Journal Post #9

The “Flipped Classroom” is a classroom in which the standard lecture during class time and homework activity are flipped. What this means is that the lecture that would normally be given by the teacher during classroom time would be recorded and sent to the students to view as homework. In turn, the classroom time would be spent by having students engage in the material in hands-on activities, with the teacher there to help. This style of learning is very beneficial because it allows a student to spend an entire class asking questions and interacting with the material. With this being the case, students take on more responsibility for their education and develop a better understanding of the material as a result. The responsibility also better prepares the students for higher education, in that a lot of the material delivery in higher education relies solely on the student. This style of delivery is great for student that are sick or have to miss class as well, because the lecture is accessible online, so they can still receive the content, and when they return to school work with the teacher to engage in the content. It also accommodates a plethora of learners, as it allows for group and individual work, as well as offer visual and audio options. The “Flipped Classroom” is a way for teachers to spend time working with students through understanding issues during the class, as opposed to just delivering the content and hoping that the student can figure it out at home. One place where a teacher can post these recorded lectures is at the following link: http://www.teachertube.com

One very useful source for educators is the world of open access. Open access for educators consists of online resources that are inexpensive for teachers to access and wide-spread online with adaptable material. It consists of open education, open content, and open software. Open education attempts to expand education to more people online, thus delivering material regardless of geographical boundaries. Consider things like MOOCs or an online university class, these allow people from all over the world to access education at a free or inexpensive rate, making them open education resources. One specific example can be accessed at the following link: http://www.open.edu/openlearn/education/open-education/content-section-0?active-tab=description-tab . This website, Open Learn, offers free classes and class material to the public. These classes are expanded and last roughly seven weeks, much like a college class. It is unlike college courses, however, in that they are free, work around the learner’s time, and can be done at any computer around the world. These vastly expand educational availability and are subject specific, so they give the user content that will expressly help them. As for open content, it is similar to open education as nearly anyone can access it, but differs as it is the sharing of material that can be used in the education, not the education itself. For example, a teacher might share their lesson presentation or supplemental material. Typically, these materials will allow changes which adhere to the four Rs- reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute. Much like a copyright, the open content outlines how one can use and edit it, so it can be adapted to fit into the classroom specific curriculum. One place where a teacher can access these materials is at the following link: https://www.edutopia.org/open-educational-resources-guide#graph3 . This website give links to other helpful open content resources with materials like podcasts, short films, and lesson plans. This can help new teachers prepare lessons and add material from experienced educators, which will give them a great start. Also, most of these are free, so teachers have no economic hang-ups. As a result, it better equips teachers with free resources that supplement or inspire their own lessons. Open source is similar to open content, expect the materials shared are outline and the source code for the contents open, so anyone can change it. This means that a teacher can go to an educational website and add new features, like games or videos. This allows for increased classroom adaptability and is easily spread internationally. Although it may seem difficult to edit source code, there are many other resources to help teach this skill. One place where a teacher can access open source code is at the following link: https://opensource.com/tags/education . The given website gives links to other places where teachers can access classes on editing the source code, articles related to the topic, and places to access website with open source code. Additionally, open source can be used to replace or is compatible with costlier soft wares, like Microsoft Office is compatible with the much cheaper Open Office. Overall, these open resources can be inexpensive, easily shared, and improve classroom life.

            After working on our Power Point assignments, I have learned a lot about the different ways to use the program. My favorite feature is the animation feature that allows animations to be applied to text and pictures so that they appear when triggered. I think this is great, because it allows a teacher to explain a topic then have it appear on the board, which allows students to listen instead of just reading the board. I also learned how to use in presentation links to make the presentation non-linear. This was incredibly interesting, as it allows for a new style of education and vastly expands the uses of Power Point. For example, I made a game for my second Power Point project, which was meant to teach problem solving skills. This type of game can be used in classrooms and can be adapted to fit other skills specific to a lesson, which makes the material much more engaging and can better hold students’ attention, as opposed to just the typical linear presentation. I am really happy with the way my projects have turned, because they are both aesthetically pleasing and contain good information. There are still a few things I’d like to change, though. The first being the amount of text on my slides. Although, I do verbally elaborate on my topics, I still feel like there is too much text on the screen. Another issue I had was organizing the pictures on the slide, because I feel as though the pictures make the presentation looked cluttered. Overall, however, I am pleased with how they have turned out. They can be viewed below: