New Innovations and Lots of Questions

    As a teacher in training most of our education on education has been based in theorists and being critical of what has been done in the past. This of course has led to many new teaching techniques and developments, which we are starting to put into practice. There are some new ways of thinking which I am completely willing to embrace, like using more hands on activities, appealing to multiple learning styles and more specific things like the Backward Design Process. The Backward Design Process calls for some rearranging when making unit plans, and this is done by thinking of the major assessment tools and tasks before creating the everyday lessons. This to me makes sense, as you can set a goal and then work to achieve it. It also lets the students know what is expected of them by the end of the unit and they can work on the project or assessment throughout the course. This is just one of the many new innovations that are appearing in my education that I support. However, every now and then a new idea is put fourth that has me confused and unsure about integrating it into the classroom. For me currently this is caused by the flipped classroom. As to my understanding the flipped classroom is a new movement among teachers where they prerecord the lesson. Students then watch the lesson at home and then during class time activities are done to support the lesson. Now I am a bit skeptical about this, and the class discussion on this topic has left me with many questions.  So here is where I am left wondering and confused.

http://www.livescribe.com/blog/education/2012/07/17/the-flipped-classroom-infographic/

 (The links under the flipped classroom images, link the sources and websites that explain the flipped classroom)

1. What about asking questions?

While I support spending large amounts of class time doing hands on activities, rather than sitting and taking notes, I still believe that learning the lessons in class with the teacher is important. From my own personal experience having the teacher physically teach the lesson at the front of the class, or wherever they choose to stand or sit, has helped with understanding the lesson. Students can directly ask the teacher a question when they don’t understand or need something repeated. If there is no teacher to ask while you are at home, are you supposed to write down your questions and save them till the next day? What if your question hinders you from understanding the rest of the lesson? Having a teacher there, in my perspective, has allowed for questions to be asked and explanations given on the spot. The teacher can also react to the student’s responses and body language while teaching, and should be able to tell if multiple students are having problems or the lesson needs to be altered. With just having the students watch the lesson at home, the teacher won’t know if anyone understood until the next day. And this next day that is supposed to be for activities, could easily be taken up with multiple questions or a need to repeat the lesson if no one understands. The flipped classroom seems to take away the ability to ask questions directly to the teacher in that moment.

2. What about those who don’t have technology?

In most schools you will encounter multiple students that come from a low SES background. The flipped classroom advocates for the student to have the technology and resources available at home, and this is not always possible. Outside resources, like computers at the library are available, but some require paid usage. The flipped classroom to me assumes that all the students have access to technology at home, and this is an assumption that should not be made. Yes student have smart phones, but that doesn't mean they have a plan that supports data usage. Yes there are ways to access the internet outside of the home, but is that practical to assume that students have the ability to use these resources every day? The flipped classroom is something I can see as problematic to students without the technology or resources.

3. What about teacher accountability?

https://artofeducation.wordpress.com/tag/teacher-parent-relations/

As a future teacher one of the things that scares me the most is the parents. I don’t look forward to the day when parents start questioning the grades their child got. The flipped classroom to me is just calling out to parents to pounce. Taking away the teacher directly teaching the lesson puts the responsibility of learning in the students hands. Now don’t get me wrong I fully believe students need to take responsibility for the learning and should direct the learning when possible. However, this is taking the control out of the teacher’s hands and it can be hard to explain to parents that it was the student’s responsibility to learn the lesson that was not taught directly by the teacher. Confusing I know, it’s just a thought.

4. What about the humanities?

The examples that I have seen for the flipped classroom have revolved around science. Being a teacher for humanities I question how well it would work for something like history, where notes are needed but artifacts and physical examples can truly help the lesson. I think I just need to see examples where it has been done in a humanities classroom, where lessons can be heavily discussion and literature based.

5. Do you really want to expect students to sit down and watch a long video for home work?

http://ctl.utexas.edu/teaching/flipping-a-class/what

By taking the lesson out of the classroom and putting it in the student’s hands at home you are losing the guarantee that students will actually learn/watch the lesson. Kids are extremely busy after school with extracurricular activities, jobs and a good amount of homework. This video is to replace the homework but now it is not just a reinforcement activity or work that didn't get done, it is the majority of the lesson. And if the student doesn't watch the lesson how can they proceed in class? I do guess that this can be said for other types of homework and skipping class, but I think it’s a lot being put on to a student’s plate, no longer is it just homework it’s the entire lesson.

So those questions have been bouncing around in my brain since the topic of a flipped classroom came up. If anyone has any answers or comments that can help me out, I am all ears. 

Or will I?
 http://bartsblackboard.com/files/2010/03/the.simpsons.s17e16.jpg 

The Old Story and the New Story

Stepping forward in my education to become a teacher seems daunting. The world we live in is changing more than ever, specifically the teaching world, and it seems as if we are being asked to jump on to a fast moving train where the destination is unknown. No longer is education stationary, but it is quickly evolving and you have to keep up with it.  The concept of the old story of education transforming into a new story makes a lot of sense to me. I have witnessed as a student the ongoing transformation; receiving a blend of the old story ways and the beginnings of the new story.

In elementary school there was very little technology within the classroom. We copied hand written notes from the chalkboard, and examples were shown on overhead projectors. The only screens in the classrooms were the TV’s for watching Bill Nye the Science Guy and the lone computer, which was usually located on the teacher’s desk. We were expected to memorize multiplication tables, spelling words and cursive writing, all which was taught through repetition. As the years went on the library evolved into a large computer lab. Classrooms had multiple computers for students use and chalkboards changed to whiteboards. No longer were projects expected to be done on bristol board, but on a computer made slide show. Teachers taught with different learning styles in mind, and the lecturing format became rare. Project based learning, videos, hands on tasks and group work became more prevalent, along with the amount of technology in the classroom. By the end of my high school experience Smart boards were in most of the math rooms, and the teachers talked about the various seminars they attended on the ways they could use technology in the classroom. While all this change was exciting and the new story of education was emerging, technology seemed to become the base of class lessons.

Now I am an advocate for technology in the classroom, as it brings wonderful new experiences, and I rely on the technology I have in my life, like cell phones and the internet. I am a part of a generation that had their early childhood without texting and Facebook, but today have a great knowledge on how technology works and its future developments. As a student it was great to be able to see various examples online or on the Smart boards, and connecting with the teachers became easier. I loved the new assignments, such as creating Facebook pages for historical figures, making videos or even blogging about a book. These used the skills most of my peers had with social media and could be fun. As a future teacher I am excited to have the ability to take education further with technology and let the students use their skills; however I worry that technology has taken over the classroom and the basics are being lost.

 Classrooms today are fully a part of twenty first century digital education and I am a little nervous to enter this fully emerged world.  I worry as a future teacher that education is becoming too heavily reliant on technology and I have witnessed when a sole reliance on technology has gone awry. In lessons often slides and links did not work and if an electronic was broken the lesson was postponed, some teachers even tried to push the envelope too far. An example of this occurred in my high school where the teacher attempted to integrate cell phones into the lesson. We were to take a quiz as a class and text our answers to the provided number and the results would appear on the Smart board. While this seemed like an interesting idea, it became a mess in the execution. The school was designed in the early 1960’s and barely had air conditioning throughout the entire building, let alone cell phone service and wireless internet. Most students could not send their answers or participate in the exercises due to lack of service, payment plans or having a cell phone available. The quiz ended up taking more time than necessary and when the activity was done it was difficult for the teacher to get the students to put their phones away. It was a new story idea that was hindered by an old story building and a lack of full understanding of the technology and the will of the students. While changes are coming to help the new story develop, examples like these turn me away from complete reliance on technology.

There are many factors to consider when using technology in the classroom, such as the socioeconomic status of the school and students, resources available, and the ability to manage the technology as well as the class. Technology adds another layer to classroom management and assessment and this can be helpful and yet hindering. As a teacher if there is not complete knowledge and control of the technology, it is easy to get caught up in fixing the problem or device and in the process you lose the classes’ attention and even respect. I am also worried that the classroom will become overrun in electronics, and skills like note taking, hand writing and critical thinking without electronic resources, will become lost.

Technology does not always mean a better education. It is about finding the balance in using technology, and ultimately it is the teacher that directs the education not the electronics. It is using the other part of the new story, like project based learning and student directed learning that should work along with technology in the classroom. This can then appeal to multiple students’ needs and opens the door for further types of differentiation such as individualization and personalization as explained in the book Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom Assessment. We should not get too caught up with trying to find the latest and greatest device to use in the classroom. It needs to be about the teacher working with and managing the technology to enhance the lessons. While technology is the largest part of the new story, and opens many doors, it is important to go back to basics and remember parts of the old story. Not the entire old story was bad, and as teachers we cannot completely let go of the basics and become overrun by the new developments. This may just be the History student side of me who enjoys reading hand written letters and studying simpler times, but as a future teacher the amount of technology that is around can be daunting and managing the classroom has a whole new side to it. And I mean what’s wrong with cursive writing anyways.