My high school is beginning the long and arduous planning for a 1:1 tablet program in which each of our students will have a device for school use by the 2014-2015 school year. This is such an exciting time for me as an educator and I find myself consumed with researching how to harness the power that each student will carry around in their backpacks. The iPads, tablets, laptops, and even smartphones are so much more than a glorified electronic textbook, but it can be difficult to navigate the sea of classroom technology resources out there and it can be even more overwhelming to think about recreating an entire curriculum to incorporate these tools!
Today I wanted to talk about flipping the classroom, which seems to be the educational buzzword everywhere I turn. My own school is even starting this conversation informally (for now!). The concept is simple, but the application I believe will be a little more complicated. Basically, the idea is to flip the traditional school schedule of lecture then homework practice. The flipped schedule would see students front loading information at home through video lectures, reading, and other research followed by application, analysis, and practice in the classroom with the teacher. For me, the jury is still out. There are many ways that I see the flipped classroom as a marked improvement on the traditional breakdown, but there are also many obstacles that must be overcome to make this actually work in my real classroom. I made the following infographic as a way to layout my thoughts on flipping the classroom. Please note, this is from my perspective as a seasoned teacher with technical savvy and a toddler needing most of my non-school time. We may see different pros and cons and may come up with different end solutions, but I'd love to hear your thoughts to keep this conversation going! Leave me a comment and share with your other teacher friends so we can learn from each other!