This week we are going to discuss the role that Flipped, Blended, Online, and Mult-Access Learning can play in our classrooms. Whether or not any of these modalities would be appropriate for your class is highly dependent on the age of your learners, the resources available to you at your school, and the speed of the internet and equipment in your learners’ homes. We will also explore how the Android Science Journal can be used, and look for ways that it can enable active learning at all age levels, and for individual or group activities (available for both iOS and Android phones and tablets). I’m looking forward to some good discussions and engaging hands-on experiences in our class time together. Enjoy!

Learning Objectives

• Articulate the benefits and drawbacks of a flipped learning curriculum, including the potential pitfalls that need to be identified and prepared for.
• Communicate the benefits and drawbacks of a Multi-Access or Hyflex approach to teaching, including the potential pitfalls that need to be identified and prepared for.
• Complete an Arduino Science Journal activity.
• Identify an Arduino Science Journal activity that would be appropriate for the grade you hope to teach, and would be difficult or impossible to do in a non-digital way.

Pre-class Activities

Flipped/Multi-Access Learning

A few years ago I completed my master’s thesis on flipped learning for information literacy instruction, so I am keenly interested in this topic. That said, while a flipped learning pedagogy, or a blended learning method, can be great tools to use in some circumstances, they are not panaceas and are not the best teaching tools in all situations and at all grade levels. The video below talks about how one elementary school teacher uses a modified Flipped teaching method to differentiate learning for her students to better meet their individual needs. (4 min)

Please ask yourself the following questions:

• What are the primary benefits that a well-designed flipped learning experience can provide?
• What are some of the potential downsides to flipped learning, and how could they be managed?
• When you think about Blended learning, what comes to mind?

Multi-access or Hyflex Learning, and the goal of radical flexibility that some educators are pursuing for the learners in their classes. Please read the following article about Multi-Access Learning, and optionally listen to a portion of the embedded podcast about Hyflex Learning: 

• Read this article, by UVic Scholar Dr. Valerie Irvine, titled Why NOT to Quit After First Attempts in Online and Hybrid Learning Flexible Class (5 min).
• If you’d like to go deeper and hear some interesting stories, listen to this Teaching in Higher Ed podcast interview starting 10:25 minute mark:
  

Please ask yourself the following questions:

• How would building flexibility into your classroom instruction be potentially helpful during and after the covid-19 pandemic?
• What problems, concerns, or issues might arise from using a Multi-Access or Hyflex teaching method in K-12 in British Columbia?

Active Learning with the Arduino Science Journal

Watch this Arduino Science Journal introductory video (1 min). As you watch the video, think of ways you could possibly use the Arduino Science Journal to facilitate learner inquiries with a science component.

This 1:21 video demonstrates six different ways you can use the science journal to engage in active learning experiments:

Install Arduino Science Journal on your phone. The install links are at the bottom of the web page.

Class Time

Multi-Access vs Hyflex vs Blended (6 min)

Hands-on Lab Time

Arduino Science Journal

“The Science Journal transforms your device into a pocket-size science tool that encourages students to explore their world. As they conduct eye-opening experiments, they’ll record observations and make new, exciting discoveries.”

1. If you haven’t done so already, please install Arduino Science Journal on your phone (note that there are versions available for Chromebook and iPad carts in schools). The install links are at the bottom of the web page.
2. Complete the following activities:
   • Find an Android Science Journal module on Light, Motion, or Sound, that looks interesting to you and that would be appropriate for the grade level you hope to teach at.
   • Work through the activity.
   • Reflect on how the Science Journal might be a useful tool in your grade level (this could be part of your critical reflection). 
   • What questions might you need answers to before using (or not) Science Journal in your class?

Learning Pod Time & Homework

1. Learning Pod Time:
   • Work on Assignment 2 with your learning pod.
   • Catch up on any missing blog assignments (including any which I didn’t get full 100% on the rubric).
2. Weekly blog post to document your learning in class:
   • Review the 336 Blog Post Rubrics to make sure you’re including all the minimally required elements for your weekly blog posts.
   • Here is a sample high-quality weekly blog post on the topic and/or technology of the week.
   • Please critically discuss this week’s topic and/or technology. If you’d like you can use the prompts below for inspiration:
     • Articulate the benefits and drawbacks of a flipped learning curriculum, including the potential pitfalls that need to be identified and prepared for.
     • Discuss the benefits and drawbacks of a Multi-Access or Hyflex approach to teaching, including the potential pitfalls that need to be identified and prepared for.
     • Identify an Arduino Science Journal activity that would be appropriate for the grade you hope to teach, and reflect on whether or not it would be difficult or impossible to do in a non-digital way.
   • Use the category, “weekly-reflection“.
3. Weekly Free Inquiry blog post:
   • Document your free inquiry progress, reflecting on your progress, as well as identifying and evaluating helpful resources you found. Provide details on your learning progress (through success or failure).
   •  Employ a multimedia strategy in your post to help document your inquiry by using text and one or more other media to help make it more engaging (e.g., image, screencast, video, or other formats).
   • Utilize social writing strategies such as hyperlinks to blog posts (e.g., trackbacks) or to articles/resources consulted, including web pages, images, videos, etc.
   • Use the category, “free-inquiry”.
   • Share your post with your learning pod at your next meeting (usually at the end of class time).