Collegial Feedback

My innovation plan involves implementing a flipped classroom model with game-based elements in order to create more collaborative, engaging home and in-class learning environment for students.

WHAT WORKED?

VISION & GOALS

1. Establishing a clear vision for why the flipped classroom should be implemented and goals for what is to be achieved before implementing the innovation- My “why” for wanting to implement the flipped classroom is to increase student engagement in the learning process both at home and in-class. With the flipped classroom model, my goal is to increase student productivity and excitement for learning.

RESEARCH & PLANNING

1. Developing curriculum that is engaging, adaptable, affordable, personalized, self-directed, easy to use, flexible and accessible to all students at any time and provides a way for students to collaborate with teachers and peers when assistance is needed- In order to create an effective environment for online learning at home, I will utilize free online learning platforms such as YouTube, Moodle, Google Classroom, or LAMS to provide students with a diverse assortment of short, interactive videos and activities that are engaging, differentiated, and allow me to interact with students during my online “office hours” to provide them with both affective and learning strategy support as they complete their work from home. To make my in-class learning environment productive for students, I will have learners work in mixed ability collaborative groups based on learning style to make learning more engaging for students. These groups will utilize what they learned from the online activities to complete a variety of active learning activities including class discussions using Kagan strategies, project-based learning, and student response system games like Kahoot. I will also create a task friendly atmosphere by strategically arranging my classroom into “QUIET” and “CHATTER” sections so that independent work and group work can be accomplished comfortably.

2. Identifying potential risks of educational technology initiatives- I plan to administer surveys to teachers and students prior to implementation to gain knowledge and understanding of teachers and students’ attitudes towards technology innovation as well as access to technology outside of school. The teacher surveys will be distributed during faculty meetings when all teachers are present and available to fill them out. Student technology surveys can be sent home with students with an incentive given upon return.

3. Providing teachers and students with proper training on how to effectively use technology for educational purposes- I plan to offer teachers a flipped style training prior to implementation so they can gain hands-on experience with the concept and gain awareness of its effectiveness.

4. Choosing to innovate using technology devices that are familiar to stakeholders and proliferated in the region– My flipped classroom home activities will require students to have access to familiar technology such as computers, mobile phones, or tablets.

5. Updating policies using research-based evidence and establishing clear policies on what constitutes acceptable and/or responsible use of digital devices- This is one area where I still need to conduct more research on how to get policies updated. If anyone has any knowledge in this area, I would greatly appreciate any information you could give me.

6. Starting the innovation plan on a small scale- I plan to implement the flipped learning model in 2 classrooms to start (my class and another teacher on my team who is also interested in the flipped model). I think this would be very beneficial because if other teachers see not just one but two teachers utilizing this new method, it may begin to intrigue them.

STAKEHOLDERS

1. Having stakeholders from industries in the public and private sector and helped provide the necessary resources to progress the project forward- My stakeholders would include administrators, teachers, students, and parents. I believe most of the students at my school have access to the required technology at home so I don’t think I will need any stakeholders from the technical field. However, if this is proven to be false based on the surveys that are returned, I will need to seek out potential partnerships with internet and technology providers.

2. Communicated and collaborated effectively together- At the very beginning of my project, I intend to have a flipped learning awareness meeting with parents, teachers, students, and administrator so that all parties are aware of what the ultimate goal of the initiative is as well as what each stakeholder’s’ individual needs and interests are. From there, we can work together to create a plan for how to meet the interests of the stakeholders while accomplishing the collective goal of the initiative.

3. Stakeholders feeling ownership in the project- If feasible, I will try to make each stakeholder hands-on with the project by delegating each stakeholder responsible for a particular aspect of the initiative (similar to the eSkwela example). I would preferably make them responsible for an area closely related to their area of personal need/interest.

TIMING

1. Already had support from the local, state, and/or national governments prior to being implemented- My current school district is pretty open-minded as far as technology is concerned and like to try out new ways to use technology for instruction

2. Was implemented in communities who were ready and able to accept the idea of using technology as a means of educating students- As stated before, my current school district is pretty technologically sound, therefore, parents and students are used to using technology as a learning tool.

RESEARCH AND FEEDBACK

1. Consistently monitors the initiative for effectiveness- I could create an online community or group chat for all stakeholders to express their problems, concerns, and positive experiences using the flipped classroom.

2. Considers the opinions of multiple stakeholders in order to gain a balanced view about the benefits as well as the potential drawbacks and challenges associated with the use of the digital device in educational- This is where it would be helpful for me to utilize a tool such as the Plus Delta Tool during stakeholder meetings for feedback every month or quarter.

3. Uses the feedback and reflection to improve the current initiative and plan better for future initiatives- The feedback I receive via this post will be the starting point for feedback and reflection to improve my innovation plan. I also plan to use the feedback from regular stakeholders discussions to assess “what’s working” and “what’s not working” with the flipped learning model so proper improvements or expansions can be made to make flipped learning more effective.

WHAT DOESN’T WORK

VISION AND GOALS

1. Not clearly establishing a vision for why to implement prior to purchasing technology- I have already established my vision and do not plan to purchase any technology until I have come up with an adequate, reasonable plan for implementation.

2.Not developing a collective understanding of what successful learning looks like- This will be something I will make sure to address when we have our first stakeholders meeting so that everyone has a clear understanding of what at home and in- class success should look like

RESEARCH AND PLANNING

1. Not researching other technology innovation projects prior to implementation to see what worked and what didn't work- With my research in this class I have read over 10 case studies addressing the implementation of flipped learning around the world. I will continue to look for more information regarding flipped learning implementation involving my particular demographic of students.

2. Not ensuring technology is flexible, equitable, and accessible to all learners both inside and outside of school- My student surveys prior to implementation will help to solve this problem.

3. Does not establish a plan to train teachers on how to effectively use the technology for educational purposes prior to implementation- I plan to provide interactive hands-on training so teachers will have more knowledge of what exactly it is as well as have technical training advisors (i.e. myself, our campus tech specialist, or other tech saavy teachers) available to provide continuing support to teachers.

4. Failure to abide by guidelines for how to deploy digital devices in the best way possible- I will not be deploying any digital devices in my flipped classroom plan.

5. Implementing low quality curriculum that prompts students to not want to view content at home- As state earlier, I plan to provide highly interactive content in a variety of media (i.e. video, powerpoints, games, readings, online quizzes, etc.) to engage students. I also will try to encourage home assignment completion by establishing my online presence and asking students to respond to discussion questions. I can also grade them on the content presented online via quizzes. I may also have students choose a comprehension activity to complete after doing their homework to show their understanding of what was discussed in the video. This can be making a video on Flip Grid, completing a comprehension worksheet, creating something to present to the teacher, etc. I can also have students write down any questions they may have about the pre-class info and have a block during the beginning of class time to discuss these questions as a group.

6. More time and effort required of teachers to prepare effective and engaging lessons- Since I plan to implement the flipped classroom along with a member of my grade level team, we can work together to create and/or collect content that will make for engaging online and in-class activities. We can also utilize the LAMS community where lessons can be adapted or reused to fit our specific needs.

7. Lack of equality in participation or students feeling participation is stressful- The SRS clickers we have available in my district can help with allowing students to participate in class activities anonymously. I can also use Kahoot to increase more student participation.

8. Flow of classroom activities- Instead of jumping right into reviewing homework, I can include a warm-up activity to help students transition into the start of the class.

9. Online homework is too much- Since my students are elementary age, I can give them videos that are no more than 8 minutes long and 1 proof of comprehension assignment for homework.

STAKEHOLDERS

1. Not having effective collaboration and communication between the macro, meso, and micro levels- The regular stakeholder meetings and discussions will help with this potential problem.

TIMING

1. Technology purchased prior to deciding why it is being used- I am fortunate to work in a very technology-rich district so I will not have to purchase any technology for my flipped classroom innovation.

2. A lack of community buy-in prior to implementing the program- For reluctant teachers, I plan to provide capacity building via hands-on intervention workshops and seminars from flipped learning early adopters. The early adopters would be able to share their stories of successful implementation and, thus, provide inspiration to reluctant teachers and justify why the learning and teaching paradigm shift and pedagogy change (to flipped classroom) are necessary.

3. A region experiencing an economic crisis therefore making ICT a non-priority- This does not apply because we are not currently experience a major economic crisis.

4. Educational ICT saturation in their region- Although there is a bit of education ICT saturation in my area, I do not think this will affect my flipped classroom model because my plan involves technology that is more than likely already available to most of my learners (computers).

5. Lack of industry standards for devices- Since students will primarily be using their own devices at home for flipped learning, the standards I would put into place are more for how to effectively and responsibly use the online components when the teacher is not around.

6. Limited ability equipment- If there happens to be students without adequate access to technology at home, I can arrange to have those students either stay after school to work in the computer lab or participate in an in-class flipped learning model.

7. A one size fits all mentality for curriculum- My district and campus have always been very big on differentiation. Therefore, I plan to incorporate differentiated groups on my Google Classroom so that assignments will be appropriate for each student’s academic level.

8. Lack of technology educational activities across all levels- Since I teach elementary, my priority will be to research and collect engaging resources for Pre-K-5 learners of all ability levels.

I know this flipped classroom plan will take a lot of work to implement but I am excited about the challenge. If anyone has any feedback, ideas, or even knows someone personally who has utilized a flipped learning in a K-12 classroom setting, please comment and let me know. I look forward to reading about your innovation plans!