WEEK 5: Activity #16 Educational Hot Topics - District Tech Guidelines ("Restrictions") and the "Flipped Classroom"

TOPIC #1 -

TEACHER TECH GUIDELINES

I choose the topic on online Teacher Tech Guidelines/Restrictions/Privacy Rule for protection:

1. #1 of myself,
2. #2 of our students, and
3. #3 of our school and all three above from legal venues.

To ignore the train ride of technology would be ignorant, but the part of me that excites for every new journey has learned that I can ignorantly be taken for a ride.  Our school had a schedule of Survey Monkeys swing at us midway through the year regarding teacher-student contact methods, then a quick email towards the end of first semester about communications. Between what felt like a strong warning and the contrasting encouragment of social media through multiple avenues of summer workshops, I want to be sure of the TO-DOs and DO-NOTs in tech, or rather, online media.

W hat I…

THOUGHT I KNEW	WANTED TO KNOW	LEARNED
1.  Our school has a policy that is not frequently consulted 2.  Other forms of contact outside of the classroom may push social and legal boundaries 3.  Technology almost begs for educators to use it motivationally, esp. considering Voki, Edmodo, GoogleDocs, Prezi, Animoto, Weebly, LiveBinder, but social media  is also used by teachers/sponsers for communication	1.  Our school guidelines 2.  Guidelines in educational research or in other districts 3.  How cell phone and social media contact helps teachers/coaches/sponsors	1.  Dist. 113 Electronic Guidelines Fully Approved/Dist. - Endorsed Sites or Applications (Level One): a)    SharePoint Class Portal b)    District Internet Faculty Pages c)     Google sites d)    WikiSpaces e)    Moodle f)     Edmodo g)    Google Acceptable, but not Dist – Implemented (Level 2): a)    Facebook Fan Page/Group for class/team/activity (school email contact and do not friend students) b)    Twitter (no following students; for professional use only) c)     Evernote, SkyDrive, DropBox and iCloud storage d)      I-Pads with Google or the above storage e)    Blogger, SharePoint, Edmodo f)     Linked-In Use with Caution (Level 3) a)    Personal Facebook Accounts (preferably no friending students, beware of settings, and no HPHS information or logos) b)      Personal Twitter (Following Students) Concerns exist for texting students, especially the use of GOOGLEVOICE. 2.  The above guidelines for Dist. 113 were made off of the consideration of Dist. 203 and 128. One of the first Districts with guidelines (in 2011) was El Paso-Gridley District 11.  Here is a summary of their  general communication guidelines (according to Phyllis Coulter, The Pantagraph, September 4, 2011): #1 The safest and most protected way for students and teachers to communicate is by using the district's e-mail. It protects employees by creating and preserving a record so they don't violate student record laws. It also preserves a record to prove the actual content of a conversation so the employee's words are not misconstrued or incorrectly recalled. #2 Remember that anything an employee would not put in writing on district letterhead should not be put in a communication visible to students, parents, or the community. #3Text messaging between students and teachers is not a good practice except when the message is going to a specific group of students, such as a team or club. Parents/guardians approve, in writing, to have their child's cell number included in a mass communication list. #4 Employees can organize an account, such as Twitter, to allow full and transparent access to group notifications. This enables participants and parents to be notified quickly via cell phone. #5 Employees are not required to supply their cell or home phone numbers to the public. #6 Text messages also can be sent through direct e-mail accounts, ensuring a record of communication is kept in district accounts and preventing employees from exposing themselves to allegations of inappropriate or illicit conduct.  (c)2011 The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Ill.) Visit The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Ill.) at www.pantagraph.com Distributed by MCT Information Services (Coulter, Social networks getting into classrooms, The Pantagraph, 9/4/2011 3. Cell phone and social media in-classroom benefits a)      Quick communication b)     Familiarity of use (and thus, communication) c)      Familiarity of format (no learning curve) d)     Familiarity of format for use in creative assessment (assuming character roles and producing a fake Facebook page with www.myfakewall.com , or fake Twitter with  www.FakeTweetBuilder.com, or fake event planning on Pinterest with www.stixy.com ) e)      Community building f)       Online, live collaboration g)      Increased appropriate “participation” h)     Chance to teach students about online footprint and its effect on others Leveraging the Power of Social Media in the Classroom Online Blogs increase Participation

SoW hat!?

Because there are so many benefits to social media, and permission for use, I could see how teacher want to use them.  However, since I teach students who spend the whole day with me and parents with whom I already communicate often and much legal involvement can pursue, I might make use of a timeline for due dates and activities, or fake Twitter or Facebook pages for assignments, but not necessarily belt out, "Come'n Ride the Train” - Mashup CC License by Yuanan of social media itself! 

TOPIC #2 - FLIPPED 

WHAT I KNEW - PRINCIPLES

“Flipping a classroom” involves shifting lecture (by way of video instruction) or reading outside of class time in lieu of homework in order to increase independent and active student-led whole group, small group, or independent practice within the classroom/classtime.

“FLIPPING” FINDINGS

PROPOSED BENEFITS

POSSIBLE CONCERNS

Student-led/directed Moves teacher-directed instructional time outside of class Increases instructional/in-class time to cover up to 4x content (Palmer, AP Regional State Report - Indiana, 04/25/2012) Videos or readings allow for repetition, extended time, independent study without the interruption or distractions of in-class lecture (Rohr, Houston Chronicle (TX), 10/18/2012) *In-class independent practice and assessment (less formalized cheating on homework outside of class and increased opportunities/time for various forms of inclass assessment) Students do not miss as much instruction when absent Extra time for inclass work allows a teacher to individualize or reteach during class More time for kinesthetic, visual, or group instruction in class without losing note-taking or reading practice Useful for multiple ages or settings (Defour, 2013) Low-cost (Defour, 2013)

100% Student access online, esp. for students with low-income (unless teachers provide thumb drives and DVDs) Possible need/then control of cell-phone use (Palmer, 2012) Time-consuming production for teachers (Defour, 2013) Non-standardized/no-textbook instruction (Defour, 2013) Disruption when students do not prepare before class (Teachers adjust by giving students less time on quizzes or assignments) (Palmer, 2012) Difficulty of deciphering the difference between student unpreparedness versus difficulty learning (teachers add “code words” or problems for the test) (Rohr, 2012) If video-/instructor-based “homework,” the instruction IS still teacher-led and meant for the oral learner (Ash, Education Weekly, August 2012), not other types of learners *For the Socratic learner, they may be less motivated by lack of interaction or forced time for instruction during the initial learning. *Liabilities for the district for any incorrectly used content or copyright violations Works best with highly inquiry-based motivational/introductory activity (Ash, 2012) * Richenda Petersen’s Concerns

THE COIN TOSS ABOUT FLIPPING INSTRUCTION

In the end, the coin toss will say benefits of a “flipped classroom” truly do outweight the negatives IF a teacher is earnest to know his/her students and truly work for response to interventions for good teaching. At that point, the benefits in motivation, self-driven learning and ability to have a size-less classroom will always outweight the learning curve, difficulties, and hiccups.  “‘I say keep the flip alive, but lower the volume and think about it like we think about anything,’ [advises Mr. Musallam, an adjunct professor in the college of Education at University of San Francisco]. ‘It's a thing you do in the context of an overarching pedagogy,’ not the pedagogy itself.”  With that, I like the idea of beginning with problems, and then asking students to investigate.  While I may have SOME flipped lessons with night time reads, I will most likely navigate to video taping some discussions and (legalities or tech guidelines permitting), ask students to critique them on their own during our study hall time here at school.

VIDEOS TO FOLLOW

http://www.ted.com/talks/ramsey_musallam_3_rules_to_spark_learning.html?quote=2150 (Strong warning to be interesting and provide opening experiments or problems in one’s flip)

http://www.ted.com/talks/peter_norvig_the_100_000_student_classroom.html 4:30-5:15.

http://www.ted.com/talks/salman_khan_let_s_use_video_to_reinvent_education.html

FLIPPING TWEETS TO FOLLOW

@flippedclassrm

@AnibalPachecoIT

SOURCES CITED

Ash, KAtie. educators evaluate ‘flipped classrooms’: benefits and drawbacks seen in replacing lectures with on-demand video, education weekly, 2012. http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/08/29/02el-flipped.h32.html

defour, matthew. New ‘flipped classroom’ learning model catching on in Wisconsin schools, wisconsin state journal, the, february 24, 2013. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pwh&AN=2W64080902653&site=pov-live

‘Flipped classroom’ makes most of hands-on time,” AP REGIONAL STATE REPORT - Indiana, April 25, 2012 http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pwh&AN=35774964a06e4d68a098cc1fab56a7b8&site=pov-live

Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day, published in July of 2012 by the International Society for Technology in Education and the ASCD, Published in Print: August 29, 2012, as Educators View 'Flipped' Model With a More Critical Eye, Includes correction(s): September 4, 2012

rhor, monica, Flipped classrooms turning learning around, houston chronicle, October 18, 2012. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pwh&AN=2W6976025508&site=pov-live