Thing 21 -- Flipping Your Classroom

Many people approach flipping the classroom as an all or none. But many elements can, and should be incorporated bit by bit. Getting teaching content and resources to students ahead of actual coursework saves valuable time, gives students a chance to be prepared and gives them a platform to return to for reference and follow up. Video resources tend to be a big part of flipping the classroom. If you aren't ready to put yourself out there, don't worry. Simply link to any of a number of online video resources (see my previous post) and get started. But don't be shy. Students respond much better to teacher-made resources. It makes you human and helps you connect with them in the Internet experience. Use Go Animate or blabberize other recorder that let's you hide a bit.

Create units of study via Glogster or Prezi that students can access anytime and most importantly, have a place to store your stuff that they can easily access. Wiki, blog, Website, YouTube channel, edmodo. Access is key. It's important to understand how your students access the Internet. I've created a student tech access survey based off of a few examples. Feel free borrow and edit as needed. Knowing where, how, how often and what experience students have with Internet access helps you time assignments, and assist students in accessing course resources.

Screencasting is not for the faint of heart! The task of organizing; what to include, how to keep it succinct and effective takes some getting used to. And hearing your own voice, or watching yourself on line can be intimidating! But don't despair. As with anything, the more often you do it, the easier it gets. And once you get started, you'll be hooked. Imagine developing a library of explanations, how-tos and general info that you can share year after year. No more answering the same question a million times! And students can watch you video as many times as needed to get the point.

I created the following video using screencast-omatic. I usually work with Camtasia, but wanted the experience. I've used Jing in the past, and I found SOM to be a bit  more user friendly in the call outs, cursor highlighting and they give you more than 5 minutes with editing options. Based on user feedback, to improve this video in the future, I would add title slides and captioning or transcript.