Edu 720 Week 5 Integrating Online and Face-to-Face Activities

Posted byahdoveyPosted inUncategorized

Last week, we focused on designing and evaluating podcasts, as part of your work in designing flipped classroom approaches.

We asked you to share and discuss your current thoughts on your flipped classroom designs through your FC Session Planning Forms. Then we asked you to engage with information about podcast design and evaluation, and use this to evaluate and develop your work. Finally, we asked you to produce the weekly reflection for your CRJ, engage with further reading and participate in the weekly webinar.

This week, we are continuing with activities designed to help you with your Assessment 1 work.

A key focus for this week is working towards achieving good ‘convergence’ in your blended learning designs so that:

  • Online and face-to-face activities are well-integrated with each other;
  • Your flipped classroom approach is well-integrated with other parts of the course you are implementing.

First, you will evaluate and discuss your flipped classroom designs in terms of integration and convergence. Then you will review some case study examples to develop your thoughts further. You will implement and pilot your flipped classroom approach, gathering feedback on its potential effectiveness and impact. Finally, there are the usual weekly opportunities to reflect on your learning, explore further reading and attend the webinar.

By the end of this week’s learning activities, you should be able to:

  • Evaluate and develop flipped classroom designs so that online and face-to-face activities are integrated well with each other, and the flipped classroom is well-integrated with other key aspects of the course in which it is implemented;
  • Implement and pilot your flipped classroom approach, gathering feedback on its potential effectiveness and impact;
  • Produce critical reflection on what and how you have learned this week, identifying potential implications for you and your colleagues’ current and future practice of developing flexible learning environments, in your local teaching contexts.

Reflect / Discuss

For any blended learning and flipped classroom approach to be successful, it is important that the online learning activities and resources are well-integrated with the face-to-face learning activities. Likewise, it is important to properly integrate your flipped classroom with other key aspects of the course. This often makes the difference between your students engaging effectively and gaining the learning benefits, or them not doing so – despite all your best efforts as an educator. We will focus on this important aspect of blended learning design as we go through this week.

Now consider the following questions, in relation to your current flipped classroom design:

  • How are the online and face-to-face learning activities integrated with each other?
  • How are the learning activities of your flipped classroom integrated with other specific aspects of the course in which you are going to implement them?

Provide a brief outline and explanation of your answers to the above questions (150 words). Post this to the discussion forum.

If you wish, you can also attach a revised FC session planning form, containing any changes you have made to your draft plan since you shared last week.

Comment on the posts of two fellow students, sharing any reflections prompted by their outlines and explanations.

Suzanne Strudwick

27 Jun 2020 27 Jun at 15:25

The design of my flipped classroom model has evolved and matured over the last few weeks. I have adjusted the content to best suit the prior knowledge of my learners who are mainly beginners. I had originally maintained the content from the first module and micro-teach session but once I realized I would be teaching less advanced learners, I made the adjustment. 

The convergence of the content flows consistently with the course as a whole and provides an opportunity to envision the complete course to be flipped in this way.  I have also added a handout pdf of the terminology and description of the content in the face to face session for the learners. I added this after reading Mia’s design for her class and it made sense to provide additional information on the content of the class. In my experience, beginner learners are more self-conscious and nervous prior to any fact to face class setting because of the perceived performance outcomes expected for the class.  This is a false perception and hard to convince learners that the performance activities at this stage in their learning are a reflection of their own self-worth. Providing more information could build more confidence prior to the class in learned knowledge.  Reply Reply to comment

Hi Suzanne

Interesting that you say how your flipped classroom has evolved and matured over the last few weeks, I feel exactly the same and have also been adjusting the content to suit my learners, in particular I have been thinking about accessibility and interaction / involvement with the session. And I agree with you about beginners and nervousness. Confidence is one of the key hurdles when teaching photography. I have found that empowerment is the route to over coming this issue, often delivered in the form of recognition of current or past achievements. i.e. Not what the student is doing wrong has done wrong but emphasising why they are doing right. Works for me a lot of the time. I get round to correcting the mountain of mistakes when they have grown in confidence. 

Alex Reply Reply to comment

Hi Alex and Suzanne,

As you have both mentioned how your ideas around FC implementations have changed and evolved, it would be good to capture these changes and accompanying considerations and reflection in your CRJ – it’s precious “material” for your Assessment 2 assessment 🙂 Reply Reply to comment (1 likes)

  • Great thanks for that Dario I had been making a note of changes thinking it was relevant for the CRJ so thanks for confirming. Alex  Reply Reply to comment

Collapse Sub discussion Suzanne Strudwick

Suzanne Strudwick

2 Jul 2020 2 Jul at 15:41

    • You are so right Alex, thank you for articulating this point so well.  I think we can all remember teachers that lacked the understanding of ’empowering’ students and found it more productive for them to either empower themselves and their ego or pick a student more advanced in their understanding and show them off. I have always been an encourager and positive person so my style of teaching reflects this idea. We can, of course, become frustrated with the lack of motivation in some students and demonstrate a lack of ’empowerment’!  The beginners in the class definitely need a slightly different approach if there are distinct differences in skill level between the students. I find this applies more to PE/arts/performance/theatre etc. content.  Reply Reply to comment

Collapse Sub discussion Harriet Beesley

Harriet Beesley

27 Jun 2020 27 Jun at 17:31

As the course I am writing my flipped classroom is in fact 100% online, the face-to-face session is challenging me more than it might have in a physical classroom setting. I am trying to work out how to get students to collaborate in small breakout groups online, my main concern is how I will be able to visit each group when they are most at need of my assistance and making sure they are all feeling confident and engaged in the challenge. 

I am uploading my recordings to youtube right now! The webinar in week 3 and the reading material from week 4 plus a tutorial with Dario helped me refine my recorded content. My original plan was for one long video but I now see how monotonous that would be! I have also added simple challenges at the end of each section to help the students put into practice the skills demonstrated. 3 of my videos are 5min but one crept up to 10min, but I think that was necessary for the content. 

Talking with Dario helped reassure me that the structure of my live session can work, I now need to create the tools that the students will use in the active part of the workshop. Each group will get a kit of parts to create a layout, using the techniques shown in the recorded material. It needs to be simple, so that they can focus on making decisions on layout rather than what image they could use. I will need to prepare the students ahead of the session so that they have the right software open (one student will be the hands and screenshare, with the other students suggesting placement and design direction) so that there isn’t too much faffing in the session itself. 

My FC has been designed to help give the students skills that they will need in the coming weeks. They need to produce a designed pdf book of their CRJ, and the majority of the students have little/no prior experience in this type of design. I found out their skill levels through a quiz and a workshop challenge. The prerecorded material will be useful for future classes, as it isn’t specific to this group. Within this module, the students have had a first attempt at type & layout in week 3, this workshop will be in week 6, and there will be a more in depth week dedicated to type & layout in week 10. So this will be a good time within the module for them to learn a few of the basics.  Reply Reply to comment

Hi Harriet 

Your session and integrated activities all seem very well worked out indeed. I particularly like your idea of providing a layout kit – practical application at work, something I am very much into: Project based learning.

Alex Reply Reply to comment (1 likes) Collapse Sub discussion Dario Faniglione

Dario Faniglione

1 Jul 2020 1 Jul at 8:17

Hi Harriet, 

Well done for uploading the recordings!
Yes, the structure sounds good! It might be a good idea to keep an eye on the live session’s timing, and perhaps do any preparation needed in advance (e.g. setting groups and roles, document templates, etc.). Reply Reply to comment Collapse Sub discussion Suzanne Strudwick

Suzanne Strudwick

2 Jul 2020 2 Jul at 13:43

  • Harriet,  It seems to me you have really take a lot of care and consideration in the preparation of delivering your FC. You have an advantage of actually being in class at the moment so you can evaluate the effectiveness of all your work in designing the content, as the module unfolds!  You have pinpointed the specific aspects of the aims and LO in the design and delivery during the FC session with the details you mention. Adjusting to three videos instead of one, creating a set of tools for students to use during the F2F activities workshop session and the ability to reuse the tools for future sessions are excellent adjustments.   Well done Harriet, I will definitely be interested to learn if your preparation for the class goes well.  Reply Reply to comment

Collapse Sub discussion Rachel Butt

Rachel Butt

29 Jun 2020 29 Jun at 17:08

I have updated my FC session as I have learnt more from peers and the readings. I have added an online existing video/song regarding the urinary system that Katie previously suggested, this will be used after the webcast to help consolidate learning in a fun way. I have then set a self-assessed online quiz to help gain further knowledge abut the system, and further to this i have spilt the learners into 2 groups and set a task that they can do in their team or individually. The aim will be that they then bring the answers to this element of the post webcast task to the f2f session so that they can feed back to the others and we can create discussion from the feedback.

I hope I have linked the session to the final assessment for the module by explaining how this subject could be used for the assignment (in this instance it is a case study assignment).  I have also tried to ensure links between the webcast/student tasks post video and how these tasks will be utilised in the f2f session. I have yet to finalise if we are able to do the f2f session together or is this will be via zoom or microsoft teams. I have recorded my webcast, i think i was procrastinating over this too much, as worried i would make it too simple or too complicated. Andy’s words of wisdom at last weeks webinar “just get on with it”, made me realise I did not need to worry as much as i was. Now to upload to youtube and send link to students ready for f2f session.

I look forward to the evaluation of the session. Reply Reply to comment

Hi Rachel,
This sounds a great plan! I particularly like the self-assessed quiz, which seems a good tool for the session’s topic, and the idea to ask learners to bring the outcome of a task to the face-to-face/live session.

Also, good you have linked this to the assessment! Reply Reply to comment (1 likes) Collapse Sub discussion Michael Berthaume

Michael Berthaume

1 Jul 2020 1 Jul at 20:28

  • I like it Rachel, especially the additional resources! All I have to do is read this and worry that my session is all wrong haha     Reply Reply to comment (1 likes)

Collapse Sub discussion Toby Carr

Toby Carr

29 Jun 2020 29 Jun at 20:53

HI All, 

I’ve revised my flipped classroom approach based on feedback and reflection on what could happen. I have also found it useful to work through my own instructions and try to do the task I had in mind. I’m finding it tricky to see  it as an isolated thing and it has become a series of things leading to an exercise. I’ve tried to strip it back and think of the stripped out bits as follow on tasks leading to the assessment.  The session content is actually aimed at a different group of learners but the process and activities relate to learning outcomes that I think could apply to anyone so I am trying not to major on the content. 

The online activity has 3 parts

1. Introduction to the activity including basic principles and how these apply to the task using some examples from everyday life to make is accessible to students

2. A quick individual making experiment (small scale using spaghetti) to put the ideas into practice, share and discuss with peers in terms of opportunities and limitations, leading to…

3. A collaborative design exercise using these findings culminating in forming a set of simple instructions swapped with another group to make the structure in the live session using some pre cut sticks and connectors

The live session will be a chance to try things out, reflect on the clarity of instructions and communication and to collaborate with other peers to make a simple structure.  Reflecting on this, making adaptations to improve it (stability, rigidity, connections, aesthetics…) these observations and reflection will be recorded by students and shared online. The exercise will inform a more detailed follow on individual design task for a simple shelter on a specific site.  Drawings models and description of this will also form the assessment.  The introductory podcast would develop in terms of level of detail in the future weeks.  Reply Reply to comment

Revised session plan attachedPGCHE M2 FC Session Planning Form_REV A.docx – Google Docs.pdf Reply Reply to comment Collapse Sub discussion Dario Faniglione

Dario Faniglione

1 Jul 2020 1 Jul at 8:04

  • Hi Toby, “it has become a series of things leading to an exercise”
    Yeah, this sounds about right    ! A sequence of learning activities, with instructions first, accompanied by resources and leading to an opportunity to apply concepts and practice skills (hopefully useful for the summative assessment task) seems to be a good structure indeed. Good you have mentioned that the podcast can further develop, as the EDU720 implementation is meant to be a pilot! Reply Reply to comment (1 likes)

Collapse Sub discussion Dejan Levi

Dejan Levi

30 Jun 2020 30 Jun at 12:51

My learning resource is integrated to both the synchronous session and the wider course as follows:

– The podcast provides an initial intro to the topic, focusing on key elements that the students will actively use/apply in the synchronous exercise which will follow. Basically, the podcast explains how they should format scripts and the live session gives them an exercise in doing exactly this.

– The overall flipped classroom exercise is integrated with the course in that it’s being offered at exactly the point in the semester when the cohort is embarking on their first ever script drafting process (for the module’s main assignment). The flipped activity therefore gives them an opportunity to improve skills required for one of the assignment’s learning outcomes. Hence it acts as a formative feedback opportunity that feeds into the main summative assessment. Reply Reply to comment

Hi Dejan,

Good idea to conder both the flipped classroom session in itself (i.e. how the podcast and the live session are integrated), and how the whole FC session is positioned and aligned within the module. Reply Reply to comment Collapse Sub discussion Michael Berthaume

Michael Berthaume

1 Jul 2020 1 Jul at 20:31

I don’t really have any advice to give because I like your plan 🙂  Reply Reply to comment Collapse Sub discussion Rachel Butt

Rachel Butt

3 Jul 2020 3 Jul at 11:19

  • I like the way this is a formative feedback opportunity towards their assessment. Rachel Reply Reply to comment

Collapse Sub discussion Stanley Mbelu

Stanley Mbelu

1 Jul 2020 1 Jul at 9:47

How are the online and face-to-face learning activities integrated with each other?

I find online and face to face learning synonymous in nature mostly because they complement each other while I work to ensure that the learning objective and outcome is rightly met. Following the earlier assertions, I designed two separate short videos of less than 14 minutes in total, where I integrated both process.

  • How are the learning activities of your flipped classroom integrated with other specific aspects of the course in which you are going to implement them?

As this is my last week of teaching in this academic year before the summer holidays, I successfully recorded a mini class session yesterday for my students, using Microsoft Teams, which they are currently going through at the moment. Having successfully published it to the students, I am now working on drafting up questions which I aim to be able to get first hand feedback from the students on how the whole process have contributed towards their study including but not limited to its efficiency. Reply Reply to comment Collapse Sub discussion Katie Welch

Katie Welch

1 Jul 2020 1 Jul at 14:07

  • How are the online and face-to-face learning activities integrated with each other?

The online activities lay the ground work for the analysis and discussion that take place int he F2F sessions. The video podcast outlines the key principles involved in building a coherent advertising/marketing campaign, from where the students are required to apply this knowledge to answer a short quiz, and to research and identify a campaign using the features from the podcast. The F2F session then gives students the opportunity to consolidate this learning, and to gain confidence in breaking down and critiquing ads in a low stake situation i.e. not criticising the work of someone sitting on the next table. I’m keen to make it a real slag-off fest, just to break the ice. 

  • How are the learning activities of your flipped classroom integrated with other specific aspects of the course in which you are going to implement them?

This FC kicks off a 13 week module on Campaign Creation. Knowing what needs to impact on the structure of an ad campaign is absolutely crucial when generating a campaign of one’s own: is the branding strong enough?; What are the consistent campaign elements?; What differentiates it from the compeition? etc. By knowing this, they will have a solid base on which to jump off, creatively. 

The F2F activity is particularly important – over the coming weeks they will be required to critique the developing, very green, ads of their peers. By completing the activities in this FC, they will be armed with a structure by which to base initial criticism on. Everyone will have the same guardrails, and no-one should ever be stuck for something to say, or for an improvement to suggest. Over the weeks, it’s my hope that their ability in this area will mature, and I’m confident it will. It’s so disheartening when you open up the room to comments and…silence. This will speed that whole process up, and ultimately help them be less precious.  Reply Reply to comment Collapse Sub discussion Alex Bailey

Alex Bailey

1 Jul 2020 1 Jul at 14:47

I was trying to think how best to start writing this forum post, my session has been flipped, blended and now I would best describe it as moulded – if that can be an educational term?

Having read through my peers posts so far on this forum and noting in particular Darios comment on Toby’s post:

“Yeah, this sounds about right! A sequence of learning activities, with instructions first, accompanied by resources and leading to an opportunity to apply concepts and practice skills (hopefully useful for the summative assessment task) seems to be a good structure indeed.

It seems my session has a very similar pattern to Toby’s which is delivered on a web page with links and downloads and several out- sourced web/video links both as references and guidance. 

Firstly there is an audio podcast (a short lecture in essence) highlighting and underlining the key concepts for the LO’s which is also available as a downloadable PDF transcript from the web page.  As such this is a brief or rather supports and accompanies the instructions / guidance on the web page with links to ‘mentor’ style resources. The learners are then required to carry out two learning activities that they will submit to a cohort forum and present at a cohort F2F teaching session (integration) that could be in a virtual class room if we are still all distant learning? This offers the possibility of interest specific break-out rooms for the cohort.

 The complete blended learning / flipped session feeds back to acquired or rather an introduced skill namely a CRJ and forward into developing a web site for the learners which requires the content from the two tasked activities from this ‘moulded’ session, (hope you can follow all this -it’s all clear in my head) hence why I say moulded it seems to have all moulded into one at the moment – not sure if that is good or bad thing, just hope I can reference the pedagogy properly this time? But I certainly know I am learning a lot, or at least I think I am.  Reply Reply to comment Collapse Sub discussion Michael Berthaume

Michael Berthaume

1 Jul 2020 1 Jul at 20:08

For my assessment 1, the online and face-to-face learning activities directly build on one another. During the online activities, students are learning about a topic, and they then have a short assignment to research current events related to their learning. The in-class activity then involves discussing these events in small groups, and investigating what they can do to address the problems discussed in the current events. In this respect, it would not be possible for the students to participate in the in-class discussion if they did not complete the online portion of learning.

The flipped classroom I designed is for a fictional course that does not exist, but it is a course I would like to have exist in the future. In my ideal fictional course, this would fit in perfectly, since it is about anthroengineering, i.e., the intersection of anthropology and engineering. One of my goals for this course would be to teach students how interdisciplinary work works best when you are addressing problems larger than each field – i.e., getting out of the ivory tours of academia. These lessons are directly related to what they are learning in the activities. Reply Reply to comment

  • re your assignment 1 tasks: how long have the students got to do the short assignment before the f2f session? i like the fact that the students have to do the activity to be able to participate in the f2f session, but have you a back up plan if attendance is low?   your fictional classroom idea is really interesting. I hope you get the opportunity to carry it through Rachel Reply Reply to comment

Collapse Sub discussion Mia Tedjosaputro

Mia Tedjosaputro

2 Jul 2020 2 Jul at 11:47

In my current flipped classroom design (an adaptation of my Week 5 teaching), the integration between online and F2F learning lies on the three themes I created, namely:

1. Historical perspective of the parametric design

2. Design parameters

3. Visual scripting

These three themes occur during the podcast, the materials after the podcast and during the flipped classroom (hybrid F2F and virtual) session. Main activities (group presentation and Q&A) during the hybrid 30 minutes flipped classroom are around the three topics. Yesterday I found this Facebook account (Parametric Thinking (Links to an external site.)) and they are making a series of short content with the spirit of ‘Anyone can be a Parametric Designer’. I think it is a fantastic idea and I would like to adapt it (informative and jargon-free) in my flipped classroom, as all of them are not familiar with the area of digital architecture. 

This week I tweaked my plan to allow getting feedback directly after the flipped classroom session, using an online questionnaire. I also added the recently completed bamboo sitting pod (Links to an external site.) we constructed a few days ago as a case study (podcast). I think drawing from my own precedent provides informal contextual information. Also I am splitting the podcast into three parts.

Unfortunately due to the time I spent on construction site this week working on two projects and allowing time to prepare the podcast, my flipped classroom will only happen on July 11th. It has to be on the weekend as students have their summer school on weekdays. Mia3 PGCHE M2 FC Session Planning Form.pdf Reply Reply to comment Collapse Sub discussion Angela Coskey

Angela Coskey

2 Jul 2020 2 Jul at 12:42

Hi,

After watching the three podcasts posted by Andy. I want to say that I really enjoyed listening to them, they were really good. They helped me get much needed perspective on my own design. I have changed and upgraded my podcast design and  I feel ready to go ahead with recording. 

    1. How are the online and face-to-face learning activities integrated with each other?
      1. The podcast is the preparation for the F2F session. 
      2. Manifest comprehension of the subject.
      3. The flipped classroom is the part of the session, the lecture part of the session which would have taken up most of the session.
      4. Learning the sounds, vocabulary, sentence structures are all parts of the lesson the students can do in their own time as preparation for the F2F discussion.
      5. Giving students more time to master the learning material.
      6. Allowing more time in the classroom for activities rather than lecture teaching.
     
    1. How are the learning activities of your flipped classroom integrated with other specific aspects of the course in which you are going to implement them?
      1. A guide on the expectations required of the students for the course.
      2. Creating an open door between the teacher and student.
      3. Providing students with a framework of support.
      4. It can be re-used
      5. Promoting better quality teaching.
         

Critical evaluation of podcast design using IMPALA model (2).docx Reply Reply to comment Collapse Sub discussion Anna Dovey

Anna Dovey

2 Jul 2020 2 Jul at 18:17

  • How are the online and face-to-face learning activities integrated with each other?

The online learning provides information regarding two theories; the activities will be to make notes, think about and do some further reading around the theories.

The students will then debate the theories in the f2f session, the idea being to share ideas and thoughts.

  • How are the learning activities of your flipped classroom integrated with other specific aspects of the course in which you are going to implement them?

The premise is that this session would form part of a module, and the online and f2f sessions would link to a formative assessment in the form of a written essay (I’ve based this on part of a module I studied and found interesting). Reply Reply to comment Collapse Sub discussion Dario Faniglione

Dario Faniglione

5 Jul 2020 5 Jul at 22:24

Tutor Summary

Thanks for your contributions this week. It’s good to see we do share the understanding that a flipped classroom approach would only work if there are some clear (and shared with learners) connections between the online asynchronous learning activities and what then happens within the live/face-to-face session. 

Across the range of subject areas that you collectively cover, the purpose of the webcast (I’ll use ‘webcast` here to include a variety of multimedia artefacts: podcast, video resource, narrated powerpoint, etc.) has been appropriately used to explain a concept, an approach, a process or task, posing a problem to solve or trigger learners’ curiosity on a challenge. Then, you have planned to use the precious live interaction time to let your learner use and apply that information or knowledge that has been disseminated in the online space. In some other cases, the webcast has been used to show leaners a practical technique or procedure that they would then be using/exploiting during the subsequent live/face-to-face session.

It was great to see in some of your strategies that you are also trying to generate some sort of discussion, ideas, questions, or other student inputs before the live session: I think this can be really helpful in informing your facilitation of the synchronous session activities. This approach can also help with making any live/face-to-face session more student-centered, as their input will somewhat drive what happens and the focus on the conversations.

A number of really great suggestions were made in post about how to connect the activities to wider aspects of the student learning experience  and course, as well as gain engagement including for example:

– introducing interesting or topical elements into podcasts if appropriate;

– using the webcast made to connect to the support of development of a wide range of skills that may be used at various points of a course;

– linking the flipped classroom explicitly to learning outcomes and summative assessment.

Also, a number of you highlighted how useful the webcasts could be for students as revision/reminder aids throughout the course rather than just being used to inform/support one class.

Most of you are not able to pilot your flipped session with actual students. In some cases you have gotten around this by using colleagues at your place of work and in others by seeking help from people you know outside of work with an educational background. This is absolutely fine for the purpose of this assessment tasks, and perhaps something we should all do if possible when trying something new, beyond the scope of this module! Colleagues and others we know who have taught can of course be invaluable in providing us with reasoned feedback on how well an approach works for them and how we might improve or enhance what we are seeking to do.

Overall, you have all considered how the flipped class activities will integrate with the live/ face-to-face activities, and more broadly with the rest of the course and specific learning objectives, skills development, and assessment. 

I would suggest spending some time, where possible, ensuring that your (pilot and actual) learners understand their role in the flipped approach. Without that understanding (or preparation) it will be harder to get them to engage (engagement is something we touched on a lot previously).

In past iterations of this module, we have used the ‘oreo’ analogy: look at the asynchronous activities as the cream between the 2 pieces of a crunchy chocolaty cookie (like live/face-to-face sessions) i.e. focus on the importance of better ensuring that the asynchronous activities have less chance of being seen as ‘isolated’. Reply Reply to comment

Going back over the forums is incredibly useful – copying and pasting them into the blog and highlighting comments of interest is working really well for me. Wish I’d thought of this earlier…

I note how quite a few students have mentioned having tutorials with Dario. I recognise an issue I have with this personally, and on reflection I don’t think it’s a strength. I recall coming across this during my Anc. Greek course. I had a teacher in middle school who was very curt whenever anyone (me) asked for help – and I’ve just remembered, I had her for maths as well as french, this is probably where my issues with maths started – and asking my parents for maths help only ever started arguments between them as how to do the blasted sum – I really struggle with asking for help. I get stubborn and proud and I will bloomin’ well do it by myself. This is tipping over into counselling…! Sooo, when I do ask for help I resent having to. Which possibly colours how I ask – tone etc. ?

Introduction to the Podcast Series

female teacher leaning over, listening to a groups of students

To continue with our focus on the importance of good integration in blended learning design (convergence), listen to the podcast series by Andy Peisley below.

In these podcasts, Andy shares two different case study examples of flipped classroom approaches he has used in his practice of supporting student learning in HE. With these case studies, think about and compare and contrast the flipped classroom designs. Consider the questions:

  • How, and to what extent, do you think the online and face-to-face learning activities seem to be integrated with each other? What are your reasons for thinking that?
  • How, and to what extent, do you think the online and face-to-face learning activities seem to be integrated with other aspects of the course, and the context in which they were implemented? What are your reasons for thinking that?

Make some notes while you listen to each podcast.

Now you have listened to the podcasts and made your own notes, reflect further on the following questions:

  • What learning can you apply to the pilot and implementation of your own flipped classroom design?
  • How might it apply to your colleagues’ flipped classroom designs and plans?
  • What does this suggest is good about your current podcast design, and how you plan to pilot and implement it?
  • What changes or improvements can you usefully make to your flipped classroom approach, so that it is even more effective, now and in the future? Shorter videos. Note; the longer the video / podcast, the larger the file, the harder it may be to download / access on some devices e.g. mobile phones. So by keeping files small, you improve accessibility?

Keep a note of your answers to these questions.

Produce

This is the key learning activity for Week 5. It will also form a key part of your EDU720 Assessment 1 work.

In taking practical consideration, some of you may not be able to schedule your flipped classroom pilot during Week 5. That is fine and don’t worry, you have until the EDU720 Assessment 1 deadline in Week 7 to complete the pilot and all the other activities required for your Assessment 1.

However, if you do need to pilot before or after this Week 5, please also give yourself enough time after the pilot to complete the rest of your EDU720 Assessment 1. For example, to evaluate your flipped classroom approach in terms of how well it worked in the pilot and what could be done to improve in the future (see EDU720 Assessment 1 Brief).

For Week 6, we will focus more on the evaluation of your pilot and your flipped classroom approach.

In your pilot, please also remember to gather feedback from your learners and anyone else present. This feedback will be useful for helping you to evaluate your flipped classroom approach, and for helping you to identify what worked well and what could be improved in the future. Make sure you are ready and well-prepared to do this before your pilot. Carefully think through and plan how you could most usefully gather this feedback and what you want to find out, to help you later produce your evaluation of your approach for your EDU720 Assessment 1.

Remember that for this activity, you and your peers can also use the Learning Conversation form (see EDU720 Learning Conversation Guidance in Week 1). For example, there may be opportunities for you to get together with some of your peers and use the Learning Conversation form to observe and give feedback on each other’s teaching practice during the pilots.

For your ongoing weekly reflection of your learning, and to help with your work for the final Assessment 2: Reflective Blog submission at the end of the module, please produce this week’s reflection for your Critical Reflective Journal (CRJ).

Spend a few moments looking back at your own contributions and those of your peers on this week’s forums. Also, look over your notes from materials you have read this week, and any further reading and independent research.

Consider what you have learned this week about blended learning approaches.

Check the learning outcomes for this week (Week 5: Introduction) to consider your level of achievement:

  • To what extent do you think you have achieved each of the learning outcomes for Week 5? If you think there is room for you to achieve these more fully, how could you do that?
  • What have you learned this week regarding the design of flipped classrooms to support student learning? There is not that much difference between the requirements of the FC compared to F2F; just the emphasis. Probably the most important element is to ensure they are aligned with the F2F sessions and with the LO’s of the overall module. This will help ensure they are relevant and engaging. Other considerations are around the technology used to deliver the sessions; something that is familiar and easy for the students to use, that doesn’t add to their financial outgoings (e.g. licenses) and that the institution already supports. The other consideration is the workload on the tutor – it seems to me that creating good quality FC can take longer than F2F, HOWEVER if prepped and considered it could be re-useable for another course (only drawback here is things – syllabus, tech, developments in the subject area) may change from year to year.
  • What does all this suggest about the ways you and your colleagues are currently supporting your students learning, in your own practice and teaching context? What does it suggest that is currently good about this, and about how it could be further developed in the future? I’ve not used the FC approach before. The videos highlighted how it can benefit a greater range of students, which was a valid argument for it’s use. My only concern would be how much the students engaged with the FC.
  • How has your understanding of how to use a flipped classroom approach changed from doing this week’s topic and activities?
  • How did you learn this?
  • What supported your learning?
  • What has challenged you?
  • What has surprised you?
  • How does this relate to what has been proposed in different sources of scholarship that you have read recently? Which specific sources and what specific claims does this relate to?

Now write your reflections for this week in your CRJ.

As explained before, although what you actually write in your CRJ weekly activities is not going to be directly assessed, it will still support your EDU720 Assessment 2: Reflective Blog work. 

When formulating your weekly reflections in your CRJ, keep in mind Assessment 2’s Learning Outcomes (LO1, LO6 & LO7) and Assessment Criteria. It’s optional to apply them to your CRJ entries, but it’s a good idea to practise demonstrating these in what your write – you will need to do this for your EDU720 Assessment 2: Reflective Blog.

Remember, there are more helpful guidance and questions in the EDU720 Assessment 2 Additional Guidance document.

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