As I read through the module
for this unit and experienced the various methods of instruction that are
utilized in an online or blended classroom experience, I could not help but
look at it from the perspective of a teacher, an administrator, and as a
parent. I wanted to be able to, as a teacher, understand how I can provide
better differentiated instruction for my students and meet their needs both
from an academic perspective and as a technology support perspective. As an
administrator, I wondered how many of our current teachers may be intimidated
or frightened by the prospect of blended or online learning communities. Do
they feel threatened by this type of learning offering and what can we do to
help them understand that this is a tool to help our students be as successful as
they possibly can. How do I allay those fears and encourage their further
investigation of such tools as the Flipped Classroom? As a parent, I was
encouraged by the prospect that no matter what area inspires my child there
will be a way to help him explore and learn and get excited about the adventure
of education.
There are two very important
changes that would need to be made to my instructional methodologies in an
online or blended learning environment. The first would be the timing and the
way in which I would interact with my students. Traditional classrooms allow
for a set period of time for teacher to student interaction; however, with the
online or blended classroom the traditional needs to be expanded to meet the
needs of the learner and the venue in which learning is occurring. As noted and
displayed by the online instructor for this course, the teacher needs to insert
themselves throughout the day to ensure that they are tracking the work of the
students, assisting when needed, and guiding instruction. This is dramatically
different from the face to face instruction that occurs in brick and mortar
classrooms. Adjustments need to be made to the course as in a face-to-face
classroom to compensate for the speed at which the students are successfully
progressing, to facilitate learning by clarifying the information, encouraging
the students to proceed even if the task appears daunting, and if necessary
extend the lesson.
Additionally, my second
important change would be the complete planning stage of a unit of study. My
timeline and development of the lesson would be radically changed. Lesson
planning for me at this point is a map to the end product. I reverse engineer
all my lessons. I take the standard, and then evaluate the essential questions
that need to be answered to provide proof of mastery and from there develop the
lesson that will bring the student to the position that they can answer the
essential questions. This often develops during the teaching process. In other
words, I have a rough map, projects and activities planned, assessments
developed but I have opportunity to interject and manipulate the day to day
events if salient quality opportunities are found. This would all need to be
done up front for a blended or online environment since students would have the
opportunity to be moving independently or as a group through a lesson at the
speed that they felt most comfortable (within the parameters set by the
instructor).
I was very impressed with the
idea of the “Flipped Classroom.” In some respects I have flipped my classroom;
however, to be completely flipped and have it integrated into an online course
or blended course, I would need to storyboard the entire process, develop
video, as well as instructional packets or resources, that would the help guide
the student in the process and provide helpful resources as they progressed.
While it does look like a lot
of work, I think the end product would be well worth the effort and not only
would the learner be engaged but I would be engaged and interested in the
material. Hopefully, that passion for the topic being presented would light a
fire of enthusiasm for the learner as well.
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