Week Seven

2nd May, 2017

Blended Learning

The definition of blended learning is a formal education program in which a student learns: (1) at least in part through online learning, with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace; (2) at least in part in a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home; (3) and the modalities along each student’s learning path within a course or subject are connected to provide an integrated learning experience.

Blended Models (see http://tinyurl.com/tmlblended)

These blended learning models come from the Clayton Christensen Institute

• Rotation model 
  
  • Station Rotation
  • Lab Rotation
  • Flipped Classroom
  • Individual Rotation 
• Flex model
• A La Carte model
• Enriched Virtual model

Flipped Classroom

The idea of the flipped classroom as first developed in 2007 by Bergmann & Sams (2012), who describe their experience in their book "Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day". The idea behind a flipped model of education is that much of the content is covered outside of the classroom through bite sized (under 10 minute) video clips, quizzes and collaborative discussions. Subsequently deeper learning can occur in the classroom through face to face discussion which can apply, evaluate and contextualise the content as well as enhancing collaborative activities, strengthening relationships, developing communication skills and other key competencies. The pedagogical approach has to be adapted and the mode of teaching must change to a more student orientated practice as the content (often teacher led) part of the session has already been covered. A flipped method fits in extremely well with many different learning areas but particularly links well and supports active learning experiences; more time for hands on learning and less time stuck in the classroom.

One interesting approach suggested by Schell (2013) is that it is best not to t tell students you are “flipping” or “experimenting” since they might be resistant to the idea. Instead, just go ahead and do it (stealth flip'). She also suggests that just flipping the classroom is not enough; you probably also need to rethink your assessment practice.

Tools for Creating Content for Flipped or Blended Lessons

EdPuzzle

A simple tool to add content to existing videos. Can use video content from multiple sources within the site, or upload your own video. It’s also easy to “crop” videos so you are only showing the section of the video you want students to watch instead of the whole thing. Insert questions anywhere in the video you want and have multiple choice questions automatically graded. Teacher view shows you which students have watched the video and how they fared on the questions. https://edpuzzle.com/

There is a slide set that provides some teacher instructions for EDpuzzle.

TED-Ed

TED-Ed is TED’s youth and education initiative. Using any video on TED-Ed, TED Talks or  YouTube, teachers can create and customize lessons for their students. There are four elements, Watch, Think, (teachers can create multiple choice or short answer questions), Dig Deeper, (provide more information), and Discuss (prompts for online discussions). http://ed.ted.com/lessons

BlendSpace

Blendspace is an easy-to-use platform for creating multimedia lessons that can be accessed online. Using a drag-and-drop interface, can organize videos, text, links, images, and quizzes into cubes, then organize them to create lessons, or "canvases, " for your students to complete independently. https://www.tes.com/lessons

Leadership

Emotional Presence Online?
"emotion may impact the experience of online learning... emotional presence may exist as a fundamental element in an online community of inquiry".

Words on their own aren't always what you meant.

Online and Distributed Leadership

When leading students through new or unfamiliar online learning environments it is important for the teacher to establish a strong social presence so that they feel a similar sense of community and group cohesion.

Digital Citizenship/Cybersafety Is there a difference? 

How often do we teach students about digital citizenship or cybersafety? 

Netsafe NZ describe the qualities needed to be a successful digital citizen and the importance of Digital Literacy. Netsafe What is a 'Digital Citizen'?

Leading Online Discussions (MindEdge Learning Workshop, 2014).

• Set guidelines
• Make connections
• Challenge students to think critically
• Encourage participation
• Praise discussion posts
• Guide conversations back to the question at hand
• Use real world experiences
• Hesitate before interjecting

What tools can we use to facilitate online discussions?

• Digital Life
• Edmodo
• Facebool
• Twitter
• WOW
• G+
• Todaysmeet
• Blogger
• Google Docs

Why Use Twitter?

• encourages brevity
• not anonymous
• can reply
• use other tools to make tweet manageable
• can add weblinks
• Can be linked from blogs etc

Twitter Terminolgy

• tweet
• foloower
• hastags
• reply 
• retweet
• modified tweet
• hat tip (HT) - this is where it came from
• Direct message (DM)

Use tweets to find relevant ideas for your LEADERSHIP 1 assignment, you could...

• Search with relevant keywords or find twitter feeds from your reference list e.g. Daniel Goleman
• retweet a relevant twitter feed
• DM someone
• Start a twitter feed of your own, something that others can follow. eg. What do people say about change initiative/theory
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