This article by Kathleen Fulton begins by telling a story from Byron High School in the Byron School District in Minnesota. In fall 2009, the math department at the school desperately needed to replace their curriculum because their current textbooks were in extremely bad condition. However, the district had no money to fund new books or a new curriculum. The article quotes then-Superintendent Wendy Shannon as saying, “We literally had no money for textbooks” (Fulton, 2012, pg. 20) The math teachers at the school took matters into their own hands by deciding to make their own curriculum using online resources. However, they realized that students had nothing to help them do their homework when they were on their own. To address this issue they began recording their lectures and uploading them to Youtube for students to refer to.
At this point, the teachers had never heard of a flipped classroom or knew what it was, but their next decision flipped their classroom. The teachers saw that they could have students just watch the lectures at home and spend class time problem solving and having discussions about the content. Two years later, in 2011, Byron High School was awarded the School of Distinction Award for Mathematics from Intel, and today all math classes at Byron High School use the flipped classroom model. Following the story of Byron High School, the article lists the top ten reasons for adopting a flipped classroom as written by the Byron High School math teachers. They are the following: #1. Students move at their own pace. The argument here is that some students learn to quickly in a traditional classroom model while others do not learn fast enough. The flipped classroom allows students to watch a lecture and learn at their appropriate speed because they have the ability to pause, rewind, etc. #2. Doing homework in class gives teachers better insight into student difficulties and learning styles. In traditional classrooms teachers do not know what a student is struggling on until after an assignment is turned in, but with a flipped classroom the teacher is in the room while the student is doing their “homework” and able to see mistakes/misunderstanding and address them then and there. #3. Teachers can customize and update the curriculum, and provide it to students 24/7. There are two arguments here. The first is that although there are many resources available to learn math concepts on Youtube, in this model, teachers create their own videos which are customizable to the content, rigor, and background of its students. Secondly, the flipped classroom addresses absenteeism. Students have access to a teacher’s lectures at all times, including when they are absent. #4. Students have access to multiple teachers’ expertise. Because multiple teachers often teach the same course, students can go watch other teacher’s lectures when they are still confused after their own teacher’s explanations. #5. Teachers flip professional development by watching each other’s videos and learning from each other. Teachers can better themselves by learning from their peers’ video lectures. #6. Classroom time can be used more effectively and creatively. Teachers have freedom to spend class time in way that fits the needs of the students. Class time can be spent doing hands-on, problem-based, and/or project-based activities. #7. Parents have a window into the classroom. Because many parents struggle to help their children with their math homework, the videos are beneficial for them too. #8. Student Achievement is increasing so is interest and engagement in higher-level math. The data collected by Byron High School’s teachers is showing that students are having higher achievement in the flipped classrooms versus the traditional classrooms they used to use. #9. Learning theory Supports the new approaches. The flipped classroom aligns with instructional techniques supported by research on learning theory. “Limits on video uploading capacity means content is chunked into manageable, understandable units. As they determine how often they need to review a lesson, students must constantly assess their understanding of material building thinking skills. With students using classroom time to complete problems demonstrating their understanding, they get immediate feedback on their work, as well as just-in-time support from teachers and peers. They often view videos together, work in teams in class, and learn through teaching one another via peer tutoring – approaches validated by social learning theory” (Fulton, 2012, pg. 22). #10. The use of technology is flexible and appropriate for 21-st century skills. Students and teachers need to know how to use technology and the internet to teach and learn. The article concludes by giving on additional reason (reason 11) to flip the classroom, students like the flipped classroom, and provides some positive testimonials from students from a survey at the end of their courses. My Thoughts I liked that the article provided a narrative of a specific school’s experience with the flipped classroom. It is very interesting that the teachers at Byron High School did not know what a flipped classroom was, but stumbled upon that model naturally as they attempted to make their own curriculum. I thought some of their 10 arguments were stronger than others. I really like that the flipped classroom allows students to work at their own pace, addresses absenteeism, and transforms class time. All of these are great challenges teachers face in their jobs regularly. These alone could convince some to flip their classrooms. It was also important the teachers address what the data and research on flipped classroom showed, and for their school it seemed to be working. My issue is that their data was only for their school and what sets their school apart from many others is that their survey found that “97% of our students have access to high-speed internet at home” (Fulton, 2012, pg. 24). This is not the case in many places. What is going to be done for students without internet access? That seems like a big difficult especially in rural district where that percentage is probably at or below 50%. I would be really interested to see how this has worked in a college environment, where the students are assumed to care about their education and the professors generally teach in lecture format anyway, going way too fast for many students. References Fulton, K. P. (2012). 10 reasons to flip. Phi Delta Kappan, 94(2), 20–24.
4 Comments
Alex Gardner
11/8/2016 09:52:55 am
Hi Taylor,
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Alex Gardner
11/8/2016 09:55:16 am
I found idea number 1 which says the flipped classroom allows “students move at their own pace” to be very true and beneficial. Number 1 explains that “The flipped classroom allows students to watch a lecture and learn at their appropriate speed because they have the ability to pause, rewind, etc”. I can really relate to topic number one and your statement when you said “I would be really interested to see how this has worked in a college environment, where the students are assumed to care about their education and the professors generally teach in lecture format anyway, going way too fast for many students”.
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Alex Gardner
11/8/2016 09:56:38 am
I agree with you when you said that you felt like “some of the 10 arguments were stronger than others”. I really liked idea number 3 which stated that “teachers can customize and update the curriculum, and provide it to students 24/7” was a very strong argument. When I was taking math classes in college, I often turned to youtube to help me get a general understanding of the math I was learning. However, I found youtube to sometimes be a little too fast pace or a bit too slow and I often could not find help for the type of problem I was working on. However, I believe if teachers created their own videos that was customized the type of concepts students are learning in the unit this could be very beneficial to all students. In addition, if students were absent, they would automatically know where to go to find what they missed in class that particular day which would help keep students on the same track as everyone else in the class.
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Alex Gardner
11/8/2016 09:57:29 am
I think you make a great point when you ask “What is going to be done for students without internet access?” I am surprised Fulton (2012) did not express this concern in the article. Possibly if students had an off hour in school or study hour, they could use the computers and internet at school to help them catch up with their work and understand the concepts being taught.
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