Flipped Classroom

Teacher: Mr. Rupke

Subject Area: Accounting

Description of placement

For our placement we were assigned to help Mr. Rupke experiment with implementing a flipped classroom. A flipped classroom reverses the traditional learning order by focusing on solving homework questions during class time and allowing students to watch lectures and read lessons at home. The flipped classroom is still a very new idea in education but the initial results have been promising so Mr. Rupke thought it was worth giving a try. We were brought in to help implement the flipped classroom and give him some idea of the effort and knowledge he would need to do it on his own when we were done with our placement.

Our first actual task of the placement was learning how to use the school's camera technology and deciding which camera would best fit our needs. It initially was very difficult for us to use the camera because the interface was not very well designed. However once we got a hang of all the basic functions and learned what all the buttons did things started to flow smoother. We also experimented with the audio and video recording abilities of the camera to see how close or how far away we would need to film and whether or not we needed to buy a microphone. Finally we figured out the best way to get the videos off the camera and onto the computer that caused the least hassle to the user.

After we figured out how to use the camera it was on to the actual filming which took place over the course of a week and a half. We filmed multiple of Mr. Rupke's lectures and learned how best to angle and hold the camera as well as the best way to record all the content of the lecture without jarring whoever was watching. This meant not moving the camera around too much and getting the zoom just right. We also learned the best way to maximize battery life as the battery meter on the camera wasn't always one hundred percent accurate. We also figured out the best way to record the lectures without disturbing Mr. Rupke's teaching and the learning of the students.

After we recorded the lectures we edited them and then uploaded them to YouTube so they could be linked to Mr. Rupke's website. This part of the placement was pretty straightforward as the videos did not need to be heavily edited since we kept most of the lecture content in full. During this part of the placement we learned the best resolution the videos could be in order for them to be uploaded to YouTube in a reasonable amount of time time.

Finally we went over everything we learned with Mr. Rupke so he could continue with his flipped classroom experiment in the future if he chose to do so. We went over how to use the camera and set up the tripod so it would record his lessons properly. We showed him the basics of Windows Moviemaker and showed him how to edit his videos the same way we had. Then we went over how to upload the videos to YouTube and the pros and cons of different resolutions so he could then link the videos on his site like we had.

Technology used

Camera
Windows Moviemaker
YouTube

Applications in other classes

This flipped classroom idea can be applied in any subject area and has limitless potential to enhance the education experience of students. The potential of this idea is just now being explored and there is the potential for for widespread adoption in the future. For our school specifically the technology is very easy to setup and any teacher who wanted to could very easily create a flipped classroom of their own. All a teacher needs to get started is a camera and a tripod and considering we already have those available to teachers at school for free it makes access to technology even easier. Other then that all that is needed is basic website and video editing skills all which could be learned very easily from free resources available online. I hope this experiment with Mr. Rupke proved the potential that the flipped classroom has and hopefully more teachers will be convinced to try it in the future.