10 TED Talks That Could Be Used As Course Titles I was perusing my morning Twitter stream and came across a few friends discussing the current state of course titles. Long story short, most are still stuck in the dark ages. Biology 101? World History 1812-Present? In this day and age of short attention spans, flipping of classrooms, and rethinking of education… it’s time to rethink course titles. In an effort to give school administrators and teachers a guidepost with which they can rethink current course titles (what better time than in July, right?) In other words, make the course titles sexier, the descriptions more attractive, and get students excited to attend a class before they even step foot in the classroom for the first time. So, without further ado, here are potential course titles that are actual TED talks / TED categories. Inventions That Shape History (Could be a course on world history or even engineering / physics.) The Way We Think (Could be a course on sociology, anthropology, philosophy, Kant, Sartre, etc.)
The Flipped Classroom: Pro and Con I recently attended the ISTE conference in San Diego, CA. While I was only there for about 36 hours, it was easy for me to pick up on one of the hottest topics for the three-day event. The "flipped classroom" was being discussed in social lounges, in conference sessions, on the exhibit floor, on the hashtag and even at dinner. People wanted to know what it was, what it wasn't, how it's done and why it works. Others wanted to sing its praises and often included a vignette about how it works in their classroom and how it transformed learning for their students. What It Is According to the description on ASCD's page for the newly released book, Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day, by flipped classroom pioneers Aaron Sams and Jonathan Bergmann, "In this model of instruction, students watch recorded lectures for homework and complete their assignments, labs, and tests in class." What It Isn't Why It Works Why It Doesn't Work Why It's Nothing New Why It Matters
The Flipped Classroom: Pro and Con In 2012, I attended the ISTE conference in San Diego, CA. While I was only there for about 36 hours, it was easy for me to pick up on one of the hottest topics for the three-day event. The "flipped classroom" was being discussed in social lounges, in conference sessions, on the exhibit floor, on the hashtag and even at dinner. People wanted to know what it was, what it wasn't, how it's done and why it works. What It Is According to the description on ASCD's page for the newly released book, Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day, by flipped-classroom pioneers Aaron Sams and Jonathan Bergmann, "In this model of instruction, students watch recorded lectures for homework and complete their assignments, labs, and tests in class." The authors go on to explain that the model is a mixture of direct instruction and constructivism, that it makes it easier for students who may have missed class to keep up because they can watch the videos at any time. What It Isn't
Harnessing the Internet to Provide Low-Cost Higher Education - Mission: Innovation A University of the People student from Haiti (Photo courtesy of University of the People) University of the People has an ambitious goal: to use the Internet to provide an extremely low-cost college education to students around the world. And the nonprofit’s big idea is starting to gain traction with grant makers. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded $500,000 to support the university’s effort to gain accreditation. The grant comes on the heels of recent awards by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Intel Foundation, and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Since its inception in 2009, University of the People has enrolled 1,500 students from 132 countries. “If you educate one person, you change his life,” says Shai Reshef, the technology executive who founded and leads the university. While University of the People uses the Internet to deliver courses, the organization takes a straightforward, no-bells-and-whistles approach to technology. Seeking Sustainability
User Generated Education Flipped learning: A response to five common criticisms One of the reasons this debate exists is because there is no true definition of what “flipped learning” is. Over the past few years, the Flipped Learning method has created quite a stir. Some argue that this teaching method will completely transform education, while others say it is simply an opportunity for boring lectures to be viewed in new locations. While the debate goes on, the concept of Flipped Learning is not entirely new. Dr. It’s our opinion that one of the reasons this debate exists is because there is no true definition of what Flipped Learning is. Dr. Flipped Class Helpful Documents After the #flipchat at the beginning of July, I wanted to have a single place where I could add documents that I talk about in my blog. Hopefully this will make it easier for everyone to find what they are looking for. I am putting all of the docs on through Google Docs. Please feel free to use them and modify them for your own uses. Parent/Student Flipped Class Intro Letter - I sent this letter to all my parents and students prior to the first day of class last year so that they would have an idea of what the new class structure would be. Flipped Parent Video - This video is new for this year. Class Outline (given to students on 1st day) - This is what I used last year. Unit Assignment Sheet - Here is a copy of a unit assignment sheet. New Unit Assignment Sheet - I have updated this to be easier to read for the students. Performance Assessment Rubric - This is the best rubric for performance assessment I have ever seen.
Carolyn Foote: Where Is the Media? I just returned from the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) annual conference -- an international gathering of over 15,000 educators and leaders and representing more than 100,000 ISTE members who are highly involved in using technology in their schools. Many of the "best of the best" practitioners of instruction are there sharing with their colleagues, having serious conversations about issues in education. And yet where was the media? When I run a Google search for ISTE 2012 and the New York Times, the only stories I find in the top page results are about new products from three vendors in the exhibit hall and one about the New York Times presenting a session on their new product. There are so many stories going on inside of our schools -- stories that are fascinating and complicated. These are all fascinating stories and fascinating conversations to be had with teacher-leaders who attend conferences like ISTE.
The Flipped Classroom: A Pedagogy for Differentiating Instruction and Teaching Essential Skills July 31, 2012 by Scott Sterling Summer is almost over and some educators, when thinking about the upcoming school year, may be considering “flipping their classroom” as a new method for instruction of essential skills. A flipped classroom is one in which the background learning of a particular topic or skill occurs outside of class time - utilizing technological tools like videos and podcasts to teach the essential skills. This leaves class time free to work collaboratively on the higher-order thinking needed to utilize these skills. In other words, class time is now free to spend working with the students because everyone has already received the background instruction that takes up so much time in the traditional classroom. For example, let’s say you are teaching the Pythagorean theorem. The students are instructed to watch the instructional video and then post one question about the theorem on your online classroom message board. For further reading: Related reading :
The truth about flipped learning By Aaron Sams and Brian Bennett Read more by Contributor May 31st, 2012 Ultimately, flipped learning is not about flipping the “when and where” instruction is delivered; it’s about flipping the attention away from the teacher and toward the learner. A flipped classroom is all about watching videos at home and then doing worksheets in class, right? Wrong! Consider carefully the assumptions and sources behind this oversimplified description. Is this the definition promoted by practitioners of flipped classrooms, or sound bites gleaned from short news articles? Many assumptions and misconceptions around the flipped class concept are circulating in educational and popular media. Assumption: Videos have to be assigned as homework. Although video is often used by teachers who flip their class, it is not a prerequisite, and by no means must a video be assigned as homework each night. Resulting misconception: Videos are just recorded lectures.