The Advantages of Using the Flipped Classroom Method

Previously, my blog posts have been about different teaching styles and techniques that can be incorporated into the classroom to enhance 21st century learning. This week, I want to focus on a whole new method of teaching, as my fellow classmates and I are using this method currently to teach a lesson with- the flipped classroom method. This is a fairly new teaching method and not many teachers in the public school system use it, but it does have its many benefits.

So, what exactly is the flipped classroom method? Basically, it is a method in which the traditional style of teaching (teaching the content in the classroom and giving the application part as homework) is flipped to where content teaching is done at home and applying the content (homework) is done in the classroom. This teaching method is only possible due to the advancement of technology, in which students can watch virtual videos at home of their teacher teaching the content. While this seems unusual and unpractical, with many people pointing out the weaknesses of this teaching style, there are actually many pros and positives that can come out of this teaching method that I would like to look at.

I found a great article that lists 10 reasons flipped classrooms could change education. (http://www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2015/03/cosn-2015-10-reasons-flipped-classrooms-could-change-education). This article points out the many positives flipped teaching can have on both the teachers and the students and fully embraces technology in the classroom, reflecting on the model of a 21st century teacher. I am not going address every point but I do want to look at several important benefits that I did not think about before analyzing the flipped classroom method.

One benefit that I feel is very important to the students as well as the teachers is that the flipped classroom method individualizes learning. We all know that every student learns in different ways and at different paces. By allowing the learning to take place at home, students are able to re-watch the video if they'd like, take notes, draw pictures, pause the video at times; whatever works for them and fits their learning style.

Another benefit that reflects off of individualized learning is the maximization of class-time. Since the learning is done at home, there are so many more opportunities and activities to create in the classroom for the students, such as group discussions, enriching learning experiences, critical thinking activities etc. The students already know the content so there is more time and opportunities to apply to content- which is what is important in order to produce well-rounded and engaging students! This is essential for citizens living in the 21st century.

Teachers and students also get excited to use technology for teaching purposes and this allows both the teacher and student to be more engaged in the learning process. The use of technology is simply expected, as well, in our world and generation today, as the article points out: "For students, using technology in and out of the classroom isn't just fun, it's expected, says Fulton." This means that we must fully take advantage of technology in the classroom and use it to its maximum potential, which is why the flipped method is just one way in which we can expand this technology.

The flipped classroom method should not take over the traditional teaching method. Instead, it should accompany the traditional teaching method and both methods should be used to create an engaging, diverse, and well-rounded classroom setting. I will definitely be using some flipped classroom teaching in my classroom but will also focus on traditional teaching as well. As a 21st century meaningful and purposeful instructor, we must take advantage of all the different teaching methods out there and use a variety of methods to fully prepare our students for being citizens of the 21st century.
(This method reflects teaching standard 4.d)

Literacy in the 21st Century

As we continue our focus on the 21st century educator, I want to discuss the topic of literacy this week and how the definition has changed over the past few years in regards to what makes a student or person literate in our world today. Most everyone understands the definition of literacy as being able to read and write. This is great and teachers should fulfill the duty of teaching their students proficiently how to be literate in this sense, but is this all students need to be able to do in today's world? In a world that is constantly changing, using technology in almost every aspect of life, and using new skills in the workforce?

Literacy's definition has changed because our world has changed. According to the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English), literacy is defined as being able to be proficient in these aspects:

Gain proficiency with tools of technology

Develop relationships with others and confront and solve problems collaboratively and cross-culturally

Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes

Manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information

Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multimedia texts

Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments

These aspects do not just reflect on reading and writing, which is implied in the guidelines, but also shows the expectations for successful and active citizens in the 21st century. As future teachers, we must be able to teach our students these requirements , in order to produce truly literate citizens in our world.

An article I found entitled "Deeper Learning: Twenty-First Century Literacy" takes these points listed above and expounds upon them. For example, it specifies that gaining proficiency in technology means being able to filter what is relevant information on the Internet and being able to use this skill in the workplace. It also takes the two points "Manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information" and "Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multimedia texts" and explains the significance of students being able to exhibit these skills: "Schools need to be preparing students to masterfully navigate, judge, and create this type of sophisticated communication -- and do so quickly and efficiently."

Literacy in our world has truly changed and is constantly changing. There are many different types of literacy today (environmental, economical, digital etc.) and many diverse types of skills associated with these literacies. What does this new definition of literacy mean for teachers in the 21st century and for the teachers' classrooms? Teachers now have a duty to fulfill in teaching students how to be literate in the 21st century, not merely teaching them how to just read and write. If teachers want to be successful, meaningful, and powerful 21st century educators, they must fulfill this task and embrace it.

Links:
http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/21stcentdefinition
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/twenty-first-century-literacy-deeper-learning-rebecca-alber

TPACK- a New Form of Teaching in the 21st Century

Last week, the focus was on the SAMR model and why the SAMR model was so essential and necessary to the 21st century classroom and how it encouraged concept-based learning. This week, I want to talk about another important teaching model that highlights and captures the era we are living in today called TPACK.TPACK is very essential to all 21st century classrooms, as it uses and takes advantage of all the available resources out there in the world, and creates a model that all teachers should follow in order to be meaningful, purposeful, and powerful teachers in an engaging and student-centered classroom.

So, what exactly is TPACK? TPACK stands for technological pedagogical content knowledge and combines these three elements equally to produce an intentional and effective teaching strategy for 21st century teachers. Teachers must know and understand the content they teach, know how to teach this content, and know how to incorporate technology to support this content and these teaching practices. True and meaningful teaching occurs when a teacher uses all three aspects of TPACK: technological, pedagogical, and content.

Pedagogical and content knowledge were once the only two areas focused on by teachers. As long as teachers knew the content they taught and knew how to teach it, they were effective and purposeful teachers. However, in the 21st century this dynamic has changed due to the increase in technology, the wide availability of technology, and the many resources and opportunities that technology is now offering. We must make this shift and change in our teaching strategies and incorporate technology into our daily teaching for our benefit and for the students' benefit as well. Students in our world today constantly use technology and we must account for this by incorporating a variety of technological devices and sources.

I came across a very fascinating and thought-provoking blog that talks about the evolution in teaching strategies, in regards to TPACK. As mentioned above, content and pedagogical knowledge were the only two aspects in teaching before the 21st century. Then, at the start of the 21st century as technology became more rapid and available, we see a need for technology incorporation in the classrooms and a need for using technology to aid pedagogy. Today, things are just a bit different. With the wide, easily-assessable use of technology, we are seeing technology become part of pedagogy and seeing technology become seamless as it merges with pedagogy. As Meneghini states in the blog (link at bottom), "I will take one step further to say that technology is no longer the focus because pedagogy and technology are actually merging… More and more we see how fast changing technology is part of the world and how that impacts the ways people learn."

As we see technology becoming part of pedagogy, or in other words, seeing the way we teach being teaching through technology, it poses the question: what is the future of TPACK/ the teaching method? Meneghini suggests that: "...the supporting role of technology in learning will only grow and tend to becomes seamless." This means that technology will completely merge with pedagogy and pedagogy will be called "Pedagogy in the Digital World," creating a higher emphasis on pedagogy. Content is still in the picture, but it is not so highly focused on because content can be found and learned through the touch of a button with the empowerment of technology. Technology will become our teaching and learning in all aspects.

 

TPACK is truly a dominant and significant part of the 21st century classroom, as it requires teachers to equally use technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge in order to be meaningful, purposeful, and powerful teachers. TPACK and the SAMR model (mentioned last week) both embrace technology and use technology to its full potential, taking advantage of all the available sources technology has to offer. Technology is impacting how we teach or what strategies we use to teach the content. Truly, if we want to be successful and effective teachers, specifically concept-based social studies teachers, we will embrace and fully use the TPACK and SAMR model in our classrooms and teaching methods.

Here is the awesome blog! http://langwitches.org/blog/2013/12/10/is-technology-shoving-pedagogy-to-the-center-stage-tpack-reviewed/