Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eCampus News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

20 NEW facts about Flipped Learning in higher ed

Comprehensive research and case study analysis reveals 20 new facts about Flipped Learning

flipped-learning-factsAs with all types of popular learning models that have the potential to be nothing more than a flash in the pan, it’s important to conduct thorough research on the model’s real potential. And according to a 2014 research and case study review, there are roughly 20 new things higher education faculty and leaders should know about Flipped Learning.

The report, “2014: Extension of a Review of Flipped Learning,” conducted by George Mason University with the support of Pearson and the Flipped Learning Network (FLN), reviews current relevant research—both theory and empirical evidence—to learn more about Flipped Learning’s growth in education, and its effects on student learning faculty teaching.

“The team of collaborating researchers agrees that continued research and evaluation will be required, but current studies support the potential of the flipped learning model,” said co-author of the review and head of Pearson’s Center for Educator Learning & Effectiveness, Katherine McKnight. “The model focuses teachers on how they use instructional time, maximizing their use of learning activities both in and outside of the classroom. A number of well-designed studies testing the impact of the flipped model on student learning suggest a positive impact.”…Read More

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University establishes flipped learning training center for faculty

Students in SJSU’s blended learning pilot program had a high completion rate.

San Jose State University, known as the public university serving Silicon Valley, will be home to a program that will train faculty members from across California in how to administer a blended course using a massive open online course (MOOC) platform.

SJSU, which last fall became the first institution to test incorporating edX’s online content into a campus-based course for credit, announced April 10 that the university would open a Center for Excellence in Adaptive and Blended Learning for educators from across the state interested in offering edX’s electrical engineering course next academic year.

The public announcement included details on an expansion of SJSU’s edX pilot program that will make the edX engineering class available to as many as 11 of the 23 California State University system schools, reaching thousands of students across the state.…Read More

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The 10 most popular eCN stories of the year

Here’s a list of the 10 most popular stories we’ve published in the last year.

Recently, we published a special “year in review” digital edition in which we recapped what we thought were the 10 biggest higher-education technology stories of 2012, and analyzed what these stories might mean for colleges and universities in 2013 and beyond.

(You can access this special digital publication by clicking here.)

Now, we’ve assembled a list of the 10 most popular stories we’ve published in the last year, as measured by the number of page views each received. If you missed any of them before, here’s your chance to read them now, simply by clicking on each headline.…Read More

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The role of smartpens in the flipped classroom

Six in 10 students in a recent survey said flipped learning has proven effective.

In a perfect world where students always do their homework and come to class completely prepared, flipping the classroom would be the ideal solution for keeping students engaged in class.

However, one of the challenges of teaching is that some students do not always come to class completely prepared. Maybe flipping the classroom would be easier in a high school setting, where parents can enforce homework time. But college students have a choice — they’re adults.

No one is standing over their shoulders and making them do their homework.…Read More

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Is professorial ego driving opposition to flipped learning?

Flipped classrooms have proved popular with college students.

The advantages to a flipped classroom are obvious to someone who has done it and difficult to conceive for those who have not. A flipped classroom—a model that has students watching lectures online, outside the classroom, and doing assignments during class time—works quite effectively if viewed from a pedagogical perspective.

It also puts the onus on the students to take responsibility for their learning and negatively impacts grade inflation, because students are much more likely to earn lower grades from an online course simply because they don’t log in regularly or bother completing assignments.

I have been running a flipped classroom for many years. It also gives me online documentation as to what is happening in class with attendance and participation, which I never had in the brick-and-mortar environment.…Read More

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Top campus technology news: May 2012

Here are some of the highlights from our May 2012 edition.

In the May 2012 edition of eCampus News, we explore what Blackboard’s purchase of Moodlerooms might mean for the future of open-source LMS software, as well as how some professors have embraced the “flipped” model of instruction—to the delight of some students.

To browse the entire publication, click here—or click on any of the headlines below to read these highlights from the May issue:

Blackboard shakes up open source…Read More

New education platform from TED could help power ‘flipped learning’

This is the second phase of TED’s expansion into education, following the launch of a TED-Ed YouTube channel last month with several educational videos.

TED, a nonprofit organization devoted to spreading big ideas through a series of conferences and a free video platform, has continued its expansion into education by launching a brand-new TED-Ed website with tools to help instructors use video in the classroom.

The new platform allows educators to customize videos with follow-up questions and assignments, TED says—an initiative that could help power the “flipped learning” model.

This is the second phase of TED’s expansion into education, following the launch of a TED-Ed YouTube channel last month with several educational videos. (See “Free video lessons offered by leaders in innovation, thinking.”) Five weeks after its launch, the channel has attracted more than 2.4 million views, 42,000 subscribers, and more than 3,000 comments, TED says.…Read More

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Flipped learning: Professor tested, student approved

Seven in 10 students say they watch online lectures more than once.

Marcio Oliveira could see the benefits of his kinesiology course’s flipped learning approach with every new hand that popped up in the first minute of every class, as students peppered him with questions. But he needed more than anecdotal evidence, so he conducted a survey, and the results proved that the hands didn’t lie.

Oliveira, a professor and assistant chair in the University of Maryland’s Department of Kinesiology, began his flipped learning experimentation during the spring 2009 semester in his 200-student class, turning the traditional learning model on its head: students learn content outside of class—through podcasts and recorded lectures, mostly—and do what was once known as homework during class, with the help of professors.

Students seemed to appreciate the flexibility of watching lectures online, outside of class, and having Oliveira and his teaching assistants (TAs) answer questions during class and in smaller sections headed by the TAs. It wasn’t until Oliveira asked students about the flipped model that he knew how popular the approach had become.…Read More

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