Flip, mix, blend
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: Active Learning
This challenge asks you to think about the ways that you and your students use your time together. Students have access to so much information from so many sources that a lecture may not be the best use of your class time. Here are a couple of definitions of Flipping the Classroom and Blended Learning to get you started:
Flipping the classroom, or ‘inverted teaching’ is a response to the idea that class time can be used to engage students in learning through active learning techniques, rather than through delivering lectures alone. Flipping the classroom is the process of replacing traditional lectures with more student-centered learning strategies, such as active learning, discussions, problem-based learning, and other forms of group work and peer instruction. Content delivery is moved outside of the classroom, for example, through videos, or pre-class readings.
is a formal education program in which a student learns at least in part through delivery of content and instruction via digital and online media with some element of student control over time, place, path, or pace. While still attending a “brick-and-mortar” school structure, face-to-face classroom methods are combined with computer-mediated activities
Mixing it up
Sometimes we think about assignments as exclusive to online or to the classroom. This doesn’t have to be the case.
Here are some simple ideas for flipping, or blending course activities:
- Have students do readings or viewing video before they come to class so that you can use the time more productively
- Move some activities online so that students can work on them collaboratively and on their own time.
- Have students find, post and share relevant articles, links or ideas online
- Create a twitter hashtag #yourcoursename and have your students communicate about the course that way
- Have students tweet, or post a concise explanation of a concept
- Have students record and post presentations instead of doing them in class
Things to Consider:
- If you find that students don’t do the readings or assigned tasks before class consider a pre-test online where they must answer a few questions before coming to class. Or, have them write an open ended discussion question about the materials to bring to class.
- It may not work perfectly the first time you try to blend, flip or mix up an activity. Ask for student feedback on what worked, or didn’t work for them.
- Always remember that you have to be able to assess the activity and don’t make things too complicated for yourself or your students.
Here are a couple of Examples that take these ideas further:
This Business instructor was teaching the same course to both online and in class.students. He noticed that online students were missing out on some of the key learning opportunities the in class students had and he wanted to make the experience better for them. In class students did an ‘elevator pitch’ to propose a business idea. He had the online students record their elevator pitches and post them to Vimeo or youtube. The students could watch and provide feedback on the video pitches. What he found was the quality of the feedback was superior to the feedback in class presentations. The students were so nervous in class, thinking about their own pitches that they couldn’t pay attention to what anyone else was doing. Now all of the students do video pitches.
With the same instructor, students participated in a Venture Challenge. Teams were given $5.00 to start a business and raise money for charity. It was a very popular activity but the online students couldn’t participate until he created The Online Venture Challenge:
Online Venture Challenge Royal Roads University
Student teams start an e-commerce site. It took a few tries to get it working, at first they just conceptualized it, but it wasn’t long before students were creating exciting sites and raising significant money for charity. And, the students have actual businesses to move forward with if they choose. Now all the students do an online venture challenge.
Your task
What can you do with (or are you already doing) with your course to mix things up? Is there something that you think can only be done one way just because it always has? Tell us about how you plan blend, flip, or mix up something in your course. Is this idea new to you or have you been doing things like this already? How far can you push the boundaries of the classroom?
Share your blended, flipped, or mixed activity in the responses. Have you tried something like this that didn’t work? Those experiences are valuable too.
Resources:
Online Venture Challenge: Detailed Instructions
Example for "Flip, mix, blend":
http://oer.royalroads.ca/moodle/course/view.php?id=11
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