Flipped, Curated, Blended, Oh My!

During the ISTE 2012 conference, I had the pleasure of discussing blended learning with participants of #SocialEdCon. Facilitated by Craig Nanson, participants were asked to define blended learning and how they are implementing it in their classrooms. As participants responded, it was clear that the lines are blurred between flipped, curated and blended learning. Below is how I defined the three during the discussion:

Flipped Learning - Providing students with teacher-lead instruction outside of the classroom

Curated Learning - Student-lead research that combines student interest and their formal education

Blended Learning - An instructional environment that combines in-person instruction and online instruction

Several participants of this discussion group had their own personal definitions, while some had definitions that originated from their university or a particular cohort of educators. This conversation generated many thoughts about teaching and learning in the 21st century.

Regardless of the method of instruction, I believe the goal for today’s educators is to leverage the ubiquitous access students have to technology and resources. The overarching theme is student engagement and achievement. I think the most successful classrooms combine all three methods of instruction. However, in order to deploy each of these methods successfully, you must clearly understand each and know when to implement them. Below is a list of how I implement these strategies in my secondary classroom:

Flipped Learning

• Before students enter the program, I would like for them to understand how the class operates, how to use our equipment, how to submit work, and how to use the various online resources we have available. In the past, I would spend the first few days of school going over this material. Currently, the students are provided links to Podcasts that demonstrate the various tasks. Since flipping this portion of orientation, I am able to provide students with more meaningful activities. This ultimately affects the productivity of the class. In addition, it provides me early insight into how students learn and who is willing to do the work outside of the classroom.

• There are specific repetitive tasks that students will complete throughout the course. These tasks have been recorded and can be viewed by students as they need to be reminded.

Curated Learning

• Many of my students enter the class with a passion for multimedia. Some have taken courses, while others are simply hobbyists. My job is to leverage their previous knowledge and skills and provide the additional training and resources they need. For instance, if a student has an interest in photography and currently owns their own camera, I believe it is important for them to master the skills of taking great photos on the equipment they have access to. Considering the amount of manufacturers and models that are available, there is no way I can stay on top of it all. For that reason, I have the students curate their own learning by teaching them how to research information including blogs, wikis, manufacturer’s websites, and online tutorials. In this scenario, as the classroom instructor, I may never be able to quantify their knowledge. However, I discover their level of competency by observing how the students operate in class. In the scenario of the photography student, I can determine the student’s competency by asking them specific questions about their specific camera.

Blended Learning

• At times students may have difficulty with knowledge-based material that we discuss in the classroom. Often, I can provide students with specific resources for them to research. However, there are times when I need to restructure the lesson for students to gain a better understanding of the material. For these instances, I will use Google+ Hangouts, iChat, etc., to provide online instruction to my students.

• Because the students prefer that we use the class time to work on projects, I leverage their enthusiasm and provide informal discussions about the material online. This is especially important when we are developing ideas for our classroom projects. Instead of using class time to outline, write and storyboard our projects, the students will work on future projects outside of class, while producing other projects in class. Once again, we leverage our access to online resources in order to meet and discuss these projects.