Unit Three November: Guided Activity 3

Finalized Course/Unit Objectives:

After you have had your objectives evaluated by another member of the program.  Make any last minute changes and post your final objectives to this blog no later than October 15, 2014.  You will need to use your finalized objectives for the remainder of the activities in this unit so make every effort to complete them in a timely manner.

November Activity One: Questions for Jonathan Bergmann

This is Exciting! It is getting closer to November! We have almost made it to the month of our first webinar by the author of our book and Pioneer in the world of the Flipped Classroom! We will begin our November 7th meeting in Horrabin Hall room 1 promptly at 12:00p.m. In order to prepare for the webinar, please complete the following:

• Read Chapters 5-7 in your Flip Your Classroom Reach Every Student in Every Class Every  
  Day book.

 Prepare a list of questions to ask the author regarding his book and the Flipped Classroom 
that will assist you in your course preparation. Share your questions in the comments below ono later than Monday, November 3, 2014.

Unit 2 October: Activity 3 Analysis of Learning Context and Environment

For this activity you will complete  an analysis of the learning context in which your instruction will be delivered.  You will be completing a needs assessment and a description of the environment(s) where your instruction will take place.  Since we are working with blended and hybrid learning styles you may need to examine multiple environments, such as but not limited to: face-to-face classroom, online via LMS, etc., or field sites.  Post your needs assessment results and description of the learning environment to our blog at, and be ready to work with and share at October’s meeting.

What is the purpose of the needs assessment?
 Determine why learning goals are not being met given current instruction.
 Determine if current instruction is appealing to your learners.
 There is a lack of instruction in a current area. (This is new instruction.)
 New goals/standards are being added to the curriculum.
 Significant changes in the learner population.

Based on conversations with most of you, it appears that you will be using a unit or course that has already existed in some format or creating a new course or unit within an already prescribed curriculum  Therefore, I suggest using the Discrepancy Based Model for your needs assessment. Refer to Smith and Ragan, Chapter 3, pages 46-48 to read through the detailed process for guidance.  This chapter is posted on the iTunes U site under October Readings.

 1.) Conduct and write the results of your needs assessment.  Your needs assessment should include the following sections.  Use Chapter 3, pages 46-48 Smith and  Ragan as your guide to completing your needs assessment.  If you need  assistance contact me anytime!

•  List of current/existing goals for the instructional system.
• Determination of how well the identified goals are being achieved. 
• Determination of the gaps between “what is” and “what should be” 
• Prioritization of gaps according to agreed-upon criteria. 
• Determination as to which gaps are instructional needs and which are most appropriate for the design and development of instruction.

2.) Write a description of the learning environment(s).
Since you are designing  your own instruction this step can be somewhat informal, but nonetheless please don’t skip it.  Write down the description so you can refer back to itt as you complete your instructional design process.  Refer to Smith and Ragan Chapter 3, pgs. 49-50, posted on our iTunes U Course for a more descriptive discussion of describing the learning environment.

You will need to think about the learning system in which the instruction will take place. You should include the following information in your description:

•  Characteristics of the instructor (you!) What are your interests and preferences.  How you you see your role in the classroom (we completed this last month in the philosophy statement so this should be easy). 


•  Are there existing curricula into which this instruction must fit? If so, what philosophy or strategy, or learning theory is used within those materials? 


•  What technology is available to the learners (be very basic, such as internet, computers, projector, etc.)
• What are the characteristics of the classes and facilities where this instruction will be delivered? 

  What are the characteristics of the school system in which the instruction will take place?

Unit Two, October: Activity 2 Learner Analysis

For this activity you will create an analysis of your leaners for the course or unit of instruction that you
will be redesigning for this program.  (If you need to brush up on learner analysis refer to Chapter 4 : Instructional Analysis Analyzing the Learners, from Smith and Ragan, posted on our iTunes U site.)

1.) There are four categories you should generally look at when analyzing your learners.  These include cognitive, physiological, affective and social.  You should also consider similarities and differences between learners as well as specific prior learning. 

2.) After you have written your initial  analysis, determine how the characteristics above will impact instructional variables such as, but not limited to: 

Pace

Practice

Reference Statements

Attention

Context of examples

Context of practice items

Structure

Delivery Medium

Concreteness/ 
    Abstractness

Grouping

Response mode

Number of examples

Amount of practice

Feedback

Learner control

Reading Level

Vocabulary

Reinforcement

Time

Learning Guidance

3.) Write out an analysis of these characteristics that you can share with the group on our blog, and at the October meeting. Access the posting for this activity at: 

Unit Two: October Guided Activity One

In this discussion, please post your 5-8 minute Lightning Round material for our Face-to-Face meeting on Friday, October 3rd. This could include but is not limited to the following:

• A typed description of your verbal discussion of the ID Model
• A link to an attached PowerPoint file, etc. 
• A link to an interactive presentation such as an InfoGraphic, Prezi, or Glogster

If you need assistance with your post please let me know!  ~ Dawn

Every Kid Needs a Champion

I ran across this Ted Talk recently and thought that I would share it everyone even though it is not about flipping the classroom!



Click here to view the Ted Talk!













If the link above does not work, you can copy and paste this one into your browser.
http://www.ted.com/talks/rita_pierson_every_kid_needs_a_champion#t-12143






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Unit One September WSQ: Fundamentals of Blended Learning and the Flipped Classroom WSQ

The inquiry based blog post below is designed to get you to thinking and reflecting on what blended learning means to you, the elements that are going to be necessary for success, and any modifications that are going to need to take place in order for your course or unit transition to be successful! 

Please post a reflection to the following inquiries as you complete the readings and view the videos for this unit. We will continue this discussion at the beginning of our face-to-face meeting on September 5th, 2014.  I encourage you to also start a dialogue prior to the meeting by commenting on you colleague's posts as well!

1. What do the terms blended learning and flipped learning or the flipped classroom mean to you? Are they one in the same or different, and why do you believe that?


2. What is your experience thus far with blended learning?  Have you taught using this format prior to this program?  If so, how long and in what ways? Previously, how did you prepare for your blended learning courses or units? How did this preparation differ from the process used in your face-to-face courses?  What are you looking to change in your preparation for blended learning in the future? If you have not used blended learning, what did you pick up from the readings that will assist you in preparing to teach using this format?  How do you feel your preparation might need to be tweaked when designing blended learning than traditional face-to-face teaching and learning? What main elements should you include in a blended learning unit or course?


3. In what ways can blended learning courses be considered the "best of both worlds"(i.e. face-to-face and online?) What could make blended learning the "worst of both worlds?" (Question adopted from BlendKit14: https://blended.online.ucf.edu/)


4. In what ways will your teaching methods, course activities, assessment and engagement with your students change in the blended classroom? What do you feel will be the most advantageous and disadvantageous effects of blended learning for your students? For you as the instructor?


5. Please post at least one "burning question" regarding the readings and outside of class activities that we can discuss in our September meeting.


6. As a take away of this inquiry activity and our first in-meeting discussion, each of us will be developing our own philosophy of blended learning to post here on our individual blog pages.  Meeting time will be provided to write your philosophy and share it at our September meeting. I am hopeful that these philosophies will be something  you can share with your students who will be learning in what may be a new format for them to familiarize them with your approach to teaching and expectations of them as your students.  We will return to this philosophy many times throughout the program for revision and expansion.