teaching with technology

By Kevin Makice

"Evansville (Indiana) science teacher Brian Bennett describes the Flipped Classroom as an ideology, not a methodology:

'Video itself will not help kids achieve more in your class. The flipped classroom is about making connections with learners and differentiating your instruction. If videos are a part of that multi-faceted plan, great. If they are not, still great.'

"Sams seems to concur: “Anyone who blindly adopts ‘The Flipped Classroom’ (or inquiry, or lecturing, or unschooling, or whatever) model and never modifies it to meet the needs of his or her students will blindly lead his or her students into educational ruin.”

Entering Phase Three

Moving a lecture online changes where that information is consumed, not necessarily the degree of student engagement or its effectiveness. Curricula provider Mathalicious critiqued Khan Academy as “one of the most dangerous phenomena in education today.” That argument is not directed at the site itself, but centers around the negative impact Khan may have on innovation. The Khan style of teaching is the same step-by-step process that students have seen for generations:

'Khan Academy is great for what it is — a supplemental resource; homework help — but we’ve turned it into something it’s not. Indeed, something it was never intended to be.'

"For Fred Singer, CEO of Echo360, the Flipped Classroom movement represents an important progression toward “Phase Three” of education reform: blended learning. Meaning, the digital form moves beyond simply augmenting face-to-face teaching into a peer role where online and offline interaction directly supports learning goals. State legislators are coming closer to endorsing blended learning as a required experience."