Computer smash

Technology of course sometimes doesn’t work the way we hope.  Anyway, since digressions are fun, I can’t resist.

I’m reminded of a fundraiser that a non-profit held when was working in Metro Vancouver many years back.  We organized a large street festival and the idea was to have a “computer smash” – much like the car smash I recall from high school.  Essentially folks get a blunt instrument (sledgehammer or such) and get a few whacks at the object – in that case some old computers.  In any event, I agreed to let them do it wish assurances the smashed computer bits would be dealt with appropriately, and they crushed it (couldn’t help myself) – apparently there was a fairly large amount of frustration with computers, and I recall him later saying that several thousand dollars were raised.   Keep that in mind next time you hold a fundraiser!

Now, I love computers and technology, but there are moments!

Back to the point at hand….

Getting it in the hands of Students!

Key of course is student access to the videos, pencasts, podcasts, or whatever you use.  remember as well that not all students have access outside of class, so they may need to access material on campus or elsewhere so getting material to them in advance so they can access it and have reasonable time to do so is critical and don’t forget – on occasion, technology doesn’t work quite as planned!

Youtube is someplace you can choose to put your screencast, video, etc. or depending on the size, etc. there are other options such as Moodle (and in future) a likely video service here at TRU.

Other Options

OK – so I won’t list that many, but here are a few other options besides screencasts that may work with flipped classes:

Podcast

Make a podcast of the material.

Tablet Software

There are some intriguing apps for creating content which can create similar to screencasts.  For example, Explain Everything

A quick internet search will uncover other similar apps for tablets.

Pencasts

Another option is a pencast.  Essentially it is a special pen with a built in microphone and special paper.  The recording coincides with what you write.  So, for example, it might be an economics theory or formula.  Unlike some of the other options, it is a little more tactile.  Livescribe is one such product.   Here’s an example.

Annotated articles

Another option is to provide articles, etc. for students to annotate.  This is a way for them to not only complete readings, but interact with them asynchronously prior to class.  For this, Hypothesis is an interesting and useful platform.  Troy put together an excellent introduction and overview of hypothesis.

Annotated videos

I haven’t explored this as much and it’s on my to-do list, but suspect there are some good apps for it.  Imagine students watch videos asynchronously and at different points in the video are able to post thoughts, comments on a side-bar in a student-generated discussion on the content of the video thus rather than passively watching the material, they think, write and share about it as they are watching it.  VideoAnt offers some capabilities this way and I suspect there are other such options.