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Use curiosity to reach every student!

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I have always been attracted to unusual things. When I see something that looks interesting to me, I always try my very best to figure out the what, why and how. After I became a mother, I continued to be impressed by my daughter’s curiosity. For example, my daughter sees a penguin as a duck. To figure it out, I carefully examine the features of penguin and duck and eventually gain some knowledge in ornithology. After that, I started to realize how powerful the role our curiosity plays in our learning.

Here are some strategies that I find useful to spark my students’ curiosity.

Strategy 1: Flipped learning videos

Traditionally, flipped learning videos have been used as wonderful tools to reach every student. When thinking of a flipped learning video, we often consider videos with teachers’ direct instruction. However, I have found that flipped learning videos can be more than that! Starting this school year, I changed the way I use flipped learning videos and have received amazing feedback from my students. I make my videos with interesting scenarios and animations. Without directly teaching the students, I try to spark their curiosity and arouse their interests in learning.

Picture 1: a glance at a inquiry-type of flipped learning video

A glance at a inquiry-type of flipped learning video

Strategy 2: Trigger students’ observation

Activities like “Notice and Wonder” fit perfectly for the role to spark students’ curiosity. Have you ever noticed that Target’s sign is red in the United States and black in Australia? Same company with different branding. How about an emu and an ostrich?  How similar and how different are they? Trying to answer simple questions triggered by our curiosity can lead to a huge difference in learning.

Picture 2: Can you tell which one is Target Australia and which one is Target USA?

Can you tell which one is Target Australia and which one is Target USA?

Strategy 3: Look for a pattern

I love looking for a pattern. A well-known Californian teacher Fawn Nguyen created a website called “visual patterns.” Not only my students, but I would also spend minutes and minutes on the website trying to find the general rule for a set of visual patterns. By looking for a pattern, my students and I gain excitement and achievement by accomplishing the mystery of the pattern.

Picture 3: Visual Patterns created by Ms. Fawn Nguyen at www.visualpatterns.org

Visual Patterns created by Ms. Fawn Nguyen at www.visualpatterns.org

Curiosity is such a powerful tool for us to engage our students. Almost all people are attracted to unusual or unknown things. If you are looking for a way to reach every student, why not considering trying to spark your students’ curiosity.

 

Could Flipped Learning Be as Effective as One-To-One Tutoring?

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Written by Steve Griffiths

In 1984 Benjamin Bloom wrote an academic paper that reported on research comparing student achievement under conventional instruction, mastery instruction and one-to-one tutoring.  Students that received mastery instruction achieved final achievement scores one standard deviation above those that received conventional instruction.  Students that received one-on-one tutoring achieved final scores that were two standard deviations above the conventional instruction students (figure 1).  Bloom went on to describe a quest to identify group instruction methods that could be as effective as one-to-one tutoring.   Bloom found that mastery learning could be combined with changes in teaching practices to achieve additional improvements in student performance.

Bloom proposed that student performance is improved with one-to-one tutoring because the students continually receive feedback, reinforcement and encouragement and the tutee is actively involved in the learning process.  Bloom recommended that instructors employ a mastery approach to instruction as well as implement teaching practices that promote students to actively engage in the learning and that provide frequent feedback and clarification to students.

In-flipped mastery may be a method that can achieve student improvement that approaches the improvements achieved by one-to-one tutoring.   To help explain why this might be possible, we must first define mastery and explain in-class flipped mastery.

One definition of mastery learning is “an instructive strategy in which students are expected to reach a certain level of proficiency.  Students study material at their own pace, receiving the assistance they need in order to meet the predetermined level of mastery, which is typically set at 80 percent on an objective test”  (The Greenwood Dictionary of Education, 2003). Mastery has traditionally been hard to implement in a conventional classroom.  However, the flipped classroom makes mastery possible and very effective.

The in-class flip involves students progressing through the study material at their own pace by watching teacher-made videos (in-class) and then practicing and deepening their knowledge through activities and problems, again at their own pace.  The student-centred nature of the in-class flip frees up the teacher to interact with every student.  The in-class flip allows the teacher to reach every student, in every class, every day and this may be why student achievement can approach that of one-on-one tutoring.  The teacher checks student answers, monitors their progress, ask them questions and clarifies misconceptions.  The interactions are frequent and individualised.

The daily interactions with each student in the in-class flipped classroom augment the formal mastery checks that characterise mastery learning.  The teacher is continually assessing mastery with every interaction with the student.  Not only does the teacher assess mastery of the content and skills but also the student’s mindset, their grit and their agency.   The teacher can then tailor their intervention specifically to each student.

A key aspect of mastery is that learning is individualised for each student.  Based on student performance on mastery checks, each student is prescribed an individualised program of correctives to master the content or skills or to extend students that have already achieved mastery.  It is little wonder that mastery learning is practically impossible to implement effectively in a traditional classroom where all students progress through the unit in a lock-step fashion.

In Bloom’s quest for group instruction that is as effective as one-to-one tutoring, he recommended mastery learning with teaching practices that promote active learning and regular feedback and clarification.  Flipped mastery ticks all of these boxes and is a powerful tool that can potentially transform the way that students learn.

The recent report into the state of Australian schooling, known as “Gonksi 2.0” has called for more individualised learning for students.  In-flipped mastery is a promising technique that can go some way towards achieving more individualised learning.

References:

Bloom, B. S. (1984). The 2 sigma problem: The search for methods of group instruction as effective as one-to-one tutoring. Educational researcher, 13(6), 4-16.

Collins, J. W., 1948, & O’Brien, N. P. (2003). The greenwood dictionary of education. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press.

Saving Swimmers in the Flipping Pool

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It has occurred to me that some days I am like the pool lifeguard, in a flipping pool. I’m up there on my high chair, I’ve got the pink zinc across Help Saving Swimmers in the Flipping Poolmy face like war paint. I have my whistle for the troublemakers, I have my flotation device for those who entered the pool and weren’t ready to. I’m also there to support the new swimmers and to provide slow lanes for the more adept swimmer who have been at the pool a long time and are keen to keep swimming but at their own pace. I’m also clearing lanes for those swimmers who are keen to take on Michael Phelps and occasionally get a leg cramp. I look after them all.

I am privileged to have teachers honestly share their concerns about teaching with devices and associated organisation systems with me. These concerns centre around the expense to families, robotic replacement and how to make a measurable difference with the devices. The transformation that the journey of flipping brings to these challenges is so positive.

It has literally, for some, been the difference between quitting or remaining employed. Time and time again I have been told that before starting to use flipping, resignation letters were written. PLD has turned this around and reignited a passion for teaching, teachers often use the lifesaving reference, “Thanks, this is a lifesaver.”

Teachers frequently begin their digital journey, worried that being a 1:1 device environment would be another extra, in a place where there is already a deficit of time and energy. However, as we near the end of our 1st full year promoting inflipping with KAR, I am finding that this is changing. There is now a view that digital is the nuts and bolts of being able to flip and still have time to do the extra things that teachers always dream of doing.

The flipped online PLD courses and face to face training that I do, has given teachers the confidence to bridge the digital divide and the pedagogy to feel confident that embracing a digital classroom can maximise learning not just enhance distractions.

Teachers are embracing a structure that allows them to teach and meet all of the different goals and individual education plans without putting themselves through the mincer. I personally used to give the analogy that it was like facing a very hungry nest with baby birds all squawking at the same time. Now with the ease of Google Classroom and inflipping as one teacher put it to me today, “The kids have lots of learning chances, as many times as they need.”

But “it just makes sense” is another thing I am often told usually with a lament that why was this not shared sooner? In my role across many different schools, I have not had one teacher ever come back to me and state that they disagreed with the notion of inflipping or that the approach could not assist their practice in some way.The leadership in the cluster of schools has been exceptional. It is a fantasy to dump devices into the hands of students and expect staff to miraculously instigate innovative pedagogies. Staff have been given the time and support to trial practice and learn just as we would hope happens in classrooms with students.

Digital immersion is consistent with the virus model. The virus of excitement. This involves seeking out teachers who are keen and open to trial new things. Effort is put into engaging these staff as early adopters. The teachers you know like to explore the deep end of the pool. Once these classrooms are underway with the right support, the next tier of staff will

Virus included in the Flipping Pool

want to see what all the excitement is about. Adults all subscribe to the Keeping Up with the Jones’ theory and thus the virus will spread. The excitement of staffroom talk regarding the success of the inflipping is also key to this virus spreading and student success will also provide a motivator.

We have started small with teachers choosing a curriculum area they are confident with and then inflipping 1 unit or 1 groups tasks. VERY VERY quickly this escalated due to student success.

I have found that by assisting as many staff as possible to complete the level 1 Flipped Course there becomes a shared language and pedagogy for staff to scaffold each other in shared learning, “techy tips” and resources. We have also used differentiated teacher PLD days to engage and motivate staff. This has culminated in a mini-conference with staff from my cluster sharing with others including staff from other schools. The power of teacher led PLD for teachers is undeniable as is using an open classroom strategy where amazing practitioners welcome observer teachers into their rooms. The level of awhi (support) that this collegial support brings to a school on a shared journey is inspiring to be a part of.

When teachers share success with me, with as much enthusiasm as the children they teach, you know the passion for education has been reignited. Active learning inquiry, thinking based projects, 20% time had almost been driven out of education in a relentless pursuit of higher reading, writing and math grades. The joy and interest these pedagogies can bring to a classroom and to student learning is mirrored by the engagement and enthusiasm teachers have for motivated learners. The boredom of drill and skill …page 23 in your textbook practice cuts both ways. Teachers who are inflipping in our cluster now have the time to do the stuff that sets minds churning and creativity is making a wildly organic come back.

Quite apart from the first-hand observations I have made, where teachers are brimming with excitement, is the depth of worldwide research and practice. As a leader and facilitator, a solid platform from which to engage in what is, for our region, a very new shift in practice.

The foundations that the FLGI online course structure provides affords a differentiated scale that makes this an extremely useful resource to augment my inflpped PLD.

So I’ll continue to support and watch from my life guard chair. I’ll enjoy the view as the people in my pool are once more becoming enthusiastic about what they love to do. I’ll watch as they relax and become more confident in their careers. I’ll be happy with the spread of this virus in my pool. There will be no more semi drownings on my watch.

Does the lightboard improve learning? The first empirical research.

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I am pleased to report on the first peer-reviewed research investigating video learning using the lightboard. I have been eagerly awaiting this research ever since I made my first lightboard video.

Firstly to clarify, the lightboard is a large glass board on which the instructor writes and draws whilst they teach, facing the camera. The board is filled with light by LED strip edge lighting. This makes the instructors’ writing “pop out” against the black backdrop. The lightboard is referred to by a number of names including forward board, learning glass, and in this study a transparent whiteboard.

In 2016, a study identified that video styles in which the instructor writes and draws in real time is more beneficial for student learning than static images. The study also found that learning is enhanced when the instructors’ hand is visible. My blog post on this paper can be found here.

This present study compares a video where the instructor teaches on a traditional whiteboard with a video where the instructor uses a transparent whiteboard. The study measured student learning in a posttest immediately after the video or after a delay of 7 days. The study also evaluated students’ perceptions of the video styles.

An example of the transparent lightboard

The results were that the students who viewed the transparent whiteboard video performed significantly better in the immediate posttest than the students who viewed the traditional whiteboard video. The authors proposed that the transparent whiteboard was more effective for student learning for two reasons. Firstly, there is educed occlusion with the transparent board. With a traditional whiteboard, the instructor frequently occludes text and drawings as he is writing. This obstruction prevents the instructor from cueing to the relevant information at the time that they are verbally explaining the content. The second reason the authors proposed for the improved learning with the transparent board was increased social cues. Having the instructor face the students and make eye contact increases the social cues and student engagement.
Students’ preferences were also evaluated using a survey. Students who viewed the transparent whiteboard video reported a greater rapport with the instructor and student engagement was significantly higher.
A second experiment measured whether the improved learning was preserved over a one-week duration. The learning improvement was not significantly better than the whiteboard. However, the authors acknowledged that the students were not incentivised to remember the information. The authors recommend that further research should be conducted in authentic setting where students are incentivised to remember the video content.

This first study is very encouraging for the use of the lightboard. Especially in subject areas like STEM where there are significant amounts of complex spatial representations.

For further information on how to make a lightboard or make lightboard videos, check out this post.

Fiorella, L., & Mayer, R. E. (2016). Effects of observing the instructor draw diagrams on learning from multimedia messages. Journal of Educational Psychology, 108(4), 528.

Google Apps to platform flipped learning – hyperdocs

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Hyperdocs are a functional, practical and efficient way to deliver resources to students and have them create, collaborate and research to achieve learning outcomes. As the name suggests, hyperdocs are the use of apps to hyperlink to other apps and software. Many teachers, interested in digital edtech, have probably been creating or using hyperdocs  already and have been for some time.

The great thing about digital technologies is that you can transfer skills learnt in using one piece of software or app and apply those skills to another. Well, that’s what I have found anyway. Most of the skills I have learnt from using Google apps I can transfer to our school LMS and visa versa. Google apps for education (GAFE) and other apps, mentioned later, are perfectly suited for flipped learning and all the intricacies that intertwine and make this method of teaching so valuable and productive for teaching and learning. If you have blended your teaching with digital technologies, then the content in this post may sound familiar, if you are new to FL or blended teaching and learning, then I hope you will be able to pick up a few new ideas and try them out.

The power of Google apps for me are the functionalities that allow teachers and students to be able to collaborate in real time, share, explore, self-pace, experiment, give and receive feedback, and much more.

Similar to flipped learning, hyperdocs are nothing new. But like flipped learning, once you  combine hypedocs with the nonstop advancement of new digital technologies, promotion of student centered learning, redefinition of both SAMR1,  and Blooms taxonomy2  , the opportunities are almost boundless.

This is where, as flipped learning teachers are aware, flipped learning can give back and make time for teachers to really teach and help students really learn, research, collaborate and create. Hyperdocs is one platform that can deliver flipped learning.

What is a hyperdoc?

Hyperdocs are, in the most basic of definitions, a digital app, for example a Google Doc,  that may include a hyperlink to another app or webpage. Teachers have probably recognized a similarity between hyperdocs and workflows or app smashing or even earlier digital resources such as web searches or quests and Google lit trips. But hyperdocs are much more than these predecessors and with a good hyperdoc, you can do much more.

Hyperdocs can vary in the amount of activities you can give the student to engage with.  Depending on the objectives, a hyperdoc could include all or some of the components listed here:

  • Research and explore
  • Critical thinking
  • Collaboration and/or sharing
  • Create
  • Apply
  • Experiment
  • Share and/or exhibit
  • Feedback (teacher and peer)
  • Reflectin

These features are also in other teaching and learning strategies such as project based learning and games based learning which illustrates how important these key elements are.

You can have a hyperdoc with one or one hundred activities, although I do not think anyone has made a hyperdoc with that many, but it is possible. I would suggest that teachers starting out with flipped learning with hyperdocs first start with one to two activities, then build from there. Of course it also depends on what topic and objective you would like your students to achieve in the activity. I build much of my coursework around Google Sheets and these can be as little as one lessons’ content with 2 to 3 sheets and 2 hyperdoc activities or half a terms content in a unit of work with between 10 – 20 activities.

Below is an example of part of a hyperdoc that I have prepared and used with my students. This type of hyperdoc may last one to two lessons. This was prepared for my Year 9 class who have studied Chinese for two years and have studied the “home” topic for 3 weeks. They have learnt the language to describe different types of houses, different rooms and express where they are.  The courtyard house is a traditional style house in China.

This activity can be completed in class as an inflip or at home as students do not need to be together to work on the document.

An example of a hyperdoc using Flipgrid

It’s all about sharing

Teachers are a generous lot and the best starting place for finding out more about hyperdocs and getting started is at https://hyperdocs.co/index.php/ . This site has been set up by three amazing teachers, Kelly Hilton, Lisa Highfill, and Sarah Landis and you can find out more about them and the hyperdoc story on the site. Included on the site is a treasure chest of templates, how to videos, ideas and discussion that will assist new and experienced teachers. Teachers are encouraged to share on the site which I think is great.

Once you have created your first hyperdoc, it’s maybe a good idea to get feedback from other teachers. You can either ask for feedback on the hyperdoc Facebook site or check out this site: http://www.boostedu.org/self-assessment/

Suggested apps I have used to platform a hyperdoc:

  • Thinglink
  • All the Google apps eg Docs, Slides, Sheets
  • OneNote

Suggested apps or web sites to add to a hyperdoc:

  • Google Earth
  • Google apps eg Forms
  • Padlet
  • Youtube
  • QR codes
  • For formative feedback: Survey Monkey, Google Forms, Quizlet, Socrative Kahoots, Peardeck

Hyperdocs are a great way to create engaging and exciting resources that will benefit your students and maximise their learning.  Bring 21st Century learning into your classroom with hyperdocs.

Bibliography

  1. Ditch that textbook, Matt Miller, http://ditchthattextbook.com/2014/04/03/10-ways-to-reach-samrs-redefinition-level/
  2. Kathy Schrock’s Guide to Everything, Kathy Schrock,http://www.schrockguide.net/samr.html
  3. Reframing Classroom discussion http://www.jonbergmann.com/reframing-the-flipped-learning-discussion/

Suggested Resources

  1. https://hyperdocs.co/templates excellent site for hyperdoc templates, resources and help
  2. http://www.kellyhilton.org/  excellent site for hyperdoc templates, resources and help
  3. http://www.boostedu.org/self-assessment/ Boost Education – evaluation tool for hyperdocs
  4. http://www.schrockguide.net/samr.html  Guide to Everything, SAMR explained, Kathy Schrock