In our textbooks we read about an educational concept called the "flipped classroom". A flipped classroom is a style of learning that blends online learning outside of the class, and instruction in person with a teacher. Chapter 10 in our book best describes this as students watching pre-recorded lecture videos before coming to class for homework. This concept of teaching makes me extremely uneasy. As someone who went to a Title I school in a very low income area, this teaching method seems overwhelmingly flawed and weak. First of all, this method would be put into place assuming children had a computer at their disposal. Also, there would be zero way to account for whether or not a student actually watched the lectures or just put one on, walked away, and came to class the next day behind in their studies. Telling kids its okay to have low attention spans during class, that they can just watch videos on a screen at home, seems like a very counter-productive way to raise up America's youth. I do however support using videos to help students if they need it. For example, I used
Khan Academy as a student. I would watch videos on math lessons I was having trouble understanding.
In a podcast we listened to, the words "open content" and "open sources" were brought up. This idea means that someone can access these content or sources with only minor restrictions due to licensing. These things can prove to be extremely useful to teachers who require extra resources during instruction. The website,
Open Content, provides a definition, examples, and overall better understanding of what "open content" means.
For the past two weeks we made PowerPoints. For these assignments we had to design a lesson we could teach via PowerPoint, and a game. I chose to teach my students about the three branches of government. I also chose to do the game Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. An example of something I learned from this assignment is that you can record audio over a PowerPoint! What! When I realized we had to do that for the assignment I was worried it was going to be a daunting, difficult thing to do. However, it was the simplest task with such and fun reward! I will use this in the future if I am ever presenting notes to students online. I can record myself elaborating on and explaining slideshows. Here is the title slide of my assignment:
I put Kahn Academy in my blog as well! I used these videos all throughout high school. It really made learning at home a lot easier.
ReplyDeleteI did not add audio because I thought it was that much of a hassle, but for next time I will try it!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I also wrote about Khan Academy! :) I also really love your PowerPoint, it looks great.
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