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Does the lightboard improve learning? The first empirical research.

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I am pleased to report on the first peer-reviewed research investigating video learning using the lightboard. I have been eagerly awaiting this research ever since I made my first lightboard video.

Firstly to clarify, the lightboard is a large glass board on which the instructor writes and draws whilst they teach, facing the camera. The board is filled with light by LED strip edge lighting. This makes the instructors’ writing “pop out” against the black backdrop. The lightboard is referred to by a number of names including forward board, learning glass, and in this study a transparent whiteboard.

In 2016, a study identified that video styles in which the instructor writes and draws in real time is more beneficial for student learning than static images. The study also found that learning is enhanced when the instructors’ hand is visible. My blog post on this paper can be found here.

This present study compares a video where the instructor teaches on a traditional whiteboard with a video where the instructor uses a transparent whiteboard. The study measured student learning in a posttest immediately after the video or after a delay of 7 days. The study also evaluated students’ perceptions of the video styles.

An example of the transparent lightboard

The results were that the students who viewed the transparent whiteboard video performed significantly better in the immediate posttest than the students who viewed the traditional whiteboard video. The authors proposed that the transparent whiteboard was more effective for student learning for two reasons. Firstly, there is educed occlusion with the transparent board. With a traditional whiteboard, the instructor frequently occludes text and drawings as he is writing. This obstruction prevents the instructor from cueing to the relevant information at the time that they are verbally explaining the content. The second reason the authors proposed for the improved learning with the transparent board was increased social cues. Having the instructor face the students and make eye contact increases the social cues and student engagement.
Students’ preferences were also evaluated using a survey. Students who viewed the transparent whiteboard video reported a greater rapport with the instructor and student engagement was significantly higher.
A second experiment measured whether the improved learning was preserved over a one-week duration. The learning improvement was not significantly better than the whiteboard. However, the authors acknowledged that the students were not incentivised to remember the information. The authors recommend that further research should be conducted in authentic setting where students are incentivised to remember the video content.

This first study is very encouraging for the use of the lightboard. Especially in subject areas like STEM where there are significant amounts of complex spatial representations.

For further information on how to make a lightboard or make lightboard videos, check out this post.

Fiorella, L., & Mayer, R. E. (2016). Effects of observing the instructor draw diagrams on learning from multimedia messages. Journal of Educational Psychology, 108(4), 528.

Google Apps to platform flipped learning – hyperdocs

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Hyperdocs are a functional, practical and efficient way to deliver resources to students and have them create, collaborate and research to achieve learning outcomes. As the name suggests, hyperdocs are the use of apps to hyperlink to other apps and software. Many teachers, interested in digital edtech, have probably been creating or using hyperdocs  already and have been for some time.

The great thing about digital technologies is that you can transfer skills learnt in using one piece of software or app and apply those skills to another. Well, that’s what I have found anyway. Most of the skills I have learnt from using Google apps I can transfer to our school LMS and visa versa. Google apps for education (GAFE) and other apps, mentioned later, are perfectly suited for flipped learning and all the intricacies that intertwine and make this method of teaching so valuable and productive for teaching and learning. If you have blended your teaching with digital technologies, then the content in this post may sound familiar, if you are new to FL or blended teaching and learning, then I hope you will be able to pick up a few new ideas and try them out.

The power of Google apps for me are the functionalities that allow teachers and students to be able to collaborate in real time, share, explore, self-pace, experiment, give and receive feedback, and much more.

Similar to flipped learning, hyperdocs are nothing new. But like flipped learning, once you  combine hypedocs with the nonstop advancement of new digital technologies, promotion of student centered learning, redefinition of both SAMR1,  and Blooms taxonomy2  , the opportunities are almost boundless.

This is where, as flipped learning teachers are aware, flipped learning can give back and make time for teachers to really teach and help students really learn, research, collaborate and create. Hyperdocs is one platform that can deliver flipped learning.

What is a hyperdoc?

Hyperdocs are, in the most basic of definitions, a digital app, for example a Google Doc,  that may include a hyperlink to another app or webpage. Teachers have probably recognized a similarity between hyperdocs and workflows or app smashing or even earlier digital resources such as web searches or quests and Google lit trips. But hyperdocs are much more than these predecessors and with a good hyperdoc, you can do much more.

Hyperdocs can vary in the amount of activities you can give the student to engage with.  Depending on the objectives, a hyperdoc could include all or some of the components listed here:

  • Research and explore
  • Critical thinking
  • Collaboration and/or sharing
  • Create
  • Apply
  • Experiment
  • Share and/or exhibit
  • Feedback (teacher and peer)
  • Reflectin

These features are also in other teaching and learning strategies such as project based learning and games based learning which illustrates how important these key elements are.

You can have a hyperdoc with one or one hundred activities, although I do not think anyone has made a hyperdoc with that many, but it is possible. I would suggest that teachers starting out with flipped learning with hyperdocs first start with one to two activities, then build from there. Of course it also depends on what topic and objective you would like your students to achieve in the activity. I build much of my coursework around Google Sheets and these can be as little as one lessons’ content with 2 to 3 sheets and 2 hyperdoc activities or half a terms content in a unit of work with between 10 – 20 activities.

Below is an example of part of a hyperdoc that I have prepared and used with my students. This type of hyperdoc may last one to two lessons. This was prepared for my Year 9 class who have studied Chinese for two years and have studied the “home” topic for 3 weeks. They have learnt the language to describe different types of houses, different rooms and express where they are.  The courtyard house is a traditional style house in China.

This activity can be completed in class as an inflip or at home as students do not need to be together to work on the document.

An example of a hyperdoc using Flipgrid

It’s all about sharing

Teachers are a generous lot and the best starting place for finding out more about hyperdocs and getting started is at https://hyperdocs.co/index.php/ . This site has been set up by three amazing teachers, Kelly Hilton, Lisa Highfill, and Sarah Landis and you can find out more about them and the hyperdoc story on the site. Included on the site is a treasure chest of templates, how to videos, ideas and discussion that will assist new and experienced teachers. Teachers are encouraged to share on the site which I think is great.

Once you have created your first hyperdoc, it’s maybe a good idea to get feedback from other teachers. You can either ask for feedback on the hyperdoc Facebook site or check out this site: http://www.boostedu.org/self-assessment/

Suggested apps I have used to platform a hyperdoc:

  • Thinglink
  • All the Google apps eg Docs, Slides, Sheets
  • OneNote

Suggested apps or web sites to add to a hyperdoc:

  • Google Earth
  • Google apps eg Forms
  • Padlet
  • Youtube
  • QR codes
  • For formative feedback: Survey Monkey, Google Forms, Quizlet, Socrative Kahoots, Peardeck

Hyperdocs are a great way to create engaging and exciting resources that will benefit your students and maximise their learning.  Bring 21st Century learning into your classroom with hyperdocs.

Bibliography

  1. Ditch that textbook, Matt Miller, http://ditchthattextbook.com/2014/04/03/10-ways-to-reach-samrs-redefinition-level/
  2. Kathy Schrock’s Guide to Everything, Kathy Schrock,http://www.schrockguide.net/samr.html
  3. Reframing Classroom discussion http://www.jonbergmann.com/reframing-the-flipped-learning-discussion/

Suggested Resources

  1. https://hyperdocs.co/templates excellent site for hyperdoc templates, resources and help
  2. http://www.kellyhilton.org/  excellent site for hyperdoc templates, resources and help
  3. http://www.boostedu.org/self-assessment/ Boost Education – evaluation tool for hyperdocs
  4. http://www.schrockguide.net/samr.html  Guide to Everything, SAMR explained, Kathy Schrock

Getting from the Good Stuff to the Great Stuff: Flipping high school Mathematics to liberate time for Group Space collaborative problem solving.

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My current Year Nine Maths class (MAT091A) must be like many around Australia. It’s very mixed. It has all sorts of critters in residence. Some of its students always find it easy to learn mathematics, are cognitively engaged and self-motivated. Others might be school-refuser’s, have personal disorders such as anxiety, or low literacy attainment. For some, the home environment is dysfunctional. A mathematics teacher’s role here is complex and full of challenges.

MAT091A marks the first case where I’ve flipped a class below Year 10 level, and the first time I’ve used this meta-strategy with a “challenging” class. We are fortunate to have 280 minutes per week contact time, so I’ve been able to implement several flipped learning strategies already in this class with its aforementioned characteristics and its absence of any prior student experience with flipped learning. The Good Stuff has been happening: my videos are watched, and if not, the in-flip is used. Flipped Mastery has been the staple, where I speak with every student, every lesson. Even though students have at times resisted flipping, the implementation is still progressing, as it should. There is much more work to do, however.

I have noticed, unsurprisingly, that there are substantial issues, to do with MAT091A student dispositions and skills in solving problems. I have thought that it would be great to be able to use the freed-up time due to flipping my videos to improve on the status quo. Problem solving is an immensely important element of a mathematics education, and in the twenty-first century, it is cited increasingly as a vital skill.

Problem Solving Teaching – A Background Narrative

My focus on student problem solving first started in a highly resolute manner back in 2006 when I first became a Mathematics HoD. I was concerned about senior student performance initially in the Modelling and Problem Solving criterion of the Queensland Senior Mathematics subjects. However, since then my interest has deepened, and I am active in teaching problem solving at all high school year levels, as an element of both Mathematics, the subject, and numeracy, the cross-curricula ability. One of the key junctures was as a HoD in 2013, when every faculty in my school had to action a mandate from the leadership team to implement Reciprocal Teaching authentically in their subject areas. Darn! As far as I was aware, no maths person was crazy enough to even try this. This mandate forced me to find a way to blend the Great Stuff: Problem-Solving Teaching (PST) – was not going to dump this! – with Reciprocal Teaching (RT) – what the English teachers did. Whilst I value RT and had used RT when teaching English myself, I was at a loss to find how in the world to make these two great strategies work as one machine. So, I used a truly unique plan one Sunday morning. Google.

My Google search of “Problem Solving Teaching + Reciprocal Teaching” yielded an immediate bulls-eye. Unbelievably, the first result listed was an article about RT in Maths, written by Yvonne Reilly, Jodie Parsons and Elizabeth Bortolot of Sunshine College, Victoria. This was Great Stuff! Later a team from my school comprising of the principal, three deputies and three HoD went on an expedition to some of the best schools we could find in Victoria. Sunshine College was one of these. We saw the aforementioned authors in action in their classrooms. This school seemed to have every excuse not to be producing great outcomes, with well over fifty different languages spoken in students’ homes, and an ICSEA index of well below 1000. However, the opposite was true. What the staff were doing there was amazingly successful – especially with regard to problem solving in Maths classes.

Reciprocal Teaching in Hattie’s Visible Learning, has a high effect size of d = 0.74. It is a renowned strategy for reading comprehension, and it is a collaborative group process.

  1. Predicting
  2. Clarifying
  3. Questioning
  4. Summarising

However, the key change Reilly et al made, and thus, my way of meshing PST and RT, involved replacing Questioning, which usually has little relevance in a high school mathematical problem-solving context. Questioning in RT is where students textually analyse, and interrogate an extended text and explore deeper meanings. The vital change was to use Solving instead:

  1. Predicting
  2. Clarifying
  3. Solving
  4. Summarising

This key change, plus refining the nature of the other three steps to suit a high school Maths context was what we needed. Now for the job of making it our own.

As a fan of PST (d = 0.61), and in particular the heuristic work of George Pólya, I set to work on modifying the ideas from Sunshine College for our needs. Over four years and a few iterations in collaboration with staff (past and present) from my current school, we have arrived at the following process (see Figure 1) which we call Reciprocal Maths Teaching (RMT), or just Reciprocal Maths. RMT dovetails Pólya’s PST steps with a reading comprehension strategy, in a collaborative context. Pólya’s steps are inherent in RMT.

Pólya’s steps:

  1. Understand the problem
  2. Devise a plan.
  3. Carry out the plan.
  4. Look back.
Figure 1: Reciprocal Maths Teaching (RMT)
Figure 1: Reciprocal Maths Teaching (RMT)

By explicitly teaching students these RMT steps, as well as the “toolkit” of mathematical strategies in Solve, students gradually build an arsenal of tactics to tackle problems they may encounter in future. Our Maths faculty has spent up on physical resources to facilitate the implementation of RMT. Students from Years Seven to Nine have a trolley in their Maths classroom with laser-etched, ceramic-coated, tablet-sized whiteboards. On one side is a blank template version of Figure 1, where students may write their responses with whiteboard markers, and the other side is blank for rough working, of a temporary nature. We found from Sunshine College that mini-whiteboards give some students more courage to take a risk and have a go at the problem. We supply the stationery too. Additionally, we have a truly gigantic outdoor RMT template (as per Figure 1) with three RMT template full-size whiteboards.

Flipped RMT – Observations Thus Far

I’ve been using RMT since 2013, and I knew that this would never be an easy quick fix in MAT091A. And it hasn’t been! Just like when a teacher trains a new class over weeks in how to watch flipped videos, take Cornell Notes, and use the Group Space responsibly, Flipped RMT is a lot of work initially. Certainly, by flipping MAT091A, I have far more contact time available than traditional non-flipped Maths classes to train students.

Group norms comprise an essential set of skills and protocols that students must be trained in. In MAT091A some students take over, others avoid the tasks at hand, some disrupt other groups because they don’t like the group I’ve put them in, and some initially refuse as they still haven’t decided that problem solving is worth the effort. However, collaborative skills are essential twenty-first century skills. Students learn by hearing their peers explain mathematical concepts or strategies, and deep learning occurs when students teach other students.

Some students often like to immediately go to the Solve step (I’m looking at you boys!). After all it’s the answer that matters – nothing else, right? My students sometimes come from households where parents can be heard to say (e.g. at PT interviews) that “It’s maths. It’s only right or wrong…”. Whether we flip or not, teachers must be patient and never give in to students who balk at the other key stages Predict, Clarify and Reflect.

I note with great interest that the new SATE system in Queensland (the new senior schooling system for curriculum, assessment and tertiary entrance – the largest systemic change in decades) for Senior Mathematics will assess students against a process and rubrics which are remarkably consistent with our RMT modus operandi. See Figure 2. Hence, in terms of preparing students for the increased rigour and required levels of initiative and insight, we think we are on the right track.

An Approach to Problem Solving and Modelling - Mathematics
Figure 2: An Approach to Mathematical Problem Solving and Modelling

The amount of active learning has been great to watch during RMT sessions. It is also often the reason why some students initially resist. Groups are typically small (I like two or three), and provided the right questions are provided (we have a growing bank of problems that our numeracy coach has been assembling), students wrestle with collective reasoning, apply their mathematical concepts and strategies in partnerships, and justify the reasonableness (or not!) of their results. Higher order thinking is required, as are initiative and insight. Sometimes, we can get students to re-watch an Individual Space video if no students in the group can recall the maths underlying the problem. This is sometimes, my job as a facilitator – to intervene and diagnose “just in time”, what the blockers might be. Other times, I like to just fire questions at students to prompt them, in little ways. The thinking needs to come from the students, wherever possible. As a result, I get to speak to lots of my students and have substantive conversations about the maths during RMT. It certainly does not do working relationships any harm.

Flipped RMT – What Next?

I am very confident in the validity and effectiveness of this strategy. However, it is crucial that I do some formal diagnostic work to more scientifically measure the effect of RMT in MAT091A. This will be a future focus. Additionally, I’m still not quite satisfied with some of the finer elements in our RMT process. For example, I want to “beef up” Predict, as students demonstrate some uncertainty around how to respond to this phase. We need to provide training that is more meaningful to students to help them understand and value this part of the process.

Note that we don’t use the same collaboration dynamic as English classes often use with RT. In English classes four students each take, or are assigned, one role: Predictor, Clarifier, Questioner, or Summariser. We have not pursued this dynamic in RMT, as we value that each student is participating in every step. However, perhaps I should do more investigation regarding these mechanics. At this stage, I’m interested in mimicking the “one role” mode from RT and using a system of rotation, so that students become experienced in all processes. No doubt, what I find will be interesting.

Finally, I’m beginning my journey in gamifying RMT. I’m calling the groups “tribes” and have devised a points system. Apart from checking out basics of Classcraft, I have not yet explored digital resources to support gamification. If any reader of this blog has some gamification strategies which they feel may work well in an RMT class, please contact me. I am all ears for this Great Stuff!

References

Hattie, J. (2012). Visible Learning for Teachers: maximizing impact on learning. London: Routledge.

Palincsar, A. S. (1984). Reciprocal teaching of comprehension-fostering and comprehension-monitoring activities. Cognition and Instruction, p. 59.

Polya, G. (1945). How To Solve It. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority. (2017). 21st century skills for senior curriculum: a position paper.

Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority. (2017). Specialist Mathematics 2019 v1.0: General Senior Syllabus. Brisbane: QCAA.

Yvonne Reilly, e. a. (2009). Reciprocal Teaching in Mathematics. MAV Conference 2009 (p. 8). Melbourne: The Mathematical Association of Victoria.

Flipped Learning, a brief grounding in the research literature, by a teacher, for teachers

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Flipped Learning, a brief grounding of the research literature

I was recently challenged to show the effectiveness of flipped learning through research by a member of leadership at my school. What follows is a brief summary of the research that I had at hand that situates a reader generally within the literature and opens some avenues for further exploration. It also gives a good overview of the general direction of flipped learning research with many recommendations of where further research needs to be aimed to produce a greater understanding of the methodology. Keep in mind this is simply an excerpt of my current understanding, as a full-time teacher, not currently participating in any part-time study. I am pursuing research into flipped learning, purely as a hobby rather than any structured academic study. For a broader overview of flipped learning in regards to adding to the research base, I would recommend this blog by Robert Talbert: http://rtalbert.org/what-does-the-research-say/

With that in mind, I hope that teachers interested in the concept of flipped learning, educational technology or using instructional video in their classroom would find this an interesting starting place and jumping-off point for further investigation of these ideas in their own practice. Or in a pinch, use this to justify the interest and emerging nature of flipped learning and some of its positive findings in regard to learning outcomes for students.

Firstly, as meta-analyses are all the rage at the moment, let us begin with these two-literature review/meta-analysis style articles that give us a good aerial view of the research and a good grounding in some of the already completed research.

The Flipped Classroom: A Survey of the Research

View the paper

This document provides a good summary of the research circa 2013, it sets out some of the pedagogical practices and ideas that underpin the practice and allow it to be used. It is an approachable and easy to read piece that defines key words and ideas well and establishes some of the intellectual lineages of flipped learning. It is especially valuable for people with a limited understanding of flipped learning in the way that it outlines key ideas that most teachers and educational practitioners will find familiar and easy to engage with. It focuses mostly on qualitative information (numbers) and is therefore easy for a person wired in this way to engage with quickly and without requiring much of an analysis of complex results.

A critical review of flipped classroom challenges in K-12 education: possible solutions and recommendations for future research

View the paper

A very recent paper (2017) that comments on the paucity of K-12 flipped learning research and discusses some of the issues that are presented by this pedagogy for teacher workload and other key factors. Appendix 1 provides a summary of a number of studies and their results, whilst Appendix 2 provides a brief summary of the ways that class time was being used in each of these studies. This is useful in the way that it can be used to understand the myriad ways that flipped learning can be used to transform the classroom environment and the activities that take place there. It must be noted, however, that a number of the studies cited do not very closely align with flipped learning as it is generally defined or best practice. As a result, some of the studies show less than favourable results due to a number of reasons, which I will refer back to in a future piece of writing. It also gives a good overview of the way that different uses of this methodology can be applied and as a shortcut around where it would be best to begin a practice of flipped learning for an individual or school aimed in a positive direction. In summary, the paper shows that without looking too closely at what is or isn’t flipped learning, all studies that purported to be flipped learning showed positive results or no significant loss or gain (stayed comparable). Looking more closely, those studies that made use of video in the individual space and used group discussion or some other form of active learning in the class space showed improvements in student’s learning outcomes. These two simple factors being present could be used as a rough proxy for best practice and something to be expanded upon in further research. The two aforementioned appendices also show that deviating beyond the accepted knowledge of best practice in regards to flipped learning does not show a positive result for student outcomes.

The Impact of the Flipped Classroom on Mathematics Concept Learning in High School

View the paper

This paper is a more recent (2016) study that took a small scale (82 participants) approach and used the traditional lecture vs flipped learning approach. Notably, this paper used genuine high school students, aged 14-15 years, a group that many practitioners tend to presume will not complete the pre-class work of watching videos. This study showed that this was not true but rather showed that the FL participant group outperformed the control group and were highly satisfied and positive towards the methodology. Notably, the study showed that the ‘low achievers’, as recognised via pre-test results, had greater success than the control group who received conventional teaching. It is suggested that this is due to these students with higher learning needs receiving more attention from teachers and greater time for the deeper discussion and engagement with mathematical problems.

The flipped classroom and cooperative learning: Evidence from a randomised experiment

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A recent study (2016) that comparing the flipped learning classroom with lecture-based lessons. It found a 12% increase in test scores when comparing these two methodologies, in favour of the flipped learning classroom. The study drew its participants from undergraduate students and used a simplistic multiple-choice style test form of testing. The sample size (235 students) is significant and indicates support for flipped learning, but also more specifically the types of active, collaborative pedagogies that it allows to take precedence over traditional lecture style teaching.

Optimizing Learning From Examples Using Animated Pedagogical Agents

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A laboratory-based, experimental based study (2003) that looks specifically at the levels of knowledge retention by undergraduate students based on the learning/teaching resource involved in the delivery of the content. The content was presented through three forms: text only, text and audio, or text and ‘animated agent’ (a small cartoon character who gestures and refers to key elements of the text). I interpret this study firstly in the sense that a teacher, known to the student will always be more effective than the noted ‘animated agent’, as well as more knowledgeable. More simply, however, this study posits that learning through video is simply more effective than more traditional and conventional means. Extending this concept further, this seems to indicate that even without flipped learning being applied, but simply replacing learning resources from text or worksheet towards instructional video would show an improvement in knowledge retention just as was shown in this study.

Learning from Examples: Instructional Principles from the Worked Examples Research

View the paper

This study (2000) is a very exhaustive summary of cognitive load theory which I believe holds many connections and associations with flipped learning. I believe it also suggests a number of practices and understandings that should become mainstream within the practice of producing instructional video and flipped learning. Rather than go over some of the complex interaction between the pedagogy of flipped learning and Cognitive Load Theory (CLT), I would suggest you look over this short summary of how these ideas and those raised by the previous research study are applicable in this video I made on the topic here:

Overall, I hope this limited overview of some of the recent research on flipped learning has shown you some of the ways that different ideas are being applied under the umbrella of flipped learning. As well as giving you some things to provide to interested individuals to begin their own learning journeys into flipped learning and its applications in a variety of contexts. If you are interested in any of these ideas please let me know, or if there is anything that you believe here is improperly covered I would love to hear about it. You can email me on kolber.steven.s@edumail.vic.gov.au

I’ll also be presenting at the international flipped learning conference, RESCON in October 2019 – see https://www.resconanz.com/program

Using Microsoft PowerPoint to create Flipped videos and improve workflow

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Creating Flipped Videos in Microsoft PowerPoint allows for greater accessibility and smoother workflow for flipped educators.

An exciting development in Office 2016 is the addition of built in support for recording of PowerPoint presentations. This is a great improvement upon the previous iteration of this feature. This means that teachers are more likely to stumble upon this function and as a result find themselves producing video form content that might one day lead them towards a flipped learning methodology.

It also means that for practitioners looking to train staff in technology to support a flipped learning approach, the possibility of teachers new to the pedagogy can begin working within a program that is the industry standard for content presentations in class. It also means that the process of creating instructional video is streamlined, removing some key steps from the workflow.

Consider, the older, experienced PowerPoint king or queen at your teaching setting. Their presentations feature such a high level of development: animations, images throughout, diagrams and carefully crafted, word-perfect descriptions and depictions of key concepts. These highly proficient teachers could adapt their well-produced and refined, existing, presentations into videos by just clicking across the toolbar at the top of the program. As a result their practice begins to transform and modernise into the 21st century.

Technological competency serves as a great obstacle for teacher trainers and school systems generally. Any movement towards simplicity and accessibility for less technically savvy teachers opens up a range of possibilities that lead towards the pedagogy of flipped learning. A practice that carves out time for students and teachers to interact in more effective and engaging ways and practice a number of practices that are often viewed as lofty or somewhat mythical. Things such as differentiation, individualised intervention and mastery learning within the confines of a normal school. These concepts are often referred to, but less often achieved in the realities of actual teaching practice.

Below is a 1-minute description of how to create one of these recordings made using the exact functionality that it describes. The development of the resource, a PowerPoint slide deck took some time, but the actual conversion of it from a staid PowerPoint presentation to a video took the same amount of time as the length of this video.

The notable feature of this method is that it removes a common and problematic step in the production of instructional video, editing. The program has a way to remove silent elements from the final produced video, largely removing the need to spend additional time in ‘post-production’.

Looking below at the diagram you notice the standard five steps of creating a flipped instructional video and that two of these, content preparation and lesson planning, are standard teacher work. So the first thing you consider is that flipped learning is adding three additional steps to within the production of lessons. The benefits of flipped learning will not be discussed here for brevities sake but consider here from an outsiders’ perspective on adding three additional steps to their workload. Almost undoubtedly the thing that all teachers value the most is time, especially preparation and planning time. So one of the crucial factors for a teacher considering becoming a flipped learning practitioner is to streamline or remove as many of these three additional steps as possible.

Creating Flipped Videos by Traditional Means

Creating Flipped Videos by Traditional Means

Diagram 1: Note the navy colour represents standard teacher work, and the light blue denotes steps unique to flipped learning. Noticeably, filming and recording is a separate step completed with a separate suite of programs.

Notably, the first of the three flipped learning steps is now completed natively within a very familiar program. Notably, the step of editing can be completely removed as it is no longer essential, though a finicky teacher may choose to editing the video file produced for a range of reasons. Lastly, the uploading process is essential to making the videos available for students, however, it is a ‘lock and leave’ type of a process that typically takes place either in the morning of a school day or overnight at home.

The diagram below shows a more streamlined process of flipped learning, using the approach discussed above. Note, the editing is no longer necessary and the preparing content and the filming and recording process is combined for ease of use. This may seem unlikely, but it is not a great addition of workload to finish creating a PowerPoint as you would for a typical class, then plug in a microphone and perform this content, whilst it is fresh in your mind, as you would to a class.

Creating Flipped Videos within Windows PowerPoint

Creating Flipped Videos within Windows PowerPoint

Diagram 2: Note the removal of the editing step of the process, and the combining of the preparing content and the filming and recording.

It is worth mentioning briefly, that, as with all presentation and recording of oneself, there is a hurdle of confidence to be overcome. Just as student teachers have to become comfortable presenting to students, you, even as an experienced teacher may need to re-learn some of your presentation skills. The same tasks that you perform on a daily basis, explaining, describing and providing examples feeling for a time, strange and new. You may find yourself glowing red, or stumbling over your words. By doing this more and more, you will find yourself being more explicit in your instructions and being more strategic in the way that you explain concepts, as you are always aware of the length of the video you may create, or the potential need to edit or restart your explanation. This is one of the hidden benefits of moving towards instructional video and later flipped learning, you will begin to notice speech patterns and habits that you adopt during your presentation of information which you can then improve upon.
Though it may seem like a small change in teacher workflow by using this method it allows for far greater freedom for teachers adopting this teaching methodology. Furthermore, by removing some of the time needed to create flipped videos it also lowers the barriers of entry for teachers new to the concept of flipped learning and teaching through instructional video. Flipped learning can be considered as a way of freeing up the classroom time of a teacher at the expense of their out-of-class time, and this is also true for the students of said class. Therefore, by freeing up more time in the out-of-class space for the teacher, it allows a greater focus on the all-important step of lesson planning. As the ultimate goal of flipped learning is to transform the group space through, active, group and inquiry or problem-based learning, therefore, the lesson planning step is the core task of all teachers, whether they be flipped educators or not. That is why this small, incremental improvement in the out-of-school time necessary to complete a flipped video is so crucial.

As such the core role of a teacher remains always to create circumstances, events and experiences for learning during a lesson. Though at times, the tendency is to create these through a didactic and direct lecture style approach that allows for the communication of information, but less often retrieval practice and active interaction with that knowledge by the students. By forcing yourself away from this type of instruction, which is likely the very style of education that you yourself were educated with, you free yourself up to improvise. You free yourself up to try new teaching approaches, ideas and thoughts and have time within classes to interact with and trial these ideas. You have more time to communicate with individual students and develop more complex relationships with them and their learning needs and goals. Notably, flipped learning does not abandon direct instruction or refute its use, rather it provides a challenge to develop yourself beyond this default approach and to spread your professional wings and become more than a lecturer or deliverer of content.

In summary, the method of using PowerPoint to record instructional video is a clear, simple and speedy process. It eschews the need for editing and allows content creation and video production to be performed in the same place, within the same program, when the information is most fresh and cogent to you the teacher. It also makes the concept of producing instructional video content more achievable for less tech-savvy teachers and thus makes the potentiality of flipped learning being more widely adopted as a pedagogy more likely.

Feel free to watch the video below if you are interested in a quick guide on how to create an instructional video within PowerPoint: