The flipped classroom was originally defined as one where students watch short pre-recorded lectures prior to class, with class time devoted to exercises or collaborative activities (Educause, 2012). This blended learning... [ view full abstract ]
The flipped classroom was originally defined as one where students watch short pre-recorded lectures prior to class, with class time devoted to exercises or collaborative activities (Educause, 2012). This blended learning approach has grown in popularity over the last several years (Bart, 2014). But what do you do if flipped learning isn’t working? How do you know that students have read the readings or watched the videos?
This presentation discusses the use of the video conferencing tool, Collaborate Ultra, in a ‘flipped’ blended learning module with 4th year part-time undergraduate Early Childhood Education students. Reflections on past years’ delivery of this module identified an emerging student culture of over dependence on teacher-led instruction; therefore, the module was redesigned to encourage greater ownership by students of their learning. The long-standing blended format of this module included students accessing resources through the VLE prior to a two day face-to-face workshop. The workshops are delivered to three different groups of students in Galway, Cork and Louth. The new approach presented here originated in considering an innovative use of one of the workshop days, to allow students to interact with each other and the tutor from a distance on the first day, leading into interactive learning experiences on the second, face-to-face day. The redesign was underpinned by the goals of encouraging greater student collaboration, inspiring enriched student ownership of their learning, and enhancing critical thinking. Through ongoing evaluation and reflection on the process with each group, learning from each workshop informed the design of subsequent workshops. Feedback from both students and staff found this to be a positive use of the video conferencing tool to enhance students’ learning. The design of the interaction, difficulties encountered and solved, as well as feedback from participants on their experience will be discussed in the presentation.
Keywords: video conferencing technology, flipped classroom, teacher education, Blackboard Collaborate Ultra
