Moving to the Flipped Learning Model

Good Lord!  Where did the time go?  Apologies.

So, where we?  Yes, I was at the The Antwerp International School in Belgium.  Was.  My family and I had a year there.  I held the title IT Director.  We have fond memories of living in and travelling around Belgium.

We are now at the British School Muscat in Oman.  I am the Head of Computing and Business Studies and we have very exciting times ahead!  As of September 2014, Computing is the new ICT.  Sadly, ICT was reduced by many to 'learn MS Office'.  It was always much more than that but, sadly, its reputation and lack of clarity in what it really meant to many ICT teachers meant it was (rightly) replaced with Computing.  Many might say that Michael Gove, the Education Secretary at the time who initiated this change, is not their most popular MP but I think he got this right.

Here in Muscat, I am lucky enough to work with a great team.  There are 4 of us in the department and, between us, we cover KS3 Computing, GCSE Business and GCSE Computer Science and A-Level Business Studies, Economics and Computing.  We have ourselves a bit of a head-start with KS3 Computing last year by developing a pilot Computing curriculum.  As a 1.0 POS, it's very good.  Developed by a colleague in my department, it provides a great foundation for 'review and refine' now, rather than wholesale development.

But this is not the point of this blog entry.  This is...

At exam-level, we are embarking on developing a Flipped Learning Model for our students.  At this stage, there are 2 key comments to make:

1. The decision to go 'all in' with the Flipped Learning Model happened in the last 6 weeks of the last school year.  As we approach the start of the new school year, we have been aggressively planning, reading, meeting, exchanging ideas and resourcing.  We have not embarked on this disruptive pedagogical shift lightly!
2. The second comment is that the whole school knows about this shift in learning emphasis!  We are now 'front-and-centre' - all eyes are on us!

Why the shift?

The shift to a Flipped Learning Model was borne out of the need to:

1. Provide students with the support that they really need.  Note: Really need
2. Shift the responsibility of the learning squarely onto the shoulders of our students (and being sure they are learning!)

Re: Point 1 above (Providing Student Support)

Bloom's Taxonomy.  For many of us, (and this is a very simplified example) we deliver a lesson and then we ask our students to 'analyse this text for homework'.  Often, analysis, evaluation, synthesis or synopsis are not always well-understood or practiced by students.  So why ask them to do this work without (y)our full support?  After all, this type of homework might simply reinforce bad habits and/or an unclear understanding will simply remain unclear.  Our reason and emphasis here is to move the lower order work out of the classroom.  In effect, this becomes the 'homework' and it happens before the start of the unit or new learning.  The expectation is that we, as professionals, are then able to support students to move into higher levels of thinking and understanding with our full supported.  We can provide in-class Quality Assurance, Formative Feedback and help students develop elements that are higher up the food chain in the Bloom's Taxonomy.

For us, and from what I have read, this is highly disruptive to one's own pedagogical comfort zone!  Very.

Technology

Technology plays a big part to support this learning.  Ubiquitous access to resources (video, audio, websites, presentations, etc) are available to students to develop lower order understanding in their own time, in an environment that suits them, using tools that suit them.  These resources are also available in class, of course, but the emphasis is for students to take more charge of their own learning.

Which leads us onto point 2.

Re: Point 2 above (Shifting Responsibility)

At British School Muscat, as with many schools around the world, we aim to provide students with Learning To Learn skills, or whichever variation of this characteristic you wish to apply.  In my department, we support the school's endeavour by developing what we call the Autonomous Learner (or Learner Autonomy).  This is not a cop-out approach to our new mode of helping students in their learning: it is a very serious endeavour, indeed.  In many respects, this is the least new of our efforts.  After all, I am sure many of us try to develop autonomy on one level or another.

The fact is, with our new approach, students will be given opportunities to explore their learning, in and out of the classroom, in ways that may be very new to them.  i.e. "It is your role to develop a basic understanding of Topic X with little input from me ... in the first place, at least."

Knowing They Know

With regard to the lower order learning, a key area for development for us, as a team, is Assessment.

1. How do we know they know?
2. How do they know they know?

It seems we may develop Knowledge Tests in this respect.  In the first instance, this could be little more than asking for various definitions of key terms.  These assessments serve dual roles: a meaningful assessment that demonstrates an understanding of the key language and concepts; and,  especially in the early phase of this development, behaviour management ... if you haven't done the work outside class, you will have no hiding place in this assessment.  Sanctions apply.

To conclude..

I do not want to be (too) premature about these changes to our pedagogy.  As a team, we know we will need to make adjustments to our own current level of understanding of Flipped Learning.  We know students will need time to adjust and we will support them during this transition.  We also know that by simply saying "We're are flipping our classrooms" won't improve learning.  Our work will still be hard, but will be very different (my planning already looks vastly different!).

It will be very interesting to see if what we have discussed and planned is a close correlation to what happens in the classroom ... or will our students have a much greater impact on how it develops!?


Recommended Reading:

1. Flip Your Classroom by Jonathan Bergman and Aaron Sams
2. Who Owns The Learning by Alan November
3. Flipping 2.0 by The Bretzman Group
4. Why School? by Will Richardson

Talking versus Doing

Do you recall the end of my last post?

The iPad is a tool.  It is not a panacea.

I completely understand how excitement can play a part in leading a project like this.  And that is great - after all, that helps with the change process.  However, the motivation must be about improving learning, not establishing a rich IT-based inventory.

We are about to begin the process of introducing iPads, but it starts with People.  And talking.  Lots of talking.

It turns out that not everyone wants to 'talk' first, 'do' later.  The order for the iPads is in;  the discussions and planning are not.

However, and despite this fait a complet, the right work still needs to be done.  So I passed on some nuggets to relevant staff.  These nuggets include surveys and research completed by the Tanglin Trust, an outstanding school and reported by the Guardian Newspaper (UK) in 2006 as being one of the best international schools in the world.  Anyway, I made their findings available to the school.  And, through Switch, a local Apple Premium Reseller, I have also arranged for a visit to a school that has a more developed and more mature programme.  I hope this visit will trigger a series of talking points within the school ... ahead of the delivery of these iPads.

I really don't want technology to land onsite for us to 'install a handful of apps' and 'see how it goes'.

But who knows.  Let's hope my next instalment will reveal a raft of planning, reviewing, disucsisons...

iPads and the Failure of Technology

Right then ... where was I?
Oh, that's right.  I was over 6 months behind schedule!

A Quick Catch-Up

I am now working at the Antwerp International School as the Director of IT.  Part of my portfolio is to develop a better integration of IT into and across the curriculum.  Already, I have unashamedly piggy-backed onto some great ideas by Kim Cofino.  Her blog has really inspired me to 'do a better job'.

iPads

So, back to iPads.
I am skipping over some aspects of the school and getting straight to our new project: iPads in the Classroom.

I am new to the school but not new to the concept of:

• "I have a good idea.  Let's do [fill in the gap here]!"
• [Person waits, tapping foot]
• "I'm waiting" they say

You get the idea.

So, I have inherited a budget that allows for, in the first place, the purchase of a healthy class-sized set of iPads for the Elementary School.

People

People will define the success of this project, not technology.  In this case, teachers will play a pivotal role is determining how learning can be enhanced through the thoughtful integration of iPads into identified elements of the curriculum.  The iPad is a tool.  It is not a panacea.

I completely understand how excitement can play a part in leading a project like this.  And that is great - after all, that helps with the change process.  However, the motivation must be about improving learning, not establishing a rich IT-based inventory.

We are about to begin the process of introducing iPads, but it starts with People.  And talking.  Lots of talking.

Another instalment soon...

Setting the Technology Integration Scene

Having decided to take the leap (with my family), back in October 2011, and leave St Christopher's School, I found myself becoming a bit of a serial 'decliner'.  By the time I accepted this new role, I had declined 4 job offers, including one in August - a mere 3 or so weeks before the start of the new school year.

None of the roles could be compared equally with each other, but we (I) finally accepted the role of IT Director at the Antwerp International School (AIS).

Hurricance
And what a whirlwind appointment that was.  The long and short is that from interview to day 1 of school took 9 days.  That included getting the packers in (to empty a house with about 13 years of furniture in it!), which was no mean feat.  Well, I say no mean feat, but what I mean is 'Well done, my wife!'

So, AIS is much smaller than St Chris (NOR 450, as opposed to 2100 and 70-odd staff rather than 330) and the climate is, shall we say, more of what I am used to as an Englishman!

The settling process has been a little rocky, probably attributed to the pace of the recruitment and I missed the 3 weeks of orientation and settling in other staff had.  The leadership team has been patient with my contribution as I get my head around re-planning Grade 9 and 10 programmes of study and re-visit Grade 11 work with my Grade 12 class, coupled with establishing the learning priorities for this IB class.

Not to mention the small matter of living in a hotel for the first week.  And trying to find our way around Belgium after the school day.  And finding a house.  And moving in.  And living in the kitchen for a month as that was the only room with lights.  And having no TV, phone or Internet at home for a month.  And dealing with government admin.  And finding things out by accident.  And having our landlord be helpful but by occupying the little free time we have as a family at the weekend.  And falling into the trap of only walking between office and classroom at work.  And my daughter not settling in as quickly as we'd hoped.

Change.  A lot of change.  In a short period of time.  Almost all unplanned.  Now that's a headache, to say the least!

1:1
However, as an Apple 1:1 school, the journey for AIS, its leadership team, staff and me is to take this current status beyond what might appear to be the purchase of hardware and infrastructure.  The school has made a rapid journey in developing its infrastructure, adopting Apple laptops and setting the scene for its learning development.  But, what with some 'human hiccups' AIS experienced in the last 12 months - one of which led to my emergency appointment - the school has not yet fully developed the curriculum development and support structures.

And I am keen to start to earn my money at AIS.  That's where this blog comes in.

Reading Around
OK, I clearly have ideas.  But I am not an island.  Well, at least I don't want to be.
It's our half-term and I have been reading, reading and reading.  I have explored, in depth, more resources in the last 3 days than I have in the last 6 months.  Most of the resources I have read have been blogs:  Tech Integration Bloggers or other intellects who have achieved more, know more and have made a greater impact on technology integration than I have.  And I don't see myself as a slouch, either.

Well, all of that ends today.  Today, I get my A into G.  And I have to thank Kim Cofino to thank for that.  Well, actually, it's Carl the AIS librarian that I need to thank.  It was he who alerted me to the outstanding contribution Kim Cofino has been making in various schools ... for years!

I'm getting all bloggy again.  For a start, I have not reflected enough in my work recently and this will be my sounding post.  Secondly, I need to get 'out there' more.  I need to draw on the experiences and expertise of others.  That includes expertise we have at AIS, and I can see there's plenty.

So, in fact, this post doesn't actually set the scene at all for our Technology Integration project.  Well, maybe it does, but not in the way I thought it would when I first sat down to write this.

There's a new pencil case in town!

Well, this is unexpected.  I have been scheduling my (so far few) blogs for the end of Thursday.  However, I find myself with an email exchange worth sharing.  It came on the back of our Head of ICT asking for a wireless webcam.  This led onto more kit.  Then it led onto the topic of Integrating ICT across the curriculum.  You see, we're also part of a group tasked with outlining a strategy to get - and keep - St Christopher's School at the forefront of ICT in the classroom.

Here's the email.  It's mostly as I sent it....
""
(Mmmm, your casual comment has caused me to spend longer on this than I anticipated!)


For me, to "integrate ICT across the curriculum " means more than English or History booking an ICT suite to 'type up a project'. (Or even ICT getting students to 'make a leaflet').  These suggest discrete modules.


Simple examples of hardware, tool and services across subjects that could be exploited differently include:

• IWBs (admittedly mostly a front of class 'teacher toy')
• Visualisers (ditto)
• Scanners
• Digital cameras
• Dictaphones
• Data loggers
• Productivity software
• Blogs
• Online collaboration services
• Online voting, surveys
• SMS, MMS
• Personal mobile devices (which capture much of the above)
  

The integration for me here is not just buying some visualisers.  Nor should they be used as an outcome, but must form part of a wider, seamless, learning process.  Not "Today, we're going to learn how to use Scanners".  Nor, "Now it's time to use the Web to research ... now it's time to scan a magazine article ... now it's time to get your books out ..."


Analogous examples would be to tell a student when to use a pen, an eraser, a ruler, compass, set square, at set points in the lesson, etc.  And if a student doesn't have a compass, he should ask to borrow one ... at the right time for him.  They are tools in a pencil case and, yes, sometimes (often) intervention is needed to fine tune some of the skills required.


Using my own definitions, you probably already integrate ICT into ICT.
An example might be:

• ICT Outcome
• Create a computer game to develop hand-eye coordination in younger students
• Necessarily, some discrete 'teaching' takes place as students learn the concepts of sequence|selection|repetition (with some good old fashioned teaching!)
• [The ICT equivalent of learning about Climate change in Geography, maybe]
• ICT Integration/Embedding
• If this computer game forms part of a wider project, you get the Life Cycle in play
• Teacher and student interviews, brainstorming, data collection, analysis, drafting, building, troubleshooting, publicising, training, supporting ... all leaning towards using other ICT tools to support and crystalise the primary learning outcome: Programming (the Game)
• For me, deeper integration might give students some degree of freedom in how the project detail is pulled together ... e.g. do they have to use Word?  Can they use OneNote, Google Apps?  Can some areas of the project be collaborative?  Can some choose to do it all collaboratively?  Does publicising only mean creating a leaflet or are blogs or podcasts as suitable?  Could one student be using a wired PC, another using his Android or combinations?

There's a new pencil case in town!


I think what we all want, in varying degrees, is to have access to technology but not change too much how we work (e.g. I have the occasional conversation with staff who, when using Citrix at home, comment that they can't copy a file from their desktop to the 'school desktop' ... my response is why is that a problem when you can create the file in the first place in school, from home.  If it's a legacy work file, deal with it the 'old way'.  Some staff will still 'email work home' or take it home 'on a stick').

[...]


PS: I don't see any great impact on the senior school discrete ICT Curriculum at St Chris.  For a start, you're making it more of a Computing-type subject (nice!), but as I suggested above, you're embedding conventional ICT to support it (and, no doubt, teaching it at the right times). [...]
""

So, there you have it.  The integration of ICT in one easy blog!