Flipping the classroom: Adventures in students’ self directed study

1. Flipping the classroom: Adventures in students’ self directed study Eri Tomita and Julie Devine

2. Grammar teaching history • Textbook 1: Simple grammar explanation and exercises, reading supplemented • Textbook 2: Good reading and grammar, exercises too difficult • Textbook 3: Good reading, grammar booklet, exercises supplemented • Currently: Units of work

3. Grammar teaching history: Eri • Prepared Power Point to illustrate grammar points • Flashcards

4. The beginning • The Khan Academy

5. Grammar video history • 2011 Grammar videos for revision in Year 12. Power Point recorded via Jing, shared via Screencast • Teamed up with Eri. Videos through CamStudio • Website: Easy Japanese Grammar • www.japanesegrammar.com.au

6. Making videos • Start with example sentences covering the four main types of sentences (verbs, two kind of adjectives and nouns). • Duplicate slides and using colour and some animations with text boxes to highlight the structure of the target pattern.

7. Making videos • Work through examples starting from the base sentences. • Finish with a summary chart and some notes • Record a narration to match the presentation

8. Making videos • Record the presentation to match the audio. • Put them together and publish as an mp4 file.

9. videos • Focus on grammar • Comprehensive • Note taking time in class is saved • Theory and authentic usage

10. trials • 3 trials were done in 2012 • Year 12 Japanese (Eri) • Year 9 Japanese (Julie) • Year 11 Japanese (Julie)

11. TRIALS • 2012 Trial with Year 12 • In class, just power points to help explain the grammar • Students use the videos for revision at home

12. trials • 2012 Trial with Year 9 • Students were given two videos on making the past tense of verbs and adjectives after a very brief introduction in class

13. TRIALS • 2012 Trial with Year 11 • For one unit all grammar study was done via video • No introduction in class • Video was set as homework

14. TRIALS • 2012 Trial with Year 11 • The following lesson we looked at the explanation table together and students asked any questions they had. • We did information gap activities to practice the pattern and they did written exercises in class.

15. TRIALS • 2012 Trial with Year 11 • Students completed an online survey after the Trial Unit.

16. Year 12 trial: Eriadvantages • Because there are visuals to support the explanation, it’s easy for middle and lower students to understand. • If there's a point the students don’t understand, they can watch the videos anywhere at any time. • Very effective for Year 12 examination preparation and essay feedback.

17. Year 12 trial: Eridisadvantages • I planned lessons on the assumption that students would have watched the videos before coming to class, but not all students did that • Some students found it hard to keep concentration during long videos.

18. Feedback FROM YEAR 12 STUDENTS • Useful for revision • They wanted something to print out

19. Year 9 trial • Year 9 experiment was a failure. • Some students (especially middle and lower students) found it very hard to follow the videos. • Even if they could understand the videos, some students couldn’t translate the information into exercises.

20. Year 11 trial • Year 11 experiment was a qualified success • No change to test results • More opportunities to use language in class for higher order thinking tasks

21. YEAR 11 TRIAL advantages • More time in class for interactive consolidation activities • Students can rewind and repeat the videos as they need • One very weak student self corrected

22. YEAR 11 trial advantages • Videos are not platform dependent • Colourful presentations • Students can take notes in their own time.

23. YEAR 11 trial disadvantages • Hard to tell if students have actually watched the video • For Year 11 some videos had too much detail • Lack of personal interaction in the introduction phase

24. YEAR 11 trial disadvantages • Takes lots of time to make the videos

25. YEAR 11 feedback

26. YEAR 11 FEEDBACK: ADVANTAGES • It is helpful to look back on, when revising for a test or exam • You can take your time to go through the slideshow, take notes, and go over sections that you didn't understand. • I like doing the exercises in class. • If the grammar was learnt last year or relatively easy, this system doesn't waste our time.

27. YEAR 11 FEEDBACK: ADVANTAGES • You can go over previous notes at home which is convenient and take your time to understand the notes. • You can ask the teacher questions about the homework or anything you are unsure about after watching the video during class. • Encourages more independent study

28. YEAR 11 FEEDBACK: DISADVATANGES • I think that it is easier to learn the sentence patterns in class with the teacher personally explaining things, so if you have any questions or need to go over anything again, the teacher is there to help you. I struggle to learn through videos rather than in class. • For some grammar patterns there is an extra section at the end which isn't compulsory to learn which can be a bit confusing.

29. YEAR 11 FEEDBACK: DISADVATANGES • If you miss the video because you are too busy or you forget then during class you don't really know what is going on • If it's new grammar, it takes longer to teach myself rather than learn it in class. I'd rather learn it and practice it straight away - all in one go instead of practicing it up to days later. • It can be often hard to operate, hard to learn from and harder to remember sentence structures from.

30. YEAR 11 FEEDBACK: DISADVATANGES • I prefer being taught by a real person rather than a screen. It is also easier to write notes and ask questions when learning it. I also like interactive learning where you can interact with each other • Sometimes takes longer to learn by ourselves Can't ask questions

31. YEAR 11 FEEDBACK: OTHER COMMENTS • The site was confusing to navigate at the start of the year but now it is very easy to use! • I really do not mind which system we do. Both learning at home or at school work well. :) • I'd rather get used to the system than go back to learning grammar in class. Kanji and Grammar are things that can be taught without too many aids and I'd rather be applying the kanji and grammar I've learnt to actual tasks in class.

32. 2013 MODIFICATIONS • Videos for follow up and revision rather than presentation. • Longer videos split into shorter versions, with 5 minutes as the maximum time. • Show the Power Point at the end of the lesson as an introduction.

33. 2013 MODIFICATIONS • Students watch the video for a full explanation at home, take notes and do practice exercises. • Share a printer friendly version of the main slides.

34. 2013 MODIFICATIONS • Videos are shared via a blog so that students can post questions as they arise • In class we do interactive and imaginative activities after correcting exercises.

35. Future directions • The 2013 use of videos at Year 11 and 12 has been very well received. • We’ve trialed on line testing at Year 12. Trial is still in progress so we have no formal feedback yet. Informally, they like the instant report on their progress.

36. Future directions • Students have repeated tests to get the grade they want. • Videos for script with juniors • Online testing for script and vocab with Year 7 and 8 with online badges as rewards