I am licensed to teach 7th -12th grade in Language Arts, and if I ever return to the high school setting, I believe that I will use podcasting and vodcasting to assist in my teaching. I can certainly see how the flipped classroom works for Math, Science, and other skills-based curricula, but I don't think it would have too many uses for Reading. Well, I guess for teaching the skills themselves, yes, but the application to the specific texts, no.
I do think I might use pod- or vodcasting next year to help teach Grammar skills as a remediation tool. I could also use it for challenging the higher-achieving students. I think that flipping my SMS classroom is unrealistic, though, due to the sheer number of my students who do not have internet access at home. I love the idea, but again, it boils down to logistics. This time, though, I really see "differentiated instruction" value in this technology. I am also trying to order mp3 players with my EEF to be able to record podcasts that students can use for in-class assistance when needed. I don't think the average middle-school kid is responsible enough to govern his own learning at home strictly by means of podcasts, though.
I agree that the flipped classroom model would be less useful in language arts than in math and science classes. I also think that it would work better at the high school level than middle school, simply because middle school students tend to lack discipline and it is often difficult to get parents to hold them accountable.
ReplyDeleteOne solution to the Internet access issue would be to burn DVDs with a unit of lessons on it. Most families have a DVD player in their house. However, a multi-disc burner would probably be needed if there were a lot of students that did not have Internet access though. Other solutions would be public library access or a school computer lab available for use after school, but there will always be limitations.