INF533 Part A: Digital Project Context

My digital story telling project will be a content for flipped learning. My artefact will be aimed towards a Catholic middle school in the inner southern suburbs of Adelaide. The school is co-educational and caters for years 7-9. It feeds into the associated senior school with year 10-12. Students have 1:1 access to Chrome Books which are used in most lessons. The school site uses Google Classroom as its main learning system, this is support by SEQTA for administration and pastoral activities. Students are experienced in the use of Google Classroom to access subject content and submit tasks online.

Subject Area:

The flipped learning task will be linked to the Australian Curriculum, Year 7 Civics and Citizenship. The task will cover the concepts of constitution and federation. Depending on past experiences, this may be revision of prior learning or development of new knowledge.

Purpose:

Flipped learning is the process of setting content-based learning for students to complete out of class (eg. homework). The use of flipped learning tasks enables class time to be used for discussions, exploration, analysis of content, and student questioning.

The task will be based around video content sourced through the Parliamentary Education Office (creative commons licensed). The task will be designed on Wix, and following some design elements from TED Ed Lesson Creator, such as the inclusion of think questions and discussion prompts. There are two sections to this task which could be completed by students at different times. The use of Wix allows for the sequential placement of videos, overarching introduction and conclusion, inclusion of student questions, and opportunities for collaboration between class members. The use of student questions will inform the teacher as to any areas of confusion and questions to respond to in future lessons.

Audience:

This task is aimed at a class of Year 7 students. The class has several students with diverse learning needs.

Value for program implementation:

Flipped learning is the process of delivering direct instruction to students in their individual learning space (FLN, 2014). According to Educause (2012), the value of flipped learning is in the reallocation of class time to provide opportunities for student to ask questions, apply knowledge and collaborate with others. Technology is often incorporated into flipped learning, but it is not a necessity (Shaffer, 2016). When technology is used a model such as TPACK (Technology, Pedagogy, Content Knowledge) is beneficial to ensure equal implementation of technology, content and pedagogy (Shaffer, 2016). In order to undertake flipped learning, it is necessary to follow 4 pillars to support full implementation.

Flexible Learning:

Successful flipped learning uses a variety of learning modes to get information across to students. This include videos, discussions, reading, and mini assignments (Hennick, 2014). Students now have choice over when and where they can learn.

Learning Culture:

The learning culture of flipped learning incorporates a learner-centred approach where students are actively involved in creating knowledge and meaningful learning (FLN, 2014). Hennick (2014) describes the inclusion of hands-on activities increasing student involvement in their own education. Shaffer (2016) agrees that students with active involvement in their learning are more able to retain information and skills, than students passively involved.

Intentional Content:

With intentional content class time is maximised, and conceptual understanding and procedural fluency increased (FLN, 2014). With more time in class to participate in project-based learning there is more opportunity for students to develop Higher Order Thinking skills (Hennick, 2014). In addition, students now have greater access to their teachers while applying their new knowledge (Hennick, 2014).

Professional Educator:

As a professional educator in a flipped learning classroom feedback can be given to students immediately, and teachers are constantly assessing knowledge (FLN, 2014; Hennick, 2014). Teachers are also able to connect and improve their content through professional discussions and acceptance of constructive criticism.

Value for diverse learning needs:

Flipped learning has benefits to all members of the class, not just those with diverse learning needs (Bergmann & Sams, 2012 in Shaffer, 2016:

  • helps busy or struggling students
  • students can re-watch or pause their content
  • more time for student-teacher and student-student interactions
  • increases teacher understanding of their students
  • changes how the classroom is managed
  • supports students who are absent

Value for community use:

Following the creation and implementation of a flipped learning unit or task the resources can be shared within the school community. This is highly valuable as it saves other teachers time and could be a stepping-stone for some teachers to try a flipped learning model. If teachers pool their time and resources together an entire curriculum could be developed as flipped learning.

 

References

Educause. (2012). 7 things you should know about flipped classrooms. Retrieved from https://library.educause.edu/-/media/files/library/2012/2/eli7081-pdf.pdf

Flexible Learning Network. (2014). What is flipped learning? Retrieved from https://flippedlearning.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/FLIP_handout_FNL_Web.pdf

Hennick, C. (2014). Flipped. Scholastic Administr@tor, 13(5), 38-42). Retrieved from ProQuest.

Koehler, J. (2019). The TPACK Framework. Retrieved from www.tpack.org

Shaffer, S. (2016). One high school English teacher: On his way to a flipped classroom. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 59(5), 563-573. doi: 10.1002/jaal.473

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