Introduction - Less than 10 years ago, the idea of a "flipped classroom" was formed out of necessity when a pair of instructors created web-based instruction to develop learning modules for students who had missed class (Knewton, Inc., 2014). The use of the flipped classroom has gained momentum since the initial “serendipity moment” which took teachers out of the center of the classroom as the focus, and put them in the role of advisers and assistants within a student-centered learning environment (Knewton, Inc., 2014).
As eluded to in Phase I, the classroom cannot be transformed into a true Flipped Classroom since this is not the current model desired by the school. Essentially, the lessons and lesson plans are scripted without much room for what would be discovery and demonstration on the part of the students. However, on days where centers for different learning levels are implemented, some of this time can be used for the culminating collaborative project aspect of the technology solution.
Description of Instructional Strategies - Three technology resources will be used to meet the objectives, that is, an online applet, online instructional videos and student created instruction videos.
Differentiation - The nature of the self-paced nature of all of the resources lends itself well to diverse learners. The groups for the collaborative project will be carefully matched to make sure students have the opportunity to learn from and instruct one another. Paper slide videos involve different jobs for different members of the team so no one will feel left out. During the instruction copy development phase, formative assessment will take place to make sure all of the students take part in and understand the process being described.
Resource I - WebMath - First, an applet from Webmath (Reed, 2010-2014) will be used to help the students get a more visual representation of what area and perimeter look like.
This self paced demonstration will allow the students time to grasp the concept, and then submit a demonstration of their successful use of the applet for verification. A standout advantage of this applet, is it shows perimeter and area being determined on the same figure at the same time. It also shows how the size of each changes relative to whether it is an area or a perimeter, as well as the units for each.
Resource II - LearnZillion (c) - This online learning environment provides videos will be used to give further reinforcement of the concepts of area and perimeter in the absence of the applet. The videos tie in more directly with the types of problems the students will come across. The standout aspect of this tool, is the use of "common mistakes" as well as the format that is followed each time: review of what you may already know, common mistakes, lesson, review of what you learned. There is note-taking template to assist the students in following along and to verify understanding (LearnZillion, 2014).
Learn Zillion (c) will be used to build on previous concepts, to get to more advanced concepts such as finding a missing length or plotting coordinates and finding the area and perimeter of the resulting figure. The concepts will be new, but the learning environment will be familiar. And again, the learning is self-paced and can be paused and repeated if necessary.
Resource III - Student Created Paperslide and ESL Video - In order to continue to climb the Blooms levels, students will use what they have learned to create a learning resource for others. Below is a demonstration explaining what a paperslide video is.
Creating is the culmination of the new version of Blooms Taxonomy, because student are not merely remembering something, they are finding a way to express their knowledge to others Overbaugh, R., & Schultz, L., 2014). After the students create the video, they develop questions to check the learning of others, creating multiple choice questions to accompany their video to be posted on ESLVideo. Below is a screenshot of an ESLvideo lesson created to demonstrate the Pythagorean Theorem.
By making use use of paperslide videos and being responsible for the copy on each slide, and then developing multiple choice question to at to the ESLVideo quizzes, students will indeed be able to assemble, construct, create, develop, formulate and write all they have learned about area and perimeter (Overbaugh, R., & Schultz, L. 2014).
Access and Logistics Plan/Timeline - Since most of the resources will be accessed from home computers, the logistics are fairly simple. All parents will be sent instructions, as well as the instructions being distributed to the students in school.
Families are accustomed to receiving homework and communication through email and posting on Schoolnotes. For the first phase of the plan, instructions for the applet can be sent through this mode of communication.
For the LearnZillion (c) video assignment, students and parents will be sent access codes on a form provided on the LearnZillion (c) site. Time wise, the videos can also be viewed over spring break.
Students have created paper slide videos of other concepts in class. This culminating project can be completed following spring break. Once the students have completed vidoes on their phone, they are downloaded to my PC and uploaded to the Internet, and transferred to ESLVideo. The videos can then be accessed through ESL video without being blocked, such as would be the case if they were on a Youtube(c) channel.
All of these activities should be able to be completed as homework assignments over the next two weeks, and the culminating project will be completed the week following spring break.
