Dive Brief:
- Teachers in three Pennsylvania schools have flipped their classrooms, and while their subjects and strategies are different, all have used the model to create personalized learning opportunities for students.
- According to eSchool News, a third-grade teacher at Burkett Elementary School asks students to complete reading assignments at home so class time can be spent discussing novels and using engaging apps that give students time to showcase their learning.
- A seventh-grade math teacher at Fort Cherry Junior and Senior High School produces short instructional videos about his daily lessons so students can complete problems at home with his guidance and he uses this method to limit lost instruction time during snow days or his own absences, while a math teacher at Brashear High School has flipped an entire pre-calculus class so students learn the content at home and complete problems in class with her help.
Dive Insight:
The idea of flipped classrooms has been around for decades, but it has gained new steam in recent years as technology tools make the model more attractive. One key barrier to keep in mind is the potential lack of access to computers or internet for students at home. This has limited some tech-based initiatives for teachers around the country and districts are addressing it in different ways, including expanding their wifi networks throughout the entire district boundaries, adding wifi to buses or sending students home with devices that have internet access through built-in hotspots.
In the District 5 Schools of Spartanburg County in South Carolina, administrators chose Dell laptops for a 1:1 initiative specifically because they wanted students to be able to use all the programs they would need without an internet connection. Teachers give students time to download any videos or other materials they need during the school day. And a pilot at the district’s two Title I schools is sending students home with hotspots for internet when they need it.
