The Versatility of Videos in a Flipped Class - a Post Flipped Learning Course Reflection

CC Courtesy of Choices by Derek Bruff on Flickr

There are so many take home messages from FlipCon13 and the Flipped Learning course that I couldn't possibly document them all. In addition, deciphering whether these revelations came from the conference and/or the course is unlikely. But I am sure that seeing the final projects of my classmates was simultaneously humbling and empowering. We were tasked to create a video as part of a flipped lesson. The quality and diversity of video projects were staggering. One major revelation: videos can have many uses in a flipped class. When I made my video and lesson (summarized in a previous post), I assumed it would have to teach content. But after seeing the work of my classmates, I'm reminded of the Choices image to the left because a teacher has so many choices of how to use videos in a flipped class:

1) introduce the course to students, administration and parents;

2) explain a project with instructions and expectations;

3) give feedback on a paper or project;

4) act as hook to a unit or activity;

5) act as a trailer to summarize and highlight a unit or a project;

6) document a process; and

7) demonstrate how to use software or equipment.

Aside from being overwhelmed by these choices, I am excited by the possibility of offloading content and the housekeeping of the class. Housekeeping and content combined have dominated most of the class time. And now as a flipped teacher, I'm excited that this time can be reclaimed for mastery, inquiry, standards based grading, and student voice & choice.

I am grateful for the many lessons learned in this course from classmates. I almost feel guilty that I couldn't write a more profound reflection and promise to continue blogging about the lessons learned. Nevertheless, this is where I am today: digesting feedback about my first Camtasia video and figuring out how I'm going to get the first few units done by September. There will be time for deeper thought and analysis. I'm just happy that I've had the opportunity to learn and share. I thank Kristin Daniels for leading me through this journey and all of my classmates, whom I hope will be part of my PLN moving forward.