*I have to admit that Dan jokingly referring to some of the discussion as being Jerry-Springer-like piqued my interest. The discussion is actually very civil, and I appreciate Dan’s thoughtful skepticism.
*I haven’t watched all the footage. I saw individuals in the videos whose work I was familiar with (Dan Cohen, Bob Beichner, and Bryan Alexander) and tended to focus on their comments and responses to their insights.
*The video links in the titles below should take you to the appropriate spot in the conversation. I make note of the time when the discussion shifts and you may want to stop and move on to the next snippet.
1. Context and Learning Environments: (stop at 33:50) – I like Dan’s focus on the university’s role in scaffolding and contextualizing information and reminding us that most learners need help with this. Instructors as designers.
2. Measuring ‘Learning’ and Assessment: (stop at 16:40) – Dan reminds us that focus on assessment (especially the easy to measure stuff) and learner analytics doesn’t paint a complete picture–not even close. He argues that a university also provides an environment for unexpected outcomes and ways of thinking—aspects of education that don’t lend themselves to tidy measurement. This reminds me of a recent podcast by Freakonomics contributor Stephen Dubner in which he discusses lessons he uses everyday in his work with the professors who inspired the practice (even if they don’t remember the moment of inspiration!).
3. Student-Centered Instruction: (stop at 8:30) – Bob Beichner describes the SCALE-UP project at NC State, which utilizes problem-based-learning in large intro courses, and he shares how it’s working. This design is being implemented at many schools across the country, including at nearby Clemson University. The model is adaptable to smaller classes. Some classrooms would need some serious retrofitting to make this model possible, but it’s worth it.
4. Extending the Model Beyond STEM disciplines: (stop at 1:04:45) – Bob shares how the SCALE-UP model can be used across disciplines. I really like how his example covers the entire learning cycle and mixes team and individual work. Bryan Alexander compares technology use in the sciences and humanities.
5. MOOCs—It’s Complicated: (stop at 41:35) – Bryan provides a great overview of the different types of MOOCs, MOOC business models, and how colleges might leverage resources from MOOCs on campus. He also contextualizes several instructional technologies on the Gardner hype cycle. Ah, the trough of disillusionment.
I listened to an interview with Flight director Robert Zemeckis during my run last night. This part (transcript from NPR’s Fresh Air) sure reminded me of our approach to educational technology sometimes.
DAVIES: Do you think digital technology has sort of fundamentally changed moviemaking, I mean, even in films that really don’t involve special effects?
ZEMECKIS: Oh, yeah. But that’s because every new – everything always did, from day one. I mean, you know, you can go back and see how, you know, we – they – in the final years of the silent cinema, where the art of cinema, of storytelling was so magnificent. And then when they invented the microphone and sound, everything got really static, and it all had to be reinvented again, and the same when color came in. And when the invented the steady cam, every movie had a chase up and down a staircase, you know.
So what we do with these technologies is we overuse them and we call attention to them, because they’re just so much fun to have. And then we learn how to use them in the way that all tools of cinema should be used, which is to make them invisible. So now I don’t think you can even tell when a director is using a steady cam. If he’s really good at his job, the camera movement won’t call attention to itself.
So, yeah, I think that, you know, some of the digital stuff that we’re doing now, especially in editing, I find that we’re – there’s editing for what I call no reason. You know, we just edit to edit. And I think we do that in films now because we can. But we’ll get that out of our system and, you know, and then something else will be there that’ll be the new technology of the month.
“The lecture video portion of the flipped classroom approach gets a lot of attention because it’s the piece that involves shiny new technologies, but it’s the pedagogy that drives the flipped classroom, not the technology. If all you’re doing is posting lecture videos online, you’re not flipping your classroom and, more importantly, you’re missing out on the learning opportunities the full model provides.”
A complex visualization, such as this one from the online comic xkcd can serve as a first exposure or student experience.
I want to build on this idea of traps inherent in the flipped system. Assuming ‘first exposure’ = ‘content delivery’ makes the trap potentially more insidious. This assumption is likely to lead to mimicking the mistake above, only this time, online. In this case, it’s actually worse. The instructor is far removed from the vacant stares of the students and unable to make mid-class corrections (like asking questions and bringing student experience back to the forefront). A misunderstanding of the flipped design, coupled with technology, not only encourages but hides design flaws—a dangerous combination. To overcome these challenges, we need to consider important steps that come before ‘first exposure’ or rethink what first exposure really means (something other than content-heavy lecture).
So what comes before the online lecture? I’ll start with an in-person example. I co-led a GIS in the Humanities workshop with Sean Connin (Trinity University) and Alex Chaucer (Skidmore College) in which Alex facilitated a discussion about several key concepts in Yi-Fu Tuan’s Space and Place. His session was a great example of designing around the ‘lead-with-content’ trap. Alex could have lectured about the concepts, but instead, he asked us to spend a few minutes visiting the streets of our childhood using Google Earth street view as well as the interactive Wilderness Downtown website. He posed several questions for reflection before the discussion and introduction of new concepts from the book. The experience was powerful and led to deeper understanding. The brief activity helped us contextualize and draw on previous experience (and emotion!), so the subsequent lecture and discussion had purpose. Alex not only provided a compelling hook, but the design helped us situate new ideas within previous experiences because he had so effectively activated our prior learning.
As we create flipped experiences for students, we’re bound to have a laser-like focus on the quality of the recorded lectures, making it easy to lose sight of the importance of contextualizing those lectures—either within the lecture itself or with activities beforehand. The best pre-lecture activities leave students perplexed and wanting to know more, but also help them situate what’s to come with what they’ve already learned. Maybe the experience unravels a misconception. Perhaps it oversimplifies a complex topic and encourages the student to develop probing questions. I’m a big fan of Marilla Svinicki’s (1987) call for using the Kolb Learning Cycle as a model for designing instruction. In that model, experience and reflection precede concept development (often a big component of lecture), so the model serves as a good visual reminder to help us avoid traps. As her article points out, experience can come in many forms (reading, simulations, observation, evaluating a visualization, etc.). Careful design, with balanced guidance, is key to purposeful exploration, rather than aimless wandering.
The RadioLab podcast is another great example of this design, and they’re just using audio! Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich are masters at using stories to develop complex ideas, skillfully weaving process and content. I mapped their show on randomness (stochasticity) onto the learning cycle.
Radiolab podcast mapped onto the learning cycle.
I doubt they had the learning cycle in mind when designing the show, but their online “lecture” about randomness doesn’t really begin until after they’ve provided the listener with an experience (a story of the two Lauras) and an opportunity to reflect on the story. They even throw in an additional coin flipping experience to boot before moving on to the idea that, “Real randomness when you see it, just doesn’t feel random enough.“
I think it’s somewhat natural for teachers to activate experience and provide opportunities for students to reflect and situate new ideas in the physical classroom. I’m not sure this is so natural online. So as we look at the flow of the ‘flipped classroom’ let’s add an element right at the beginning—student experience and reflection. This way, passive information reception isn’t the students’ first exposure. When I think about the flipped classroom movement, I’m both wary and excited. There are some serious traps; however, executed with design at the forefront, the opportunities are vast. We certainly have our work cut out for us. Not only do we have to provide information online in a compelling way, but we have to design student experiences that make the content meaningful. Oh, and then there’s the business of designing in-class activities.
Feedback welcome!
Thanks to Diane Boyd for her comments on the draft of this post. Many of the ideas in this post gelled as a result of preparing for a conference presentation with colleague Jeremy Donald. A post-presentation debrief over spicy Thai food helped even more. Thanks Jeremy!
I mentioned in an earlier post how much I liked Scrivener as a writing tool. As I used the program to write some learning goals for an upcoming course, I began to realize how powerful it is for facilitating the entire course development process.
Here’s a brief video demonstration which shows how I’m using it for course design as well as reflection and organization during the course.
While there’s only a Mac version available, Literature and Latte, the maker of Scrivener, has provided a list of supporting and alternative software. WriteItNow is mentioned as an alternative for the PC, but I haven’t tried it yet. Anybody out there have any experience with WriteItNow?
I wholeheartedly agree with Bryan Bibb’s great overview of Scrivener . Scrivener is an amazing tool for writers and allows for easy organization of a wide variety of resources. This tool has transformed my writing process!
Additional Detail:
The software is only available for the Mac. 😦
How long is it?
The overview video is fairly long but definitely worth the time to get a sense of what this software can do.
GIS, Data Visualization, and Teaching 