Four Practical Ways to Blend

When it comes to blended learning, it is essential first to have an underlying understanding as to why this pedagogical strategy is valuable in the classroom. Let’s take a step back before diving into the nuts and bolts. Over the years, I have written a great deal about personalization, which is basically a shift from “what” to “who” as a means for students to demonstrate more ownership over their learning.  What is taught or on the test has little value if the diverse needs of learners aren’t addressed. The same could be said if all kids are learning the same thing at the same time in the same way.  

The path to equity begins with a vision where all learners get what they need when and where they need it, regardless of the learning environment.  This is the essence of personalization. While there are many strategies to personalize, blended pedagogies represent the most practical means.  While you don’t need technology to personalize, it is required to blend. Here is my definition shared in Disruptive Thinking in Our Classrooms that makes a distinction between instruction:

Blended instruction is what the teacher does with technology. Blended learning is where students use tech to have control over path, place, and pace.

Over time through my extensive work with schools, I have identified the four most practical ways to personalize through blended learning.  These include station rotation, choice activities, playlists, and the flipped approach. While each has unique benefits, they all help move teaching and learning from a state of equality to equity. The image below is my attempt to capture these significant changes.

I realized that I have separate posts and images on all four of these blended learning strategies and thought it might be a good idea to curate this information that educators have found valuable to create a resource. Below I have briefly summarized each approach and encourage you to click on the link for more detailed information.  

Station Rotation 

Students are grouped based on data and move through a variety of set activities typically consisting of targeted instruction with the teacher, collaborative exercises, independent work, and online tasks that are personalized for individual learners. The teacher establishes a block of time for each station, and students visit each one during a class period followed by some sort of forma¬tive assessment.

Choice Activities 

These allow students to select a set number of activities to complete from numerous options. Typically, they are arranged in a choice board or must-do/may-do format. Often a teacher will differentiate by having different versions. Students do not complete all of the activities.

Playlists 

A series of individualized assignments that students work through at their own pace while following the path of their choice. As students complete a task, they either color in the corre¬sponding box on a digital sheet next to their name or check off each box on a paper worksheet. Unlike choice activities, all tasks are completed. 

Flipped Approach

Students watch a short, direct instruction video or consume other forms of content outside of school at their own pace while communicating with peers and teachers using online tools. While in school, students work to actively apply what they have learned through concept engagement and empowering learning activities with assistance from the teacher.

All the blended learning strategies listed above allow educators to better use their time with students while opening the door to more significant equity through personalization.  It is important to remember that instruction still plays an important role, especially in terms of setting up the blended pathway of choice. It is up to the teacher to determine when and the extent to which each strategy is implemented.

QR Codes in the Math Classroom

In Mrs. Chellani’s continual efforts to create an engaging learning experience for her students, she has found utilizing QR codes to facilitate collaboration to be highly beneficial.  In order to review material discussed in an assigned video and in class in her Pre-Calculus and Calculus courses, she created QR codes with relevant questions on the material and its’ applications.  Students were placed in groups of four to five; and, using a QR reader app on their phone, they were able to view the question.  Once the students worked on the problem together, they would confirm the result with Mrs. Chellani. When the solution was correct, they would be given the next QR code (i.e. question).  The level of engagement increased dramatically with the use of QR codes and simply allowing students to utilize their cell phones in the learning process! 

Image credit: http://www.youngupstarts.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/QR-Code.jpg

Mrs. Chellani has been a pioneer in flipping her classes at New Milford High School where her tools of choice have been Adobe Captivate and Edmodo.   Be sure to check out her class website at Learn Math Easily. In addition to the interactive videos she has created to flip her class you will also find case studies and online resources on her site. 

Autonomy Breeds Change

A year and a half ago I decided to implement a job-embedded growth model at the suggestion of some of my teacher leaders.  They desperately sought time during the school day to engage in professional growth opportunities, learn how to integrate Web 2.0 tools, and develop their own Personal Learning Networks (PLN’s).  After some thinking and looking at various options inherent in the current schedule, I decided to cut all non-instructional duties in half to create a Professional Growth Period (PGP).  The inspiration for this idea came from Google’s 80/20 Innovation Model where engineers are encouraged to take 20 percent of their time to work on something company-related that interests them personally.  Duties that we cut are now assumed by me and my administrative team.

Image credit: http://scholasticadministrator.typepad.com/thisweekineducation/2010/02/thompson-autonomy-for-change.html

The PGP was launched in September 2011.   It virtually gave every New Milford High School teacher two to three, forty eight minute periods a week, depending on the semester, to engage in growth opportunities of personal interest.  The only catch was that each staff member had to create and present a learning portfolio at his/ her end of year evaluation conference.   This learning portfolio clearly articulated how they integrated what was learned during this time into professional practice.  They also had to keep a log detailing what was done during each PGP day throughout the year.

A great deal was learned after I reflected on year one of the PGP.  For starters, I read Drive by Daniel Pink this past summer and made a few slight changes.  In order to give each staff member a greater level of autonomy, I removed all top-down mandates such as keeping a log and watching a certain number of PD 360 videos.  This year teachers had true freedom to learn anything and follow their passions as long as the time was spent to improve NMHS’s bottom line – student learning and achievement.  Sample PGP activities include the following:

• becoming a connected educator by developing and engaging in a Personal Learning Network (PLN)
• researching best practices
• developing innovative learning activities
• creating interdisciplinary lessons
• engaging in face-to-face professional development
• learning to use new technologies
• collaborating on projects with colleagues. 

I also used last year as an opportunity to work with my teachers and better articulate how to compile their learning portfolios. Last week I began conducting end of year evaluation conferences with my teachers.  I was extremely eager to see their respective learning portfolios and discover what they had been working on over the course of the year.  Let me tell you this, I was not disappointed.  As each staff member presented their learning portfolio they all shared how appreciative they were to have this time.  Below is a sample from some of the portfolios:

• Math teacher Kanchan Chellani has been using her PGP time to create engaging learning activities with Adobe Captivate to flip her classroom.  She has also created her own website filled with resources for students.
• English teachers Jessica Groff and Nanna Westbook used their PGP time to collaborate.  Throughout the year they met to develop extensive binders to compile resources related to text complexity as outlined by the Common Core Standards.  Jessica also used the time to develop the school’s digital newspaper, The Lance, from scratch.
• Math teacher Jeff Fiscina learned how to create engaging learning activities using Educreations. He also developed his own blog and started a Twitter account for his classes.
• English Teacher Sue Michels read numerous books, such as Drive by Daniel Pink and Fair Isn’t Always Equal by Rick Wormeli.  She also re-wrote the entire Honors English 11 curriculum.
• History teacher Joe Manzo learned how to use iMovie and created a project on the Vietnam War to engage his students in some of the essential concepts.  He is now working on developing a student project where they will use iMovie to create artifacts of learning related to historical concepts later this year.
• History teacher Rebecca Millan started her own blog and is now having her students blog as well in Sociology.
• Math teacher April Millian has been exploring the flipped instructional approach and has begun to implement it on a routine basis with the use of Edmodo.
• English Teacher Jerry Engstrom created several unit plans aligned to the common core and read How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster and Readicide by Kelly Gallagher.  Jerry provided examples of how he has integrated specific concepts and insights learned from each book. He has begun to research how to implement student portfolios using Evernote for next year.

Similar to FedEx days discussed by Dan Pink in Drive, my teachers have been given the opportunity to follow their passions, unleash their creativity, and deliver a learning portfolio that illustrates professional growth to enhance teaching and learning.  Based on the conversations I had with teachers after they presented their learning portfolios, they are already beginning to talk about innovative ideas to pursue next year.  I am excited to see what some of my other teachers have been working on in the coming weeks and am proud that time during the school day is being used productively. 

Learning Math Should be Fun and Engaging

Kanchan Chellani, currently a math teacher at New Milford High School, is a strong believer in making the learning process fun, interactive, and meaningful for students. To engage students in her classroom, Mrs. Chellani has utilized a variety of tools to help her develop an interactive, student-centered learning environment.  Through the use of technology, collaborative learning exercises, and teaching mathematical concepts in the real-world and interdisciplinary context, she has managed to successfully work towards creating this desired positive and energetic blended learning environment.  Some of the many methods Mrs. Chellani has employed in her daily instruction include integrating Smart Board interactive review games and videos to reinforce prior learning, case studies performed in the computer lab so students understand the significance of the material taught, and team assignments to foster a collaborative working environment.

Since the “flipped” approach to instruction is proving to be a key asset in modern education, one of Mrs. Chellani’s recent initiatives has been to provide students with a means to learn independently utilizing digital content.  Starting in December 2011, she began using Edmodo, an online platform that enables innovative and social learning, as a way to share online videos and content on the relevant topic for her students to view and assign online polls to complete in order to foster discussion on the topic the next day.  Although enabling the “flipped” approach to instruction using Edmodo has transformed the way material is taught and comprehended by students, it has been difficult to find resources that combine curriculum delivery, real-world examples, and assessments in a cohesive manner.  As a result, she has started to create her own online learning modules, using the software Adobe Captivate.

Adobe Captivate is a highly, user-friendly digital content creation software that fosters interactive eLearning content.  Mrs. Chellani has made use of the tool by creating learning modules that teach the basic mathematical concepts, as well as, provide practice problems, real-world examples, and assessments that allow for better comprehension of the material in an organized fashion.  In these learning modules, instruction is provided using digital content, simulations, videos, screen captures, voice-overs, etc. to meet the visual, auditory, and tactile needs of the diverse student population. Once the instruction has been provided, guided practice problems and real-world examples are then discussed to reinforce the learning of the mathematical concept and to illustrate its’ significance.  A variety of prompts and formal assessments are also embedded within the project in order to ensure that the learning has taken place, to develop higher-order thinking skills, and to facilitate discussion in the classroom.

Here’s how it works! 

• Students go onto www.learnmatheasily.com and select the assigned video for homework.
• Students view the instructional portion of the video (both mathematical content and real-world applications) and complete guided practice problems, prompts, and formal assessments embedded within the video.
• Students come into class the next day with a solid foundation on the mathematical topic.  The teacher utilizes the aforementioned prompts to facilitate class discussion and assigns polls via Edmodo to ensure that the learning has taken place.
• SMART Board interactive review games, case studies, collaborative learning exercises, group projects, quizzes, and tests are assigned in class to reinforce the learning in a differentiated fashion and probe deeper into key mathematical topics. 

Using Adobe Captivate, Mrs. Chellani has been able to create an engaging and interactive learning experience for her students that not only helps them understand complex mathematical concepts, but also helps them understand the real-world significance of those concepts. 

Flipping Instruction in a Captivating Fashion

Mrs. Kanchan Chellani, one of our math teachers here at NMHS, is very enthusiastic and creative.  To engage students in her classroom, she has developed an interactive, student-centered learning environment.  Through the use of technology, collaborative learning, and teaching mathematical concepts in the real-world and interdisciplinary context, she has managed to successfully work towards creating this desired positive and energetic blended learning environment.  Some of the many methods Mrs. Chellani has employed in her daily instruction include integrating Smart Board interactive review games and videos to reinforce prior learning, case studies performed in the computer lab so students understand the significance of the material taught, and team assignments to foster a collaborative working environment.

Image credit: http://catlintucker.com/2010/12/blended-learning-demystified/

Since the “flipped” approach to instruction has been a hot topic in modern education, especially at NMHS, one of Mrs. Chellani’s recent initiatives has been to integrate Edmodo into her daily lessons.  She searches on the Internet for videos on the relevant content, posts them on Edmodo for her students to view, and creates polls (guided practice problems) for her students to complete in order to foster discussion on the topic the next day.  Although Edmodo and the “flipped” approach to instruction has transformed the way material is taught and comprehended by students, Mrs. Chellani noticed that it is very difficult to find videos on the content that are truly engaging.  As a result, she has decided to create her own video content using the software Adobe Captivate. 

Adobe Captivate is a highly, user-friendly digital content creation software that fosters interactive eLearning content.  Mrs. Chellani refers to Adobe Captivate as a “PowerPoint on Wheels.” In other words, this software not only allows one to either import or directly create a PowerPoint presentation to illustrate content, but it also provides many features that transform a simple presentation into something engaging, interactive, and stimulating.  Some of these features include integrating background music, voice-overs, the timing to which the content is displayed, videos, screen captures/simulations, and formal assessments such as quizzes that automatically track results.

Through research and the aforementioned features that the software offers, Mrs. Chellani came to the conclusion that this is one of the best tools to create digital eLearning content that would support the “flipped” approach to instruction. She has made use of the tool to create learning modules that teach the basic mathematical concepts, provide practice problems, real-world examples, and assessments that allow for better comprehension of the material in an organized fashion.  In these learning modules, instruction is provided using digital content, simulations, videos, screen captures, voice-overs, etc. to meet the visual, auditory, and tactile needs of the diverse student population.  Once the instruction has been provided, guided practice problems and real-world examples are then discussed to reinforce the learning of the mathematical concept and to illustrate its significance.  A variety of prompts and formal assessments are also embedded within the project in order to ensure learning has taken place, to foster higher-order thinking skills, and to facilitate discussion in the classroom.  Using Adobe Captivate, Mrs. Chellani has been able to create an engaging experience for her students that not only helps them understand complex mathematical concepts, but also helps them understand the real-world significance of those concepts. 

Khan Academy: Friend or Foe?

While attending the NSBA Annual Conference this past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend Sal Kahn’s keynote on Sunday.  Khan is the creator of Khan Academy.  He began his keynote by sharing a video montage of Khan Academy highlights and then presenting some impressive statistics on usage.  To date, these statistics are: 140 million+ lessons delivered, 500 million+ exercises done, and 6+ million unique visits per month. It is obvious from these statistics that many stakeholders, including students, are finding some form of value from the service that Khan Academy provides.

The catalyst for Khan Academy began some years ago with a Yahoo doodle Sal developed to help a family member with her struggles in math. In addition to using Yahoo doodle, he began writing quiz software in 2006.  Dismissive at first, he then began to create video tutorials that were uploaded to YouTube.  As Sal emphasized, his key finding during this exploratory process was that viewers could engage in the content when they were ready for, or needed, it and could learn at their own pace. Once on YouTube, the videos took on a life of their own and were widely watched and used by teachers, parents, and students. 

He officially started Khan Academy in 2009 knowing that quality videos would withstand test of time.  As the site increased in popularity it caught the eye of Bill Gates and Google with an end result being over 4 million in funding.  The Khan Academy site now contains over 3000 videos mapped to the Common Core and associated assessments that allow learners to practice and reinforce skills acquired through the videos. Detailed statistics are provided to learners and coaches (i.e. teachers) to provide a snapshot of what has been learned.  You can learn more details about other associated features here.

As students show mastery in one concept they move on to the next. Sal Khan says his system is out of sync with that of traditional education systems that have become indoctrinated over many years.  He feels that his service increases valuable time for teachers to connect with students in class.  As he stated, student teacher ratio isn't important - it is the student to valuable teacher time ratio that matters.  Khan Academy’s new features provide powerful data on growth and achievement that teachers can utilize to modify instruction.

I must say Sal Kahn is a riveting storyteller.  He had the audience laughing, cheering, and literally in awe with Khan Academy and it’s potential in schools.  All one had to do was read the Twitter stream to deduce this.  However, the Twitter back channel also revealed many skeptics in regards to the finances provided by certain champions for education reform,

Some tweets:

@mcpssuper: Why do I feel like I'm watching a really cool sales pitch for #khanacademy

@cascadingwaters: All of this #khanacademy bit works, right up until the kid gets stuck. And they do.

@MCSDrSpence: Implications of Khans work for closing achievement gap are enormous. Next challenge: we have to bridge the digital divide for kids

@irasocal: There are few bigger frauds in American than Sal Khan #NSBAconf

Khan Academy is not a silver bullet that will fix education and improve achievement as a stand-alone entity. It has its merits, as does the flipped learning approach that his videos are generally associate with, but more as an instructional supplement to enhance the teaching and learning process.  The video resources and associated services provided for free by Khan Academy are powerful learning tools, if they can be accessed by populations (rural and urban) that need them the most.  Khan Academy merely provides the content.  Great teachers are the key to developing authentic tasks for students to apply what they have learned and assessing to provide feedback.  As a tool Khan Academy will benefit educators, students, and parents in a quest for knowledge, practice, and reinforcement.  It will not, however, be a game-changing reform agent as the private sector sees it.

With this being said, what are your thoughts on Khan Academy and it's implications on education?

The Flipped Classroom Explained

There has been a great deal of information lately on the World Wide Web and in the media on the flipped classroom approach.  I still get the sense that many educators are unsure of what this actually means and entails.  I myself have done quite a bit of research as of late to gain a better understanding.

Image credit: http://www.techchef4u.com/ipad/lets-use-video-to-reinvent-education-salman-khan-on-ted-com/

There are two main components associated with the flipped classroom approach to teaching and learning.  The first is that students watch lectures and consume other forms of content outside of school at their own pace while communicating with peers and teachers using online tools.  The second is that students in school work to actively apply what they have learned through concept engagement with assistance from the teacher.  For a  more detailed description and an infographic on this approach check out this great article at MindShift.  There is also fantastic information at The Digital Sandbox including this description: "The flipped classroom provides avenues for teachers to become facilitators of learning and move away from the sage on the stage approach to teaching.  The goal is to extend learning time conversation to outside of class through threaded discussion."


Below is an introductory video on what it means to "flip" your classroom.  Please be aware that there is a brief product pitch at the end of the video.

For more resources on the flipped classroom approach visit Cybraryman's page on the topic. So what are your thoughts on this topic?  I would love to hear from those educators that have found success with this. Will schools and educators find value in this approach and begin to flip their classrooms?  Or will the fear and anxiety associated with standardized testing and new teacher accountability reforms stop this phenomenon from taking off?