The Flipped Classroom: 2012 Governor's Education Summit

Khan and Beyond
The Many Faces of the Flipped Classroom
2012 Governor’s Education Summit

Wednesday, May 2, 12

Dan Spencer
Educational Technology Consultant
for the Jackson County
Intermediate School District
Educator Emissary for Techsmith
Corporation
Michigan Center High School -
Chemistry, Physics, and
Engineering


Contact Information

Dan Spencer
Jackson County ISD
Email: dan.spencer@jcisd.org
Twitter: @runfardvs
Website: DanielVSpencer.org


Where to go for more

My Google Doc of Resources - bit.ly/spencerfc
Flipped Classroom Network - flippedclass.com
Ramsey Musallam - flipteaching.com
Brian Bennett - brianbennett.org
Jon Bergmann - flipped-learning.com


These are a few resources I share with teachers when I’m talking about the Flipped
Classroom. The Google Doc is something I created and full of links to helpful articles and
videos about the FC, equipment needs, screencasting software options, hosting sites,
learning management system options, misconceptions, issues to consider, and common
questions/concerns. The Flipped Classroom Network is a social network of more than 4,000
educators throughout the world, of all subject areas, and grade level who are sharing ideas
and resources about the FC. Ramsey Musallam’s website flipteaching.com is a wonderful
resource for the science and pedagogy of the FC done right. Brian Bennett is a phenomenal
FC teacher who reflects often about the good and bad of the FC in his blog. Jon Bergmann is
one of the pioneers of the FC and shares his resources at flipped-learning.com.

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off



These are some of my former students. They have a wide range of interests and abilities yet
they are all in the same class along with 20+ other students. How can I make sure they are
all learning and getting the attention they need to succeed. “One size ﬁts all” teaching is
convenient (and traditional) but it doesn’t work if we really want every student to be
successful.

Their Expectations:


I realized quickly when I became a teacher that not all my students learned the same way I
did. I also learned that my students had certain expectations of how they wanted to learn.
1.) If what I teach isn’t relevant to them and their world they will tune me out. 2.) They want
to collaborate and create rather than regurgitate. 3.) They want access on their schedule
whether it be at 2:00PM or 2:00AM. 4.) They want choices in how they learn.

Salman Khan: Let’s Use Video to Reinvent Education
2011 TED Talk

This is a clip from Sal Khan’s TED Talk on using video in learning. The FC was around long
before he talked about it and the example he gives is the FC at it’s most basic level but it’s a
good explanation.

Disclaimer

Khan Academy is a wonderful
RESOURCE
Khan Academy is not THE Flipped
Classroom
How does this improve valuable face-to-
face time?


It’s important to remember that while the Khan Academy is getting a lot of press (good and
bad) lately, the KA is a wonderful resource but it is not THE ﬂipped classroom. The FC at its
best focuses on using technology to improve the face-to-face time teachers have with their
students.

What it Looks Like

YouTube (Learning4Mastery) - The Flipped Mastery Classroom in Action


This is a short video made by Jon Bergmann and Aaron Sams showing how their ﬂipped
classrooms look. What kinds of things are happening? What kinds of things don’t you see?

A Student Perspective

YouTube (bennettscience) - Flipclass VSS


This is a short video made by Brian Bennett where several of his students give their
perspective on the FC.

vs.


My classroom before the FC: I talk at all my students during class, they nod their head and I
think they understand, they go home, get stuck, get frustrated, give up, and then we spend
the next class going over what they don’t understand.

Why can’t I be available to my students when they need my help the most?

My Flipped Class: Give students access to content so they can learn it on their schedule and
at their pace. Spend class time helping students on the questions they have. Spend class
time on higher order thinking skills and doing the activities that are most effective for
learning.

Flipped Classroom “Done Right”

Any time access to content
“At Your Pace” content
Choice and ownership of learning
When do students need my help the most?
Building relationships
Does this really help them learn?


Like all teaching methods there are effective and ineffective ways to do it. It’s important to
remember that the FC “done right” focuses on: 1.) Giving students any time access to
content, 2.) Giving students the ability to learn content in and out of class at their pace, 3.)
Giving students choice and ownership of their learning, 4.) Structuring my teaching so I can
be available when my students need my help the most, 5.) Building relationships with my
students through 1-on-1 time, and 6.) Using the best tools for the learning activity. If a
video doesn’t help them learn then don’t use it.

Flipped Classroom Spectrum

Content Libraries
The Flipped Classroom
Flipped Mastery
Beyond . . .


The FC is dynamic and ﬂuid which gives teachers the ability to mold it into something that
works for their speciﬁc situation. I like to call it the FC “spectrum”. Each area builds upon
the previous one which allows teachers to take “baby steps” as needed.

Content Libraries: Creating digital content of lectures, explanations, tutorials, etc and making
it available to students whenever they need it.

Flipped Classroom: Rearranging where and when content is delivered so teachers can be
accessible to students when they need help the most and class time can be used for more
effective learning activities.

Flipped Mastery: When content is accessible any time and the teacher is available to help as
needed why would we expect all students to learn at the same pace. In mastery students
advance through the curriculum as they demonstrate understanding.

Beyond: Student directed learning. Students know what they have to learn and then have
options for how to learn it and how to demonstrate that they understand.


MACUL has a wonderful resources called MI Learning that is free and open to all educators on
iTunesU. Many MI teachers are already sharing their classroom content with others.

Flipped PD

“On Demand” PD
Allows for more coaching and one-on-
one time with teachers


Now that I am the edtech consultant for Jackson County I’m using the FC in professional
development. Instead of wasting time doing ineffective group trainings where both the
teachers and I leave frustrated because login and password problems wasted half the training
time, I create edtech related tutorials that teachers can access at any time. Then when we do
meet together our focus in on using technology in the classroom rather than how to turn it
on.

Misconception #1
“So you’re telling me I can put 50 kids in
a computer lab and they can learn
chemistry with your videos?”


One of the biggest misconceptions about the FC is that a computer screen can replace a
teacher. This couldn’t be farther from the truth and those who try to do it this way won’t see
the learning improvements they are expecting. There are things teachers do better than
technology (building relationships, individualizing questions/comments/explanations,
classroom management, etc) and there are things that technology does better than teachers
(making content accessible 24/7, making content rewindable). The trick to the FC done right
is ﬁnding the intersection of what teachers does best and what technology does best.

Misconception #2
“I’ve done my work now I can grade
papers during class.”


This is not an excuse for being a lazy teacher. The key to effective FC is increase 1-on-1
student/teacher time. Effective FC teachers are up and moving through their classrooms, not
sitting at their desks.

Misconception #3
“This won’t work. Not all my kids have
internet at home.”


Access outside of school is a huge issue. We discovered that if you try to create a “one size
ﬁts all” solution it won’t happen. So instead of one “silver bullet” we found several “silver
BB’s” to give students access. For example, some kids have internet access at home so we
don’t have to worry about them. Some have a computer but no internet so we just saved the
screencasts onto USB drives that they would take home. Some students used their cell
phones. Some students used iPods. We purchased iPods for students to check out as
needed. Some students watched videos on DVDs we burned.

Misconception #4

The Flipped Classroom will look the same
regardless of subject area, grade level, or
teacher.
“There is no such thing as THE Flipped
Classroom” - Aaron Sams


There is no one such thing as THE Flipped Classroom and we shouldn’t expect it to look
exactly the same in every situation. That’s a good thing! It can be modiﬁed to ﬁt the needs
of the teacher regardless of grade level or subject area.

Questions?


The Flipped Classroom: 2012 Governor's Education Summit

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (19)

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (8)

Similar to The Flipped Classroom: 2012 Governor's Education Summit

Similar to The Flipped Classroom: 2012 Governor's Education Summit (20)

More from Dan Spencer

More from Dan Spencer (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

The Flipped Classroom: 2012 Governor's Education Summit