- Classrooms are now going home and homework is coming into the classrooms thanks to some new innovate ways of teaching with technology.
In some places, technology is turning school inside-out, with homework in school and lectures at home, delivered through iPads or other tablets. The Washington Post highlighted Stacey Roshan’s class, saying the philosophy of the so-called “flipped” classroom is that teachers can spend more time in the classroom with students who need help. This way, students can work to solve problems with guidance instead of suffering on their own to do homework outside of school.
Before the classroom was flipped, Roshan told the news source that her AP calculus class was pretty hard for some kids. Many couldn’t quite grasp the problems on their own and weren’t getting enough time with the teacher.
“My AP calc class was a really anxious environment,” Roshan said to the Post. “It was weird trying to get through way too much material with not enough time. It was exactly the opposite of what I was looking for when I got into teaching … [flipping] would create an environment where students could really work together. It would let me change the dynamic and bring that compassion back into the classroom.”
One student from Roshan’s 11th grade class, Brooke Gutschick, said she watches a video made by her teacher about four nights a week, according to the Post story. Each video is 20 to 30 minutes long, so much shorter than the average lecture would be in class. In class, Gutschick works with other students and the teacher, no longer having to struggle on her own.
“There is a lot more support with this and it’s a lot easier to learn,” Gutschick said. “You don’t get stressed out about what you are doing.”
In a piece for The Daily Riff, teachers Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams said one great benefit of flipping a classroom is that it helps increase the student-teacher interaction time. The role of the teacher essentially changes to learning coach, so there is more time spent talking with kids and less time spent simply lecturing a group of kids who may or may not be up to speed with what is happening in class.
“Since the role of the teacher has changed, to more of a tutor than a deliverer of content, we have the privilege of observing students interact with each other,” the teachers said. “As we roam around the class, we notice the students developing their own collaborative groups. Students are helping each other learn instead of relying on the teacher as the sole disseminator of knowledge.”
What do you think of the new classroom flipping trend? Is there any type of classroom computer or software you think would be very useful for this? Let us know!
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