maximum. Wordy slides got too confusing for self-guided first time I used this. Also, unlike a screencast, the “voice” is married to the slide. So I could re-record a single slide without having to re-record my whole cast.
- How I applied it: Students went through my presentation as fast or slow as they needed to, and took notes. Those who were absent had the link too, so they could make up the work.
- Barriers: Not many. Students need earbuds or headphones they can borrow.
- Assessment: I just used this to make sure they understood the basics, but you could easily add a slide or two at the end with questions added as a formative assessment. Again, students could see and hear the questions read aloud to them, and review at their own pace.
SnagIt Screencast
- Why: Because I don’t want to show students the same technical procedure over and over again.
- What worked and what didn’t: Saying, “Here’s a hyperdoc with a bunch of links that can help you,” did not work. However, demonstrating for the whole class what one of the screencasts looked like seemed to “open the door” for them. This was especially successful when a student would ask a procedural question and I’d point them to the corresponding screencast. My line went something like, “I’m going to lean on you to learn this one. Watch the screencast and try it out. If you still need help afterwards, let me know.” Shazaam.
- How I applied it: I made a short animated film trailer using some of the central features of GoAnimate. Then I made a series screencasts showing how I used the program to make each one, so that my students could use those same features in their animations.
- Barriers: Just because the screencasts were available, didn’t mean my students would watch them before asking me first. That took a bit of culture-building.
- Assessment: In this case, I know students “got” what they watched in screencasts because they started using special animation features within a day… last year it took a week!
EdPuzzle
- Why: 1) to quickly isolate just a part of a film clip you want students to watch, and 2) to incorporate student response instead of passive video-watching
- What worked and what didn’t: Finding and editing the film clip I wanted to use, plus adding a response question, took less than ten minutes. But I didn’t have students sign up for accounts, create a gradebook, etc. because I was short on class time. I showed the film clip, which ended with a question, to the whole class- which spurred great discussion!
- How I applied it: I showed my class six minutes from a RIDICULOUS old Star Trek episode, and asked them what themes it shared with The Giver.
- Barriers: There’s a minor time barrier getting students signed up and enrolled in classes. But if you plan on using EdPuzzle frequently, it’s worth the input.
- Assessment: This is where EdPuzzle shines. You can embed questions throughout assigned videos, and the program will track students’ time spent watching/responding, and record their answers. It even has a feature that prevents skipping as students watch the videos!
Each time I employed one of these “flipping” tools, time spent preparing for class paid off tenfold when I had students in the room. Students were enabled to go at their own pace, see and hear instruction, and generally be in charge of their own situation. I was enabled to work the room, chat with students, and generally enjoy my job. In short, technology enabled all of us to be a bit more human.