Time to Start Making Flipped Learning Videos!

Feeling inspired this week as I’ve just got my Flipped Learning level 1 certification (Flipped Learning Global Initiative) and I’m ready to take up the challenge offered at the end of the course. I know Why flipped learning makes sense, I know How to do it (the theory) now all that remains (the challenge) is to DO it!

I’ve already dabbled in FL Flip writing in the EFL classroom, Why flipped learning has got me excited but have yet to make my first video and flip in earnest. Although I have learnt that flipping is not all about the videos, they will be an integral part of flipping vocabulary and grammar in my classes.  My aim this summer then, is to get to grips with some of the video making options and tools, lose my inhibitions (!?) and make some videos…

Apart from some great advice offered on the course, I’ve also been getting inspiration from other educators who are already flipping their teaching.

I recently had the opportunity to hear David Calle (Global Teacher Prize finalist 2017) speaking at the forum I Foro de Educación Vigo organised by Faro Impulsa. Calle talked about the importance of finding ways to reach all our students and ensure effective learning is taking place.  He has been called the “profesor YouTuber” by some, as making videos for his students is how he manages to do this and how he inadvertently found fame…

After opening his own academy in Madrid teaching maths and the sciences, he started making maths videos to help his students who couldn’t afford to go to extra classes at his academy when the financial crisis hit Spain.  Very soon he was helping students all around the world to learn maths, physics and chemistry through his videos at his online academy Unicoos.  If you speak Spanish, I highly recommend listening to his inspirational talk at I Foro de Educación (4:37:50 – 6:00:50)

Whilst looking around for ideas, I also came across another inspirational teacher Jose Antonio Lucero who is flipping his classes (La Cuna de Halicarnaso)  Not sure I will be able to make videos of this quality for a while yet, however, there are plenty of great ideas to take away from them (lots of visual clues for non Spanish speakers ;-))

From doing the Flipped Learning Level 1 certification and listening to/watching other educators who are flipping, I have taken away some invaluable advice to set me on the way to making my own videos…

I know now there are many different ways of making videos (recording yourself teaching, screencasting, using a document camera, lightboard…) and lots of different software available, some of it free (screencast-o-matic, movenote, iMovie, Explain Everything, Doceri…) Whatever I choose to use, however, these are some of the things I’m going to try to put into practice:

• Make it relevant and meaningful to my students.  Consider their interests and tap into their passions
• Use the world around us.  Bring the real world into the classroom
• Insert images and video clips to spark curiosity and hold their interest (see above)
• Script the video and use a storyboard to organise content
• Keep it short (less than 15 minutes)  Bite-size chunks!
• Stick to 1 topic per video and don’t waste students’ time with irrelevancies.
• Use more images and less text
• Add annotations/callouts to highlight key points
• Keep it conversational.  Be animated and add a sprinkle of humour…
• Get over my inhibitions and use the picture in picture (PIP) function to make the video more personal. (A lot of students say they still like to see their teacher)
• Make videos interactive using interactive software such as Playposit, Vizia, TedEd
• Forget perfection… Keep the outtakes, they add humour and keep students on their toes…
• Remember copyright!

I’m sure there are many more educators to discover out there who are making great videos for flipping their classes.  If you are one of them or know of any, especially in the field of EFL, please share links in the comments box below.  Also if anyone has software they recommend for making videos please share.  I have so much more to learn…