We are a couple of months into the term now, and I thought it would be a good idea to catch you up on how things are going with my flipped classroom. If you want to know more about why I decided to do this, you can check out my three previous posts on the subject - part 1, part 2 and part 3.

For those of you who may not be familiar with the concept, the “flipped classroom” is a teaching method made popular by the Khan Academy. Traditional classrooms are a combination of long lectures and demonstrations by the teacher, with application of learned concepts done through homework assignments, tests, exams and projects. The flipped classroom turns this model on its head; lecture materials are provided via video and other multimedia, and assigned as homework. Students complete the video lessons on their own time, at their own pace. Then, classroom time is devoted to assignments and projects, and applying the concepts learned in an open, creative environment. The teacher’s role is flipped as well, from instructor and lecturer to facilitator and coach.

When I decided earlier this year to flip my classroom, I admit it was a bit of an experiment. I’d never taught this way before, and I really didn’t know how it was going to work. But I had researched many case studies that showed the flipped classroom as an extremely effective method for retention of concepts and ultimately, that students were ultimately more successful when they were allowed to learn this way.
Here are a few thoughts on how it’s going so far.

A relaxed class means relaxed students.
One of the things I teach in my video production class is Adobe Premiere Pro, a professional video editing software. For the uninitiated, it can be a daunting and complicated tool to learn. There are lots of steps and plenty of room for error if you’re new at it. It can be a frustrating learning curve. I used to teach the software by standing at the front of the class, pointing and clicking at things, while students tried to follow along. The result was usually three groups – the ones who were bored because I was moving too slowly, the ones who were lost because I was moving too fast, and the ones in the middle (usually by far the smallest group) who got it on the first try.

Then I’d set them off on their own to do their homework assignment on their own time, and I’d end up with an email inbox full of questions, students running up to me at the start of class or catching me in the hallways, worried that they were going to fall behind because they were struggling to understand what we’d covered in class.

Now, I provide all of the software instruction in the form of a series of YouTube videos. Each one is between 3-7 minutes in length. I assign the tutorial videos as homework, and students can work through them at their own pace. They can play them on their iPod Touch, computer or smart phone, and then follow along in the software. Then they come to class armed with the skills they need to produce their creative projects.

The result is, I have a nice, happy, relaxed class of students who are achieving more than they ever thought possible after only 5 weeks of training. They understand the software because they have been able to learn it at their own pace. Things like learning disabilities and language barriers are less of an issue, because everyone is working within the parameters of their own personal comfort level.

My students are confident and most importantly they are having fun learning new things. Attendance in class is at an all-time high, in fact many of them are in class and already working when I show up!

Perhaps the best result happened to me today, when a student came up to me and said that he really appreciated this “flipped classroom”, that it’s allowing him to be more relaxed, confident and creative.

Kinda makes it all worthwhile, eh?

[photo credit Hani Amir]

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A big part of my life these days is devoted to teaching. I’ve developed and am teaching multiple online and hybrid courses in social media at Algonquin College, along with my digital video and web media courses in the full time Interactive Multimedia Developer program. My company has also just embarked on a new project that will see us running the social media training for a corporate training firm in town (more on that soon!). On top of that, we’re doing a good chunk of one on one coaching and consulting, helping our clients use video and social tools more effectively to communicate and tell their stories.

Suffice it to say, I teach a lot. I do believe it is what I’m meant to do. I get such a rush out of showing people new things…and not just the tools themselves. I love it when people have those “lightbulb” moments – that split second when they go from hearing what I’m saying to truly understanding how it all works together. That moment when they can really see how it all fits, and how they can put into practice what they have learned.

Many times, I can send people off armed with their new found knowledge and skills, and they fare quite well. But I think the fundamental flaw with some traditional education practices (lectures, tests, essays, etc.) is that once people have a grasp of the new skill, they don’t have ample time to actually work with it and truly master it. Often, especially with corporate training or continuing education, the courses are short (a couple of days in a row, or once a week for only a few weeks), so I only really have time to provide the information, offer a bit a practice time, and send people on their way. The skills are learned, but not applied enough to achieve mastery. They might come away with a good grasp of the basics, some new information, and a few new skills. But where the training model falls short is, most people don’t come away with the complete confidence they need to execute.

I’m a firm believer that anyone has the ability to learn new skills, no matter what their age or educational background. But learning a new skill and being successful with it are two different things. So how do you achieve success with the new things you learn? Here are a few ideas.

Use it or lose it.
I once had a student who was extremely diligent in class. She took thorough notes on everything, recorded all the lectures, and her assignments were always complete, well presented and on time. All around, the model of a good student. But towards the end of the course, she mentioned that she felt as if she still didn’t really “know” this stuff. She’d listened to all the talk about social media tools and strategies, but still didn’t feel like she really “got” it. I asked her how things were going with her Twitter presence (since that’s what we’d been talking about in class that day). She said “Well, I haven’t set up an account yet.”

The only way…I repeat…the ONLY way to really learn something new is to try it. You can read all the books in the world, subscribe to all the Top Ten Tips lists, listen to all the professors ramble on…but until you actually sit down and DO it yourself? It is just words. If you’re trying to learn how to grow vegetables, you won’t really know how to grow them until the tomatoes are red ripe on the vine. If you’re trying to figure out Twitter (or blogging, or Facebook, or goat farming) then you won’t really know how it works until you’ve actually tried things out, and applied the knowledge you’ve gained.

Everything I’ve learned about social media since 2006 I’ve learned two ways – from paying attention to smart teachers, but most importantly, from logging hours and hours in front of the computer, trying stuff out. So put that money you’re throwing into all that training to good use – apply what you’ve learned. Start now.

Keep the learning tap on.
Training courses are great for giving you a jumping off point. The goal is to present you with some new ideas, concepts, build up new skill sets, and do some practical application of the things you’ve learned. But nobody takes a course expecting to come away being a complete expert in every aspect of something (or at least, people shouldn’t expect that!).

Learning should never, ever stop. Completing a course and getting a certificate or a good grade (or just the satisfaction of a job well done) is a great feeling. But good teachers motivate you to keep going, beyond what you’ve learned in the class. They send you out into the big bad world armed not only with knew knowledge, but with a set of tools that you can implement right away to facilitate further learning. Keep it front and centre of your mind that although you’ve completed course xyz, there’s still plenty to learn. There’s plenty you haven’t discovered yet. And that’s totally okay.

Enjoy the ride.
The concept of lifelong learning is one that I’ve always been particularly fond of. To me, it’s not just being open at any point in your life to the process of education, but it’s about embracing and enjoying learning new things. To me, the best part of being a teacher is the fact that I get to learn all the time. Not only do I need to learn new things continuously so I can pass them on to my students, but I’m continuously learning from my students as well. I am honoured to have the opportunity to hear others’ perspectives on the things we cover in class. Their insights open my eyes to new ways of looking at the things I’m sharing with them.

Learning is one of the most fun things we can do. It’s not something to fear. Yes, it can be overwhelming sometimes. But the secret to mastery and overcoming that overwhelming feeling is in the practice, and the enjoyment of the entire learning process.

Now, what are you ready to learn next? Let’s talk.

photo credit: Chuck “Caveman” Coker

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I’m really excited and fortunate to be involved in a whole lot of stuff at Algonquin College these days. In addition to teaching part time in the Interactive Multimedia Developer program, I’m also teaching online courses in Digital Communication and Social Media in Business, and Jester Creative is working with the college to produce a LipDub video which is going to be shot early next year.

All of these great projects have given me the opportunity to explore and experiment with the role social media is playing in post secondary education.

I just finished giving a short talk on Facebook in the Classroom at the first ever Innovation Case Jam, an event focused on bringing college faculty and administration together to share ideas and come up with new and innovative ways to enhance the college experience for students, teachers and administration. I had to duck out of the event early to get back to my class, but I wanted to summarize some of the thoughts from my talk here to continue the conversation.

The Secret to Success

By far the biggest issue with Facebook in the classroom is the whole privacy question. A lot of teachers are hesitant to engage with students on Facebook as it’s often seen as more of a “personal” space. We use it to interact with our friends and family, and don’t always want to cross the personal/professional boundary with students. Conversely, students are also hesitant to link up with teachers, for many of the same reasons – do teachers really need to see the photos from last weekend’s kegger?

I believe I’ve found a solution to some of these issues. I think there’s a lot of value in having a class Facebook Group. It’s a great, interactive space where students and teachers can share relevant links, videos, posts, events and so on. It’s a wonderful supplementary learning tool, and Facebook Groups can be made not only private, but secret, so the group can be locked down to outside participants and won’t show up in searches.

The problem is, in order to invite people to a group, the administrators must be Facebook friends with the people they are inviting. This brings us back to the whole issue of privacy.

Here’s how we solve it – make Facebook Group administration a student-driven effort. One way you could approach it is to assign class reps with the creation of the Group, and have them invite their classmates – your students are already connected with each other on Facebook anyway, right? Take yourself out of the mix.

Not only that, but by handing Facebook over to the people that know it best – your students – you’re giving them ownership of the community. Now, you’re not having to do all the posting and explaining – rather, your students are free to share and explore and connect on their own.

You should still be part of the group, for sure – but rather than run the conversation, just guide it.

One example of how this is working really well is with Algonquin’s LipDub project. Though this is a Facebook page – a more public community than a group – it’s similar, because it is totally administered by the students – they are responsible for updates and for managing everything that goes on the page. We monitor and address any issues (there haven’t been any to speak of). The community is starting to thrive and as the project continues it will be a source of motivation, buzz creation and information. Perfect!

How about you? What are your experiences with Facebook in the classroom? Do you have questions? Let’s discuss in the comments below.

Photo credit: anna-b on Flickr

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I was back in college the first time I heard about the concept of mindmapping. My Project Management professor showed it to us, as a way to brainstorm all the things that needed to be done to successfully complete a creative design project. That day, my eyes were opened to a new way of doing things.

I’ve always been a visual thinker. I can write up lists till the cows come home, but nothing really solidifies in my head until I see it represented in pictures. That’s why my notebooks often look more like abstract art than handwritten notes. Boxes, arrows, squiggly lines and doodles help me to really understand what ideas look like.

I teach creative subjects in a creative environment to creative students. Many of them are just like me – they think in pictures. Many of my students are also like me in that they sometimes have a hard time getting focused. Their minds wander, they get too many ideas, and they end up not realizing their full potential. I’m sure you have students like this too, especially if you’re teaching creative types in a creative setting.

For creative project development, there is no better tool, in my opinion, than the mindmap. Mindmapping is far and away the best method of getting out of a creative rut, focusing on the right ideas, and the first step in kicking off any sort of creative project. It’s useful across fields of study and for any kind of project. It’s a technique that I think all teachers should really consider passing on to their students.

So, where to begin? Well, I could send you searching all over the Web for mindmapping tools, techniques and how-to’s to pass onto your students. But like me, you don’t have a lot of time, so my friend and colleague Mark Dykeman has done the hard work for you.

For those of you who don’t know Mark, he’s the Brain behind the award-winnning blog Broadcasting Brain, and the head of the Ka-tet at the creativity blog Thoughtwrestling, at which I’m privileged to be a contributor.

Mark is an expert on mindmapping techniques, and he’s compiled his knowledge into a wonderful e-Book called Unstuck, Focused, Organized – Using Mind Mapping. It’s an easy to follow, step by step guide that will help you learn the techniques required to use mindmaps to their full potential. The steps in the book can be easily passed onto your classes.

Here are some of the things people are saying about Unstuck, Focused, Organized – Using Mind Mapping:

“Dykeman’s new book is for people who are at their wit’s end, who don’t know what to do, or are having trouble getting started. It’s a book intended for people with the very messy challenge of — what to do with my life. It’s also a book for those of us who are more visually/diagramatically wired. Not all of us can run our life from a plain old fashioned to-do list!” — Gregg Fraley, Jack’s Notebook

If you choose to pick one up, not only will you get the 50 page e-Book, but also the added bonus of Mark’s audio interviews (and transcripts) with three creativity and content experts – mindmapping guru Chuck Frey, Remarkablogger’s Michael Martine and entrepreneur and creative super hero Chris Brogan. These interviews provide tremendous insights into creative process and are the perfect teaching aids.

The eBook is available to purchase for just $37.00. But, Mark decided that mindmapping is such a valuable skill for educators and their students, that he’s decided to offer the eBook to to teachers and students between now and December 31st, 2010 for just $30.00. So, you can purchase the book here (affiliate link) and enter the promo code suzemuse7 and you’ll qualify for the discount.

I really hope you enjoy the e-Book, please leave a note in the comments and let me know what you think!

[photo credit: sirwiseowl]

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I sort of fell into the whole teaching thing.

I never had aspirations to actually BE a teacher. I wasn’t a great student, after all. Sure, I didn’t skip classes, mostly got my homework done on time, but my grades were a mess – partly from being a military brat (Canada’s education system is not really set up for transients), and partly because I simply didn’t have an aptitude for things like math and grammar (though my Art, Music and Drama marks were always stellar).

When I graduated from high school I wanted to get as far away from it as possible. I couldn’t wait to get into college – where I knew I’d be much more successful in a less book-learnin’, more hands-on environment. I was right about that.

After college I fully expected to get a J-O-B, maybe as a junior editor in a newsroom or a production assistant for a local show. I certainly didn’t expect my first job to be as a producer.

I’ve said before, that a producer at a community television station (public access TV for you all down south) is something quite different than a producer for a regular TV network. I was a camera operator, writer, director, editor, sound person, and much more. I had 7 shows to produce, not just one. Like other TV producers, I worked 80+ hours a week. But unlike them, a HUGE part of my job was teaching.

You see, about 90% of the people that worked at the station were volunteers. People from all walks of life who shared a common interest in producing TV shows. They helped out in all areas – camera, audio, lighting, editing, writing, producing, directing – you name it. But most of the time they came in green – having little or no video experience. It was part of my job to ensure that they knew the proper techniques. This happened through formal workshops (I was required to teach one per week in various disciplines) or on the job training (like, during a live TV show).

Having just come from being a student myself, I wasn’t entirely sure that I was going to be successful at this whole teaching thing. But, it was my job, and I’d best be getting the hang of it. My friend, mentor and boss at the time, Andre, gave me some good advice. “Just tell them what you know. Don’t overthink it.”

So really, my only job was to figure out what I already knew.

Seven years and hundreds of workshops later, I landed in college again. Back to being a student. Back to filling my brain with new ideas – I traded in my video camera for a computer and was off to the races.

Upon graduation from College 2.0, I was fortunate to be hired by one of my instructors. She owned a technology training company. She had some web projects and video projects to start me off, which was great. But one day, she came to me and said she needed someone to teach this new software called Dreamweaver (this was 1997). She handed me a book called “Learn Dreamweaver in 21 Days” and told me in 4 weeks I’d be in front of 40 students eager to learn this cutting edge technology. Gulp.

The teaching gig (ironically in the same classroom where I’d just spent the previous 7 months) went pretty well, and boy did I learn a lot. I learned pacing and timing. I learned how to read the class and gauge by number of blank faces how well they were following along. And most importantly, I learned that it’s okay to not always know the answers, as long as you are willing to find them out.

So really, my only job was to figure out what I didn’t already know, and then get to know it really well.

Flash forward to 2008. I’d spent a good deal of time in the previous 10 years doing corporate training and software training, writing training documentation, designing curricula, and coordinating programs for adult learning. I felt as if I was catching on to this whole teaching thing.

I decided to connect with my old classmate who was now running the same program I’d taken at the college in ’97. I expressed an interest in teaching and provided some suggestions on the kind of courses I’d like to teach. I was accepted to the part time faculty and again, I was off to the races, teaching video and web/social media. I was given pretty free reign to design the courses how I wanted them, and more importantly, given a really talented bunch of people to teach. What I love about teaching at the college level is learning about the people in my class – who they are, where they come from and most importantly, what drives them. Their passion for video and multimedia is what drives me to be a better teacher.

So really, my only job is to help others understand what they already know and equip them with some tools so they can be successful.

Teaching is one of the most rewarding parts of my job. It’s the thing I look forward to, and I miss it when its not there. I love it when my students get as fired up about this stuff as I am. I love seeing the results of their hard work and mostly, I love it when I see that lightbulb go off over their head – the one that shows me that they don’t just know it…they understand it.

I learn more from being a teacher than I ever learn from being a student. You can too. You just need to focus on three things in order to become a better learner, and a better teacher:

1. Figure out what you already know
2. Figure out what you don’t know, then get to know it really well
3. Help others to understand, and equip them with tools to aid their success

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My Algonquin College Web Media class this year is doing some amazing work. I wanted to take this opportunity to showcase, with their permission, a few of the blogs and web site projects they have been working on. Please take a moment to click on the links and if you like what you see, get to know them. These people are the future of our industry. What they are doing and what they have to say is very important. Listen to them.

Interactive Multimedia Class of 2010 Blogs:

Noriko Natsume
http://www.eyestir.com/nnproject

Jason Derouchie
www.handtobrain.com

Alexi Dumochel
Tokyo on the Brain
http://aricoukaze.wordpress.com

Al Morrison
http://corloveaduck.wordpress.com

Jacqueline Brinsmead
http://randomthoughts63.wordpress.com

Brandon Brule
www.brandonbrule.com/blog

Sheila Sugavanam
http://sugabam.wordpress.com

Calgar-C
http://calgarc.com

Brendan Shaughnessy
http://welljackson.wordpress.com

Servillano Poserio
http://www.mindhackers.net

John Warren
http://www.thebestjohn.com

Matthew Lavigne
http://mlavgn.wordpress.com/

Tom Martineau

http://tmartineau.wordpress.com/

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