Formative Assessment Online via Flipped Interactive Screencasts

Introduction

It is no secret that the rise of technology has impacted both the resources and the pedagogical approaches that teachers take towards instructing and assessing their students in the 21^st century. In fact, the ubiquity of technology has expanded student accessibility to technology as well as teacher possibilities for engaging students and enhancing content across all grade levels and disciplines in K-16 education. At the same time, society is recognizing the holistic approach to education to inform and prepare students to become members of the 21^st century society beyond the classroom walls, which has encouraged a more social approach to education in K-16 contexts. With both revolutionary changes occurring currently and simultaneously, teachers of various ages, levels, disciplines, and abilities must all learn to adapt to the modifications and enhancements in technology, educational practices, and student learning. With all these factors in mind, the rise of flipped classroom interactive screencasts has come to the forefront of 21^st century learning in K-16 classrooms.

Flipped classrooms, as the name suggests, flips the normal approach to teacher instruction within the hours of the school day and student assessment via take-home assignments and homework during after-school hours. Rather, students will watch the lesson at home on a teacher-created content such as lecture videos, podcasts, or reading materials (Van Sickle, 2015), and they will practice the material in class, usually by solving problems that are similar to homework assignments. Because of the advancement of technology in K-16 classrooms today, flipped classroom pedagogy has become a prime example of utilizing this more 21^st century learning approach that depends on technology that also improves social engagement and assessment of student learning in their face-to-face problem solving and other assignments.

As a current independent high school teacher with the quick ability to adapt to both diverse students’ learning needs and the changing technology today (likely due to my experiences with technology myself), I have come to recognize the power of flipped interactive screencasts methodology in K-16 instruction. However, in the same role, I have also begun to see the challenges posed to teachers without the advantages of using technology during their own schooling or perhaps in previous teaching experiences. A lack of understanding of the technology itself remains the primary obstacle to all teachers regularly and appropriately implementing flipped classroom interactive screencasts into their teaching routines. Further, teachers also found it difficult to take the time to create videos and other materials that successfully instruct and enhance students according to the goals and definitions of flipped technology. Finally, with a full understanding of the previous model of instruction in the classroom and assessment at home, several teachers find it difficult to disrupt their nearly-polished routine that has worked for them for so many years. As with any novel approach to education, flipped classroom methodology will require a learning curve, necessary training, and open-minded attitudes from teachers to eventually gain traction in mainstream K-16 education so that student learning and teacher instruction are successful.

Further, my role as a preservice teacher supervisor has provided me crucial second and even third views to flipped classroom methodology. Working with college students with the aspirations of becoming educators in today’s society in the 21^st century (particularly, I work with preservice secondary mathematics and science teachers), I see the experiences and even educational philosophies that these younger teachers-in-training have towards both technology usage in general and the pedagogical benefits and challenges of flipped classroom methodology. They, having grown up in the era of prevalent technology for both work and play, see both the value and even necessity of engaging students in technology in the classroom. Further, these hopeful teachers do not experience much or any trouble in incorporating flipped classroom techniques into their classroom because they have experienced it both recently in their time as K-12 students in the past five years and as regular teaching techniques in their methods and classroom interaction coursework as undergraduate and graduate students preparing for K-12 education. Finally, this ease of recognizing and using flipped classroom interactive screencasts in their classrooms allows preservice teachers to easier understand the benefits of this technique, so they are able to truly create lessons that enhance content and instruction, which in turn impacts truly powerful assessment of K-12 student learning.