Talking new tools for the trade
Inherent in the digital classroom is the need to wield some basic devices that allow us to transform live, written, or in-person learning components into accessible and interactive resources. There is a myth that to be an effective online teacher you must have an array of expensive tools to teach effectively. After working in remote, distance, or emergency learning for the last year, I would hope that that myth has been put to rest. Each of us has done so much for kids and education in circumstances that are normally less than ideal, and with resources that are in many ways inadequate. Something many of us have learned is that there are certain tools that we would like to have or certain tools we would like to upgrade as resources become available. This series will walk through the various types or classes of tech hardware that you might wish to add to your process. We will attempt to look at a variety of tools and options as well as how some of these tools can be used in multiple or unexpected ways.
Audio is the most important
While videos and online meetings are the first things that may come to mind when talking about digital learning, audio is far more important than video when it comes to digital instruction. While it is not ideal if the picture in a video is choppy or pixelated, learning can still take place if the audio message is clear. I have spent many, many hours in the last year staring at little black boxes showing nothing more than a first name on Zoom. However, as long as students can hear me, they can respond either verbally or in the chat. Audio does the bulk of the heavy lifting in conveying content, tone, inflection, excitement, etc. Ideally we would want crystal clear audio and video, but let’s focus on audio in our first episode of this series.
Click Here or the video below:
The Flipped Learning Network, a non-profit community of educators focused on sharing and supporting ideas and good practice in flipped, blended, and flexible learning environments that reflect the four pillars that help define F-L-I-P.
We are also a community built on collaboration and sharing. If you would like to share your thoughts, ideas, blogs, vlogs, tweets, toks, papers, questions, or comments with us we would love to hear from you via the comment discussions in our posts, through our contact page (https://flippedlearning.org/contact), or via Twitter (we are @FlippedLearning) or Facebook.
LL,ed.
