Since starting grad school, I’m beginning to realize that a lot of problems we face in the classroom can be reduced, if not solved, through technology. For example, students that are forgetful or disorganized can use the schedule and files that I post on my website to keep up with the demands of my class. Another problem in education is the communication (or lack thereof) between teachers and parents. Since my school has adopted Skyward and School Fusion, parents and I can easily connect to express concerns and relay information. Now I’m thinking that chronic absences can be less of a problem utilizing vodcasts in my classroom.
According to Wikipedia, a vodcast (or video podcast) is “a term used for the online delivery of video on demand video clip content via Atom or RSS enclosures.” (Video Podcast) A vodcast is different from a podcast because podcasts are most commonly audio files while vodcasts contain the video component as well. I originally heard of vodcasting through professional development training at school. We watched a video of Jon Bergmann and Aaron Sams discussing how they “flipped” their classroom and the wonderful results that followed. Basically what they do is place their lectures online for the students to watch for homework then work on more challenging tasks at school such as problems, laboratories, and activities. It is called “flipped” because what is traditionally done at school is now done at home and vice versa. Below is a graphic that describes “flipped” classrooms. (The Flipped Classroom Infogric) To view the entire graphic, click here.
There are several benefits to vodcasting. First of all, students that are absent won’t miss the direct instruction that everyone else received. Next, it gives students the opportunity to absorb information without the distraction of their peers. Lastly, the lower levels of thinking are done at home in short bursts while the higher levels in Bloom’s Taxonomy such as analysis, application, and synthesis are done at school with the help of the teacher. Vodcasting also allows teachers to differentiate their instruction and provide a student-centered classroom. Below is a video of Aaron Sams describing how he uses vodcasting in his classroom and why it is beneficial to him. (Learning4Mastery)
The biggest downfall that I can see with vodcasting is that not all students have the internet availability necessary to view the vodcasts nightly. To get around this, I could give students passes to the library to view the vodcasts during their homeroom time or study hall.
There are quite a few resources available for teachers interested in vodcasting. There is “The Flipped ClassNetwork” which is a social network that teachers can join that provides links, videos, forums, and information on conferences. You can join that site through Google Groups as well. Here is the “Educational Technology Network” site that provides a ton of the technical aspects of vodcasting. I Googled “Flipped classroom blog” and found a ton of blogs that I could subscribe to… too many to list here. The first one that shows up is from Jonathan Bergmann but I wasn’t too impressed because he doesn’t post that often (I suppose he is too busy teaching and expanding the minds of adolescents so I’ll forgive him for not posting frequently (: ) You can also follow Jonathan Bergmann on Twitter (Jonbergmann) but I couldn’t find Aaron Sams.
Learning4Mastery. (n.d.). The Flipped Classroom. Retrieved September 11, 2011, from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H4RkudFzlc&feature=player_embedded
The Flipped Classroom Infographic. (n.d.). Retrieved September 11, 2011, from KNewton: http://www.knewton.com/blog/knewton/2011/08/29/flipped-classroom-infographic/
Video Podcast. (n.d.). Retrieved September 11, 2011, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_podcast
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