As I myself am currently learning about and thinking about the concept of the Flipped Classroom, it would be prudent to look elsewhere for a more definitive definition of the Flipped Classroom.  This link will take you to an infographic on the subject and this link will take you to a more detailed description.  For the purposes of this blog post, a simple description will do so simply put, a flipped classroom is a classroom where the instructional time and student activity time are reversed. In a typical classroom delivery model, the teacher delivers a lesson or instruction together with the students in their class and provides activities for students to practice their new skills after the lesson and/or for homework. In the Flipped Classroom model, the sequence is flipped. Teachers record their lesson or lecture and post their recording online for students to access for homework. As the student works through a video in their own time and in their own space, they can pause to think about what the teacher discussed, to take notes, or can replay a section they did not understand. Also, as the instruction is recorded, students can go back anytime and replay video if they are I need of review. Then, class time is dedicated for students to practice their newly acquired skills with classmates and in the presence of their teacher who can observe their understanding or be available to answer questions or address difficulties. The idea here is to free the teacher to spend more time working directly with students.

In essence, the Flipped Classroom is a model inspired by, and made possible by, technology.  It is one where technology helps to facilitate the instruction in order to free up time for student interaction with other students and with their teacher during the limited time they are together in their classroom. It appears to me that this model attempts to combine the best that elearning and face-to-face learning have to offer. In today’s world of ubiquitous access to the Internet, mobile devices can play an important role as educators experiment with this new model of lesson delivery. The strength of mobile devices is in it’s ability to offer users flexibility in access to content and in the Flipped Classroom model, mobile devices can provide students with access to both instructional content and to their teacher’s recorded lesson from wherever their are (assuming access to the Internet via a cellular data plan – or otherwise, through any available WiFi access point). Be it a video recording or audio recording, students can use their mobile devices effectively to access instructional content in a Flipped Classroom setting. Students are not tied to the physical restraints of the classroom or time constraints of the school day and can use their mobile devices to connect with friends to discuss the material and gain a better understanding of the material before engaging in the practice activities in class the next day.

As a result, as educators continue to experiment with new and interesting ways to leverage technology to help their student learn, mobile devices continue to offer an effective platform for teachers and students allowing easy access to content, or in this case, access to lessons, that is available anytime and from anywhere.

1) Models of Mobile Learning – Mobl21: A Web model vs App model vs. Cellular model discussion

2) 7 Learning Models of Mobile Learning – Mobl21: a look at 7 different ways mobile devices can be incorporated into everyday teaching and learning

3) A Proposed Theoretical Model for M-Learning Adoption in Developing Countries - An 11 page article for the University of South Africa.  The title says it all.

4) Towards a Theory of Mobile Learning – A nine page paper (PDF) from the University of Birmingham looking at the design of mobile learning systems.

In the case of teacher PD, Twitter can be used as:
- a networking tool to link with other educators to discuss ideas and issues with like minded colleagues around the world
- an information gateway where teachers can stay current with the cutting edge as it happens and is discussed

In the case of instructional uses, Twitter can be used to:
- provide students with a way to connect with each other and other students around the globe to discuss their learning
- create complex learning activities (i.e. students take on the role of an historical figure or character they are learning about and tweet as if they were that person)
- search for current events or search for links to other websites offering information to topics that they are researching

In the case of school communication, Twitter can be used:
- as a communication gateway for teachers and school administrators looking to communicate with their parent community in a new and mobile way
- a place to provide parents with links to resources or supports for their children

The link to mobile learning stems from the very nature of Twitter – that tweets can be viewed on any mobile device using the web app or a native app.  Mobility also stems through the fact that tweets can be posted through an app or even through text messaging. In my humble opinion, Twitter is better suited for mobile devices than other social networks because of it’s messaging feel and because Tweets and Tweeters are searchable and can be grouped (i.e. hashtags, lists). Anyone who has used Twitter and Twitter hashtags to backchannel during a conference or online discussion will know the power of Twitter as a mobile communication tool.

Twitter -  not your average bird. What ideas can you share on the uses of Twitter as a mobile learning platform?

When the topic came up in the interview, Tim Berners-Lee was clearly in favour of web apps. He argued that they are much more open, accessible and because of hyperlinks, much more connected than native apps which tend to be propriety and closed. I also got the impression from the interview that Lee believed that creating content and accessing that content anywhere from any device through a web browser was much more empowering as individuals can continue to be both content creators and content consumers while native apps, created by developers for sale, are really more geared toward content consumption.

I myself tend to use native apps more often on my mobile devices. I find that native apps continue to be better formatted for my screen and when I do want to consume content, it much simpler to access and view through a native app. With regards to content creation, native apps are beginning to feature better content creation tools as developers are catching up in creating native apps that are contain greater functionality. This post, for example, has been written using the WordPress iOS app and I notice that more and more creation tools are being added with every new update of this app.

That having been said, when it comes to the organic nature of the Internet experience through a web browser, native apps do feel clunky and closed. One just can’t flip from page to page, from one varied piece of content to another in the same fluid, serendipitous way on a native app that one can on a web app. Finding and adding the links on this post, for example, is too painful an experience on the native app that I preferred to flip back to the web browser on my computer to add them.

I guess the biggest challenge for web apps to to offer the same experience on a mobile device as they do trough a web browser on a computer. The biggest challenge for native apps could be to add more of an organic feel and make browsing through various forms of information more fluid and open.

Both native apps and web apps are improving all the time. Currently, my choice of apps is dependant on rhe device I use as I prefer using native apps on my mobile devices and web apps on my computer – I tend to go to the better experience on each device. What are your thoughts and preferences?

1) 10 Reasons to Ban Pens and Pencils in the Class – A blog post that turns the criticisms applied to mobile devices on their heads by applying them to the ageless tools of the traditional classroom – Pens and Pencils

2) How Young is Too Young? Mobile Technologies and Young Children – An article on the use of mobile technologies by very young children.  You may also want to read my blog post titled “iPods in Education Part 13: Uses in Kindergarten” dated December 2009

3) Important Terms in Mobile Learning – Every new idea comes with it’s set of terms and subset of ideas.  This list provides definitions to many important terms used in relation to mobile learning.  A good list for those new to the concept of mobile learning

4) 7 Things You Should Know About iPad Apps for Learning – Mobile learning is about using mobile devices to enhance learning experiences for learners.  This article by Educase discusses 7 ideas around the newest device, the iPad tablet.

5) 32 Interesting Ways to Use Mobile Phones in the Classroom – A Google Docs presentation with 32 (and growing) ideas on implementing the use of mobile devices for teaching and learning

6) Mobile Learning Basics – An article from Mobl21; a good guide for beginners

7) Implementation Steps in Mobile Learning – Another article from Mobl21; this guide helps educators move from theory to reality when it comes to using mobile devices to help students learn

8) Cellphone Data Usage – An Infographic

9) How the World is Using Cellphone – Another Infographic

10) Mobile Learning Tag on Delicious – Follow the mobilelearning tag in delicious to see what people are finding and bookmarking on the Internet about mobile learning.  A rich source for me in keeping up-to-date on mobile learning trends

Mobile Learning: A Brief Reading List

Mobile Learning: Another Brief Reading List

Mobile Learning: A 3rd Reading List

Mobile Learning: A 4th Reading List

I continue to read, and be inspired by, blog posts, statements, tweets, etc from educators about the need to integrate technology into daily teaching and learning. I continue to see, and am inspired by, evidence of educators successfully integrating technology in their classrooms and the benefits to their students. Then I reflect on why it is that we have to constantly reiterate the need to integrate more technology into teaching and learning and I see a disconnect.

Allow me to state right here that I continue to be an advocate for increased use of technological tools to help teachers teach and to help kids learn. My concern is that it seems to me that we are spending all of our time discussing the tools and not enough on the social and political contexts of teaching and learning and how to navigate these spaces successfully in order to broaden technology integration.

I am pointing my finger a bit here at technology and curriculum specialists. I respect the work these individuals do. After all, I use to be a curriculum consultant in Academic ICT myself. I am pointing my finger in this direction because the talk is always about the ‘what’ (as in what should be done) and the ‘who’ (as in who should do it) with an overuse of the word ‘should’. Being an administrator, I feel the pressure and the guilt associated with being that ‘who’ of technology leadership and the guilt associated with not doing what ‘should’ be done as quickly as some desire.

The disconnect here is that proponents of technology, myself included, often spend enormous amounts of time and energy discussing the mechanics of technology use but do so outside of the social contexts and realities of teaching and learning.

Education is highly social and highly political. Contexts vary from city to city, area to area, school to school and classroom to classroom. We talk about, for example, mobile learning, and the mechanics of success but often neglect to consider how some schools are flooded with money that can support such initiatives while others are struggling with 10 year old Pentium I computers. Children in some schools have the social capital and leisure time to delve into the technology while children in other schools have parents working multiple jobs and spend their free time supporting the household. Then there are issues of immigration/language barriers, social makeup of classrooms, physical realities of older buildings, multiple and often competing priorities from school districts and government ministries, etc.

Working as an administrator in intercity schools had opened my eyes to these. My experiences have reminded me that the conversations we often have online about technology integration happens in a vacuum. I desperately want to continue to champion the development of 21st century skills and the use of 21st century tools but I think that we need to move outside of this vacuum before we can start to experience broader implementation and broader success. Namely, we have to start to consider the social and political contexts of schools and learning environments and discussing the mechanics of technology-based learning within those multiple contexts. We have likely shied away from doing this because it’s hard and because it’s messy when you have to include people and subjective opinion and action in the conversation. However, it’s only by navigating through these difficult conversations that we can truly address the concerns of some and support the work of the rest. Let’s start having these deeper conversations and let’s start having them now.

1. Surprise, Surprise! Decisions or requests that are sprung on administrators and teachers without notice.
2. Excess Uncertainty. Not knowing enough about the change will result in the “walking off a cliff blindfolded” syndrome.
3. Loss of Control. Feeling that changes are being done to, rather than done by, those affected.
4. Loss of Routine. Concerns that change will require administrators and teachers to question familiar (and comfortable) routines and habits.
5. We’ve Seen This Before. Expectation that the initiative is temporary and it will stay incomplete, meaning the best strategy is to lay low and not contribute to success.
6. Loss of Face. Change implies that the former way of doing things was wrong. Some administrators and teachers may feel embarrassed in front of their peers or staff.
7. Concerns About Future Competence. Educators can question their ability to be effective after a change: Can I do it? How will I do it? Will I make it in the new situation?
8. Ripple Effects. Change in one area can disrupt other projects or activities, even ones outside of work.
9. More Work. Organizational change often increases workloads.
10. Sometimes the Threat Is Real. Change often creates real winners and losers, and people worry about where they will end up when the project is complete.

Whether we are trying to lead large scale school change or simply trying to encourage more mobile learning in teaching and learning, the change agents needs to always remember that schools are not run by one person and those that are involved in the change need to be supported and feel that they are part of the decision making.