Rob Kamrowski

Welcome to this multi-touch

book

Welcome to this Multi-Touch Book

Welcome to this interactive book. It is much different than
any book you have read before. In order to make your experience optimal, I have included icons to point out interactive features and a guide to explain their meaning. I hope you enjoy
the experience.

Tapping the plus icon will increase the size of a photo or reveal more information about a photo or interactive feature.

Tapping the play icon will launch an interactive, video, or

audio feature.

Tapping the side note icon will launch a window that will entail a question, pose a thought or just an aside.

While the iBook format allows for all media to be accessed

without the internet, in order to keep the file size manageable,
media has been inserted that will require the internet. Look
for this symbol to alert you of such media. Unfortunately, this
means that some videos and links will take sometime to load
while other may eventually be taken down by the owner and
not work. I apologize if this happens but will try to stay on top
of it to avoid the frustration.
Links will be highlighted in this color and will also require
internet access. Occasionally, you will see words that are
highlighted in this color and formatted in this style.
These are simply points I felt needed extra emphasis.

Finally, this iBook is my very own experiment of a flipped activity. Therefore, at the end of Part two, three, four, and five I
have included interactive elements to highlight the main ideas
of the part and allow for review and reflection. They will be
noted with the above icon. Please try these learning activities
and let me know if you find them valuable.
ii

Flip Learning:
What is it?

Lets Get Something Straight

I Am No Expert
I have been teaching for roughly ten years and I have come
upon no quality teacher who believes they are an expert. Instead, I have observed experimenters--teachers who constantly change, shift, and try new things to improve their
craft. I respect experimenters. They are never satisfied
with the status quo. They always seek to improve--themselves
and those around them. They look to the future and, rather
than wonder what kind of future we will live in, they ponder
what kind of future they can make.

The Pilot Program

It was with the inspiration of these teachers that I decided to
try a new approach to education in my classroom in 20122013. During the last two quarters of the school year I implemented a version of what has become known as the flipped
model of teaching in my classroom. I did my research, I wrote
up a proposal, and away I went. The purpose was three fold:
1. Pilot a one to one classroom in which the school gave every
student an iPad Mini.
2. Establish a workflow for a blended classroom in which resources and activities were done online as well as in the
classroom.

tent and be exposed to more higher level thinking, as defined by Blooms Taxonomy, than previously done within
the classroom.

Purpose of this Book

The role of this book is to share the insight, tools, and analysis
from this experiment in hopes that it may be of value as the
one to one program is implemented within my school district.
In addition, and perhaps more importantly, I hope it serves
as a catalyst to continue my experimentation and perhaps
spark all you experimenters to share so we can learn from
you.

The Future
The world is a much different place today than when I was in
primary and secondary school. Change is happening at a
rapid pace and in the field of education we need to feel comfortable to experiment and develop the best possible educational experience for our students to be successful in the future. We do not know what the future will entail for current
and upcoming generations of primary and secondary
students--but we do know that it will be much different than
now.

and

If we teach today as we taught

3. Test the flipped model of teaching as a method that would

have students achieve a level of mastery of lower level con-

yesterday, we rob our children of

tomorrow

-John Dewey
8

Lets Get Something Straight

Flip Learning:
What is it?

Flip Learning: What is it?

Flipping the classroom is a pedagogy that has become very
popular over the past few years and been discussed and
defined by many different characters. Thus, the definition has been muddled from its original form
and has even lead to some controversy among
teachers. Due to this lack of clarity, debate of the usefulness
of the method has resulted. Therefore, it is important to take
in the whole realm of views and methods that are classified under the title Flipped Learning.

The Technical Definition

The two teachers who coined the term
and have made it into the popular
model it is today are Jon Bergmann and
Aaron Sams. They taught high school
science courses in Colorado and wrote
the book titled: Flip Your Classroom-Reach every student in every class every
day and recently released Flipped Learning: Gateway to Student Engagement.. They define flip learning as "...that which is traditionally done in the class is now
done at home, and that which is traditionally done as homework is now completed in class." This definition has been
morphed into video recording lectures, assigning these as
homework, and using class time for higher order thinking activities as defined by bloom's taxonomy. And, for the most
part, this is what Bergmann and Sams did. They have since

explained that flipped learning

can mean many different
things and is an evolutionary
process Recently, they have
issued a more solid definition
to try to clear up misconceptions.

Variations of the
Technical Definition
I feel it important to recognize
that the method does not have
to be mired in technology and video recordings.. There are
many variations of flip teaching/learning and teachers should
be encouraged to experiment. The model does not need to be
implemented every day and in every lesson. It should only be
11

Flip Learning: What is it?

used when and where appropriate. In fact, Bergmann and
Sams discuss in their book the different approaches they took
year after year. They did not create one formula to fit every
need. Sams said he wanted to be available to help his
students when they got stuck. The rest of the content
could be learned on their own time--he didn't need to
have his students listen to him yak during class time.
Therefore, Sams and other flip teachers, when preparing a lesson, ask two questions to decide if something should be relegated to be worked on at home or worked on in school: 1. Do
I need to be there for students to do this? and 2. Is
this the best use of my limited time with students? If
the answers to those questions is no, then flip it! Record it,
post content to a website, or create an interactive activity that
can be done individually--whatever the task might be, it can
be done somewhere other than during your face to face time.
The classroom should be where students have access to you,
the teacher, and your expertise. And this fact should be kept
sacred. Too many definitions have focused on implementing
the homework side of the equation and not the classroom
side.

quire a teachers expertise. This is hardly a radical idea.

Indeed, teachers have been assigning activities outside the classroom since one room
school houses dotted the countryside. So
whats the big deal? Why has this become a
controversial method? In a word-Technology! The use of technology has
made it possible for teachers to take elements out of their classroom, that for some,
have been the core methods of how they
teach. While this can be frightening, it
shouldnt be. Indeed, it can be liberating.
In part 3, I explain my top ten reasons for
incorporating some flip learning ideas into
your classroom.

Part 2 Learning Activity:

Answer the Questions

For the Sake of this Book

For the sake of this book, Flip Learning is an activity
that can be done effectively outside of a teachers direction allowing a gain of time for activities that re12

Flip Learning:
Why? My Top 10

Flip Learning: Why? My Top 10

Reason #10: We Can!
I know this is not a pedagogical reason, but it is worth mentioning. Twenty years ago it would have been virtually impossible for a teacher to record a lecture or create animations that
every student in their classroom could access, 24 hours a day
for seven days a week, and use as a learning tool. Okay, so it
was possiblebut unthinkable. It was expensive, skill intensive, and time consuming to do well. In our
current world, my four
year old son can record video, take pictures, and find videos
on the computer.
Honestly, tools,
skills, and time are
no longer a reason
not to record lectures or make our
own interactive content. It requires a change in workflow and more work on the
front end. This is true of any pedagogical change one would
implement in their class. You will find more information
about this in Part 4 of this book.

The fact that this technology has become so accessible has

changed the very world we live in--including the nature of education.

Reason# 9: Content is Everywhere

The content of our subjects should not and cannot be the focus of our classroom. Wow! As a Social Studies teacher that
was a hard statement to make--but, it's true. When I was going to school information was powerand it was limited. It
existed in three locations: a library, the television, or teachers. Of course, times have changed and this is no longer the
case. I came upon this realization in late 2012 when my principal asked a small group of us to listen to the CESA technology director and distance learning coordinator discuss recording lectures and making them available for students. Initially, I was opposed to the idea. My concern was who
owned the rights to my lectures (as if they were a product to
be patented) and the possibility of administrators trying to
reduce staff and increase class sizes through technology. I
then went home and did a Google search on the lesson I was
preparing to teach in one of my classes and found numerous
lectures on the topic. The truth is, people were already doing
"my" lectures and posting them on the internet. Information
is everywhere! We live in an information saturated world.
Content is a vehicle to transport our students to understand, analyze, and evaluate concepts and issues
in the world they live in and then hopefully to create
14

Flip Learning: Why? My Top 10

solutions, products, and relationship that improve their lives and those around them. Content is important and necessary. It is the building blocks for the higher level thinking we want students to do. It cannot, however, be the end goal of our lessons. If lecture is the focus of the classroom students are not challenged to reach the higher levels of thinking. We should move
away from what Paulo Freire calls the banking concept of education. Put your assessment through the Google challenge and see
how it measures up on Blooms taxonomy.

15

Flip Learning: Why? My Top 10

Reason #8: Play, Pause, Rewind
There is no pedagogical reason for distributing information to a group of people once and expecting them to retain, understand,
and evaluate the information. Everything in developmental psychology and neuroscience has led us to believe that repetition increases learning. Making content available for students through video allows students to play, pause, rewind and repeat the process as needed. Indeed, when I surveyed my students it was clear that they liked having this ability.

Highlights from Student Surveys and Reflections

16

Flip Learning: Why? My Top 10

Reason #7: Differentiate
Flipped learning is differentiated learning. It is a method that
ensures choice for students. By simply recording lectures that
corresponded with readings that, in the past, I had assigned
from the textbook (This is the very basic form of Flipped
Learning) I provided different modalities for my students to
acquire content. My students had the choice to watch my lecture, read the corresponding text, or do both. I also encouraged them to look for other experts that may teach the content
using a method more engaging or understandable than I. In
the future, I intend to ask students to more actively find alternative resources, share them with the class, and help me build
a library of diverse content per topic.
In addition to diversifying content, flipped learning opens up
class time for students to show their understanding in a
method most conducive to their learning style. Ultimately,
my plan is to design activities that will allow any student to be
working on completely different content and activities at any
one given time. Thus, allowing accelerated students to not be
slowed down by students who are struggling and for slower
students to not feel pressured to move ahead in the curriculum when not ready.

Reason #6: The World

It should be no surprise that the world has flipped learning. A
fellow teacher informed me that he learned how to fold socks

properly by watching a video on YouTube (Yes, apparently

there is a correct way to fold socks. In case you are are curious). My wife learned how to cut our boys hair through
video. And, I learned how to
use iBook Author primarily by watching
video tutorials. If
you search YouTube for any
do it yourself
project most
likely you will
find a video of a
person instructing how to complete the project. Furthermore, university instructors are flipping learning (Yes, this is taking off in the University of Wisconsin System), and since the beginning of recorded video, the workforce has flipped learning to provide
training for their workers. This is not a foreign concept and it
would be a benefit to our students if we directed their attention to the wealth of information available to them and how to
use it to learn new information and skills. Sending our students to school after high school with no experience in
Flipped Learning would be a disservice.
17

Flip Learning: Why? My Top 10

Reason #5: Its a Mirror
One of the greatest aspects of the flipped learning process for
me is the fact that it forces me to reflect and rethink
how I am teaching. Before I post videos for students to
watch, I would watch them myself. This simple process
helped me to think about what was essential and how I could
enhance the lecture and lesson so my students would understand the content. Furthermore, I have completely changed
the view of my role as educator. With lecture out of the classroom, I have reflected on my role and, I believe, become more
impactful. I now view myself as a designer of educational experiences rather than a source of knowledge. My primary role
is creating experiences that encourage students to think
deeper, own their education, and engage their curiosity.
Knowledge is plentiful and I dont need to be the only source
of knowledge for my students. Instead, I help them curate it,
make sense of it, and apply it.

mented with flipping in my history course I always had my students submit a reflection on what methods they chose to learn
the material and what class activities helped them understand
it more. By giving students options and making them
reflect, they began to develop an awareness of how
they learn best and their role in the learning process.
It seemed like less focus was put on how, or what, the teacher
taught but rather the choices the student made.

Reason #4: Make Them Own It

As stated in reason #6, the world has flipped. There is more
information available to students than ever in the history of
mankind. Yet, I am amazed how often students and parents
believe that the responsibility of educating is solely on the
shoulders of teachers within the confines of the school day.
Flipped learning puts the responsibility of education on the
shoulders of the student and the teacher. When I experi18

Flip Learning: Why? My Top 10

Reason #3: Engagement
There are great lecturers in the world. People who know how to weave a good story into a lesson. People who can speak for an
hour and hold the audience in the palm of their hand the entire time. This is not something everyone can do, and it is certainly not
something anyone can do day after day. Our classrooms are less engaging when we fill them with lecture.
Brain research tells us that people are more engaged and more likely to retain, understand, and evaluate information when they are physically active, able to discuss/debate topics, and allowed to create meaningful products using new skills and knowledge. Technology allows for the classroom to expand beyond the walls of a building. Learning can happen anywhere, with
anyone, at any time. Flipped
learning allows us time to make
these connections and have our
student network with the real
world. These activities engage.
Indeed, in my flipped classroom,
time was freed up to focus more
on these engaging activities. I did
more simulations, debates, discussions, and projects than ever before in my years of teaching this
course. Yet, their scores on assessments indicated that their understanding of the content was high
and their unit reflections and survey results show high levels of engagement.

Donald Clark Speaks on the Use of Lecture

19

Flip Learning: Why? My Top 10

Reason #2: Relationships
Great educators develop meaningful relationships with their
students. Indeed, this fact alone is evidence that online education could never do the job that on site educators do everyday.
By exporting direct instruction to the digital world, or at least
allowing students the option to obtain information you would
offer with direct instruction through their own means, the
time to simply connect with students on a daily basis and have
personal conversations increase exponentially.

Reason #1: Keeping the Classroom Sacred

classroom. By flipping we are conceding that some learning

(the lower levels of Bloom's taxonomy) can happen in a digital
environment but the higher levels of learning require face to
face time with a quality educator. Indeed, this is why our
classrooms always have been and always should be sacred
ground within education.

Part 3 Learning Activity:

Summarize Why Flip

Online education is on the rise. Technology has already altered the world in a dramatic way. The same will happen in
education. Some critics of education in the United States have
argued that students can be educated completely online-offering a cheaper and better alternative to brick and mortar
schools. Virtual schools have been created with this line of
thought. Other schools are using online tools to increase class
sizes and reduce licensed teachers. These
approaches are wrong and reckless. These
approaches poison the opportunities
that technology can offer within our
schools. By flipping the learning of our students, I firmly believe we counter these approaches by showing that learning happens at a much deeper level within the
20

Flip Learning:
How?

Flip Learning: How?

A Disclaimer
As mentioned in part two, flip learning is not a silver bullet. It
is not for everyone and it is not for every moment. It is a
teaching method and philosophy to be implemented when appropriate. It is not as simple as making videos, or any
digital content, and throwing them in cyberspace and
assigning them for your students to consume. There
are many elements that need to be in place before this becomes a successful method in your classroom. All those
things good teachers do, and believe, apply when using this

method. The flipped learning network has released a graphic

of the four pillars of flipped learning to emphasize this point.

Step One: Prepare Yourself

Before you enter the world of flip teaching and learning you
need to sufficiently prepare yourself. Make certain you understand the concept, have an appropriate reason for using the
method, and can explain it to others. You may want to bone
up more on the concept by looking at resources I have curated
on the topic.

The most powerful aspect of the flip concept is the ability to

create another dimension in your classroom. Essentially, you
are able to clone yourself when and if the lesson deems it appropriate. Therefore, you want to sift through your current
lessons and apply Blooms taxonomy to determine the level of
cognitive activity involved in your lessons. If a lesson is on the
22

Flip Learning: How?

lower level of Blooms or is mostly direct instructionit most
likely is appropriate to flip.
Step one, then, is to make certain you understand and explain
why you are using the method and view or create your unit
learning objectives, highlighting the pieces within your unit
that may bode well for flipping.

Step Two: Ask Yourself Some Questions

Ask yourself, how are you going to: 1.) assess if students did the work outside of the classroom (If you
are assigning the work to be done outside of class) 2.)
make certain students understood the flipped lesson,
and 3.) increase the level of cognitive activity on
Blooms Taxonomy in your classroom? If you were/are
a big user of the lecture, number three may be the hardest
question for you to answer.
In my classroom during the pilot program, I would always began the class by allowing the students to ask me questions
about the homework. Students would
then take a quiz, using their notes, to assess if they had acquired the basic knowledge from the lesson (This would be the
very bottom of Blooms taxonomy). We, as
a class, would go over the quiz and clear up any misconceptions. The rest of the time was freed up for us to do all sorts of

activities that would fall under the upper levels of the taxonomy. We researched, analyzed sources, did project based
learning, played games and simulations, discussed, and debated.
I believe the focus must be on what happens in the classroom.
Do not spend hours creating flipped lessons and then find
yourself staring at a group of students who learned the basic
content and are waiting for you to figure out how to make
your face to face time valuable. The whole idea is to increase
the quality of your face to face timeso that is where you
should spend most of your time planning and preparing.
Step two is to create higher level thinking activities for your
face to face time. You most likely will not be doing a great
deal of direct instruction anymore. Make certain to ratchet up
the expectations of your class according to Blooms taxonomy,
add more relevancy, and more student centered activities.
Take a look at my curated resources on project based learning
and gamification for some ideas.

Step Three: Prepare Your Students

It is critical that you prepare your students. There will undoubtedly be a diverse set of reactions to this method of teaching. Students who have been successful with the traditional model of education may resist this change in
your teaching style. Students who have not been success23

Flip Learning: How?

ful might be excited but not know what to do to become successful with this approach. Students who have attention deficit disorder may start working on your flipped lesson and find themselves being drawn to twitter or (insert your digital distraction here) by
some superior urge to be distracted. Attempt to thwart this by preparing a lesson on this method of teaching/learning.
In my class, I created a flip video that explained the concept of flip teaching/learning. Students watched the video in class with one
student in charge of the controlspause,play, and rewind.
Students were asked to watch
the video, take notes (anyway
they saw fit) and be able to explain what flip teaching/
learning is, why we were doing
it, and how they could be successful with this approach.
When the video was done we
discussed everything. We discussed why the person in
charge paused the video when
he/she did, what note taking
methods they used, if they understood it and if not what
they could do make certain
they did reach a level of understand. We then made a t-chart
and identified positive and
negative things about the approach. We discussed the
24

Flip Learning: How?

points and strategies to try to make everyone successful. The next day students were given a short quiz to ascertain their understanding of the concept. If students did not receive a perfect score on the quiz, we chatted about the ones they got wrong and why.
This activity was adapted from an example in Jon Bergman and Aaron Sams Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every
Class Every Day. It would also be a good idea to explain the method to parents and get them on board. Here is a letter I sent home
with my students for their parents.
Therefore, step three is to prepare your students by teaching them the concept and practice using a flipped lesson in class. Discuss
concerns and give them strategies to make them feel more confident about the process.

25

Flip Learning: How?

Step Four: Prepare The Content of the
Flip Lesson
By this point you have set the ground work for success. You
have a conceptual understanding of flip learning, you sifted
through your lessons and identified appropriate places to insert the flip method, you have designed in class activities that
are on the higher level of Bloom's Taxonomy and that require
you, the expert, to be a part of the learning process for success
to occur. Now, and only now, is it time to think about the content that will be available for the student in replace of face to
face class time.
There are two options for acquiring the content you
offer during your flipped lesson: curation and creation. Curation is the most appealing. Creation, however, is
most likely the more effective approach for your lesson goals.

be textbooks or digital content, is curriculum becomes limited

to what is available and our students lack a connection with
the creator of the content. This method is fine to use, especially when just starting out. You can learn a lot by observing
others created content.
As you progress, however, you are going to want to create, and
have students create, material. This will offer more flexibility
and your students will appreciate seeing a face or hearing the
voice of someone they know and see each day. When creating,
there are two items to consider--how to create the content and
the form of the final content. In order to consider both items
you should begin with the form of the final content.
In my opinion, there are three forms of flipped
content--lecture/demonstration, story, and interactive.

Curation is easy because it is what teachers have always done.

In the traditional method teachers review textbooks and select
the one that fits their curricular goals. There is a plethora of
material to select from in the digital realm as well. Sites such
as Khan Academy, TED-ED, Crash Course on YouTube,
iTunes U, iBooks, and many others have very good material
(Open-ED has curated material for teachers and aligned the
content to the Common Core Standards. One only needs to
perform a search on their site to find a list of potential material to use). However, the problem with curation, whether it
26

Flip Learning: How?

F ORMS
Lecture/Demonstration
Lecture and demonstration are simple. You either 1.)record your lectures or demonstrations as you deliver it to your students
2.)record your lecture or demonstration with a camera without your students (Here is a great tutorial by Keith Hughes on how to
do this using a camera and iMovie) or 3.)take your power point/keynote, record your screen, and lecture or demonstrate like you
would in class. Take a look at the examples to get some ideas. (Note: Examples require WiFi)

Example: Dr. Lodge McCammon

Example: Keith Hughes

Example: Jon Bergmann &

Aaron Sams

Example: A ScreenCast I
made

27

Flip Learning: How?

Suggestions for this Method

Computer

If using this method, I would suggest staying away from live

recording with students in the classroom option. Audio quality is usually lost in this process and most likely the material
will not be as direct as you would like for a student watching
on their own time. You will find that, while the content is the
same, the manner in which you deliver the material is going to
be different because the nature of your audience changes
when you move the content from outside your classroom to an
unknown environment for your students. First, there is no interactivity with the students. There is no need for rhetorical
questions or lengthy stories. The idea is to deliver the content. Keep them, if making videos, direct, short, and focused
on one concept. Jon Bergman and Aaron Sams recommend recording with another person. One person plays the student
asking questions and the other the teacher. I have not done
this but clearly one could see how this would be more interactive and engaging..

1. Quicktime (for Mac) (Tutorial)

Tools for this Method

In essence, you really only need a video camera and the tools
you have always used (white board, markers, eraser, etc.). If
you would like to do screen recordings look at my limited list
of some software that will be helpful with this. I have also attached a link to tutorials I have found or made for each:

2. Keynote (for Mac) (Tutorial)

3. Screencast-o-matic (Web
Based) (Tutorial)
4. Screenflow (for Mac and has a cost)
5. Camtasia (for Mac or PC and has a cost)
iPad
1. Explain Everything (Paid) (Tutorial)
2. Vittle (Free and Paid Version) (Tutorial)
3. Educreations (Free)
4. ShowMe (Free)
5. Doceri (Free and Paid Version)
6. iPad Camera and iMovie (Free--You would be surprised
how powerful these two can be)

28

Flip Learning: How?

Story
Story has long been a form to teach. With the advancement of technology, you have the power to create attention grabbing stories
to teach a concept. Many examples of this form exist--everything from graphic notes (made famous by RSA) to TED-ED animations to the In Plain English format made famous by Lee Lefever and the Common Craft Company. Take a look at the examples
to get some ideas. (Note: Examples require WiFi)

Example: Wikis in Plain

English by Lee Lefever from
Common Craft

Example: R.S.A. Sketch Note

of Sir Ken Robinson lecture

Example: My Version of Flip

Learning in Plain English. I
used Explain Everything to
make this one

Example: My Version of
what is a stock. I used Keynote to make this one

29

Flip Learning: How?

Suggestions for this Method

Computer

First and foremost, you are not going to create an amazingly

animated story your first time. Keep in mind that the aforementioned companies are experts in this format and spend a
great deal of time and money getting things just right. Second, begin with a script--a narrative. I find it much easier to
fill in the visuals after I have a story written. Third, have fun
with it. If you are having fun making the story it will transfer
and the students will be engaged.

1. Keynote (for Mac) (How to make a

Common Craft Video using Power
Point/Keynote Tutorial)

Tools for this Method

There are many ways you could create these stories. I have
seen some really neat things done with people just setting a
camera on a tri-pod and recording their hand drawing images.
Stop motion is a technique used where a story is told through
a series of photographs that are put together to make a video.
For those of us less artistic, here is a limited list of software
that i have found to be helpful.

2. PowToons (Free with options to

buy premium features)
3. Moovly (Free with options to buy premium features)
4. Go Animate(Paid)
5. Sparkl VideoScribe (Paid)
iPad
1. Explain Everything (Paid) (Tutorial)
2. Vittle (Free and Paid Version)
3. Sparkl VideoScribe App (Paid but much cheaper than the
subscription for the computer)
4. StopMotion Studio (Free and Paid Version)
5. iPad Camera and iMovie (Free--You would be surprised
how powerful these two can be)

30

Flip Learning: How?

Interactive
The interactive method allows for short breaks in the delivery of the content to ensure student understanding, provide opportunity
for reflection, recode new content into the students own language, and review to foster solidification of the memory. Indeed this is
infusing brain based research into the delivery of the content you want students to know. It may also allow for achievement of
higher levels within Blooms taxonomy than can be achieved by simply assigning a reading or watching a video. It requires the student to be more active in the learning process and usually includes elements of text, lecture/demonstration videos and stories to
deliver the content. While there are a few sites helping to make videos somewhat interactive, my favorite format has become the
iBook. Look at the examples below for some ideas. Of course, this iBook serves as one. (Note: Examples require WiFi)

Example: Anthony DiLauras

iBook

Example: This is an Educannon interactive video I made

Example: Zaption explanation video. Many more elements than EduCannon--but

you have to pay for them

Example: This is a look at

Videonot.es at work. Downside is it only works on a web
browser and does not have an
app

31

Flip Learning: How?

Suggestions for this Method

Computer

Start with one of the other forms and then experiment making
them better by incorporating them in this form. While this
form is ideal, you are going to want to create all the pieces and
then put the puzzle together. When you get into working with
this form, be cautious about using all the whizz-bang features. Your project could very easily become too busy. Instead, consider the purpose of each extra element you add.
Ask yourself, is it necessary, does it enhance the learning experience?

1. iBooks Author (Free) (Tutorials)

2. EduCannon (Free with Paid Features) (Web
Based)
3. EdPuzzle (Free) (Web Based)
4. Zaption (Free with Paid Features) (Web
Based)
5. VideoNot.es (Free) (Web Based)

Tools for this Method

As mentioned earlier, in this form you will want to take existing content and place it in an interactive format. Therefore,
you will use a lot of the same tools mentioned earlier. The list
that follows is one that consists of tools to help you form what
you have into something interactive.

iPad
1. Book Creator (Free and Paid Version)
2. Creative Book Builder (Paid)
In step four, you want to decide whether you are
going to curate or create the content for the lesson, what form
the content will take, and the tools needed to complete your
content curation or creation.

32

Flip Learning: How?

Step Five: Distribution

L EARNING M ANAGEMENT S YSTEMS (LMS)

The final step is to distribute the digital content to

your students. This can be done using several methods. Select the one that works best with your workflow. Please note,
students do not need internet to receive these materials. If
you use an internet form, simply have the students download
the content on their devices before they leave school. All the
internet resources listed have a web presence and an app.
They all allow for offline storage. Make certain to inform parents of this so students do not misinform them and you have
angry parents wondering why they have to supply internet or
wifi for their childrens education.

A learning management system is an online student/teacher

classroom. They usually involve storage for content, the ability for online discussions, online assessments and grading,
communication tools and more. These require students to create an account and enroll in a course you have created for
them to be used. The one exception is iTunes U. Below is not
a complete list but rather a range of ones I am aware of and
have tried. Currently, I am a user of Schoology. I find it fits
my needs more than the others. A more complete list can be
found here.

N ON -I NTERNET M ETHODS
All students at our school will have iPads and therefore will
not need these methods. However, it is entirely possible students may loose the privilege of using the school tablet at
home or at all. These methods might come in handy for such
an occasion.

1. Schoology (Tutorial)
2. Edmodo
3. Canvas
4. Moodle
5. iTunes U

1. Burn to DVD

C LOUD S ERVICES

2. Save to USB Thumb Drives

A cloud service is simply online storage. The main difference

between cloud services and an LMS is the absence of features
such as discussion threads, online assessment, etc. but they
have the benefit of emailing a link to anyone and granting
them access to files without setting up user accounts. In addi-

3. Make available on your school servers

33

Flip Learning: How?

tion to Schoology, I also save my content to Google Drive and
make it available to students. Note, these services offer a certain amount of storage for free. After you have reached that
limit, you will need to buy more storage . Keep this in mind
when making and distributing your content.

Part 4 Learning Activity: Complete

the Mind Map

1. Google Drive (Tutorial)

2. Dropbox
3. Box
4. One Drive
5. Evernote
In the final step, select you will select a distribution method,
or perhaps multiple methods, that fits in with your workflow
and is easily accessible by your students.

34

Flip Learning:
Whats Next?

Flip Learning: Whats Next?

A Story
During the summer of 2014, my wife and I decided to enroll
our son Elliot in a summer learning program to prepare him
for 4k school in the fall. He had been going to the daycare my
sister owns and operates for almost his entire life and we felt
it was time to transition him away from this sheltered world
he has become very comfortable with and have him start to experience meeting and socializing with other people.The night
before he was to go to his "summer school," that's what we
called it, he decided he did not want to go.He wanted to stay
home.He wanted to stay at his Aunt's.He wanted to do all
the things he has done his entire life. My heart was broken.I
sympathized with the little guy.There was a part of me that
didn't want him to go either.This was a big change and I
knew it would be painful.I knew he did not do well in new social situations--he is an anxious
child.However, it was time for him
to grow.And so, I tried to explain to
him that things that seem scary at
first usually become the most worthwhile experiences of our lives.I
asked him to recall the time he was
scared of the climbing wall in the
park.Today, the wall is
trivial."See," I said, "there are bigger and better things to conquer.It

will be an adventure!"Well, the story didn't work.He was

not a happy camper the morning of his first day.Of course,
we forced him to go and it was a painful process.But, we believe we have begun to foster a mindset that will lead him to
challenge himself and strive for growth in his life. At least we
tell ourselves that this is the case.

A Mindset
I tell that story because we have all had moments similar to
the one described about Elliot. Indeed, there are grown adults
every day
that refuse
to try something new-refuse to
change-because
they are
comfortable of
where they
are and fear
the unknown. If
you have made it this far in the book, my guess is you are not
one of those people. You have at least considered trying a portion of the flipped method in your class and want to grow as a
36

Flip Learning: Whats Next?

professional. Nonetheless, change is difficult. And too often,
when faced with difficulties we go back to our comfort zone.
Unfortunately, there will be challenges when you begin to implement the model in your classroom. Most likely, it is not going to work perfectly the first time. I remember distinctly the
moment I realized that things were not going as I had envisioned with the mastery approach I had established and had
to alter the format of the course. Its important at that point
not to give up and go back to your comfort zone. Instead, continue to experiment. Reflect on why the approach did not
work but continue to move on. Psychologist Carol Dweck has
researched and written about people who have a growth mind-

set verse a fixed mindset when approaching challenges. Her

research has concluded that individuals who exhibit characteristics of a growth mindset are more likely to reach their full potential than those with a fixed mindset.

A Tip
Start small! I did not. I jumped in with both feet and it was
stressful. I felt pressure to see the pilot program through because I had accepted that responsibility when I agreed to pilot
the idea in my class. Had it not been for that fact, I may have
went back to my comfort zone. Rather than flip an entire
course, start with something manageable. Here is a limited
list of some ideas to start your flipping experiment:
safety procedures (In Example: For the science lab, automechanic shop, or weight lifting room. Make certain to assess them well before giving them the green light!)
how to use a certain digital tool (Web based or mobile app).
instructions for a project
a simple skill (In Example: How to properly cite a source)
a virtual field trip
record a guest speaker
a single lesson
37

Flip Learning: Whats Next?

record you giving feedback on a paper, piece of writing, or
project to individual students so they can hear and see what
you see

Part 5 Learning Activity:

S.M.A.R.T. Goal

The important thing is that you start with something and

build from that point forward. To keep you informed, I have
included a hand selected list of resources that I will continually update. Some resources are curated things mentioned earlier in the book and other are brand new. They are located
here for easy reference.

Curated Resources
1. Further Reading on Flipped Learning (Books)
2. Flipped Learning: What
3. Flipped Learning: How
4. Tools for Flipping the Classroom
5. Noted Flippers to Follow
6. iBooks Author
7. Gamification
8. Project Based Learning

38

About

About
About the Teacher
Rob Kamrowski is a high school social study teacher of some
years. He teaches in a rural school district in western Wisconsin. Certified to teach Broad Field Social Studies, History, Political Science, World Geography, and Economics, he has
taught a variety of subjects and students within the discipline
of Social Studies. He earned his Bachelor Degree in 2003, his
Masters Degree in 2008, and strives to earn the respect of his
students, colleagues and family every day of every year. He
has a strong interest in educational technology and transformative methods of teaching.

Please Help Make this iBook better by Completing a Short Survey

About this Book

In no way is this book a product that represents the beliefs of
the school Rob teaches at or the people for whom he
works.The purpose of book is to serve as a reflective tool, a
discussion platform, an historical archive, and a reference
point of materials and information for anyone who dares to
try something different in their classroom. Digital discussions, debates, and collaboration are welcomed.

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