I would like to discuss choosing
the right learning management system (LMS) or course management system (CMS)
for your environment. The type of CMS you decide to use will determine how your
distance courses, or classes in general, are designed. I am currently at an
intermediate school, grades 4-6, and I feel that Google Classroom would be the
best CMS for my school. My school would like to implement flipped classrooms in
some subject areas and Google Classroom would be a great asset in this process.
The ease of use and simple integration make it my first choice. The applications
associated with the Google Suite for Education, such as Google Forms and Google
Docs, make this the ideal CMS for the K-12 environment. Google Classroom is
completely cloud-based, making it available everywhere. Below is a short demo of Google Classroom.
Instructional Design:
Designing a learning environment requires many
factors; who are the learners, what is the content, and how will the
information be evaluated (Simonson, Smaldino, & Zvacek, 2015)? Google
Classroom makes it simple to set up a learning environment. The teachers can
send an invitation to the students in the class or just simply give them a
class code and they can quickly join the class. Through applications like
Google Forms and Google Docs the teachers can create customized assignments or
use assignments other teachers have shared. Google Docs allows easy
distribution of material by the teacher and students (Simonson, Smaldino, &
Zvacek, 2015). It is simple to share documents and information between students
and teacher, teacher and teacher, and student and student. Students can also
give feedback to the teachers about the assignments, class, or answer surveys (Simonson,
Smaldino, & Zvacek, 2015).
Teaching:
With technology dominating every aspect of education
today teachers must embrace the change and find ways to give students more
independence in their learning. In an intermediate environment, classes are not
a typical online class. However, the flipped classroom format
can be a form of distance learning called distributed learning (Simonson,
Smaldino, & Zvacek, 2015). The flipped classroom turns teacher-centered instruction
into student-centered learning (Simonson, Smaldino, & Zvacek, 2015). Flipped
classrooms have several advantages. This video on flipped classrooms will explain a little more about how they work. Using Google Classroom teachers can create,
arrange, and transmit information to students any time of the day (Erdogan,
Akbaba, 2017). Teachers can quickly add instructional videos to the classroom
and students can access them where ever they have internet access. This feature
allows students to work at their own pace. The image below shows a few differences between traditional and flipped classrooms.
Students:
With the use of Google Classroom teachers can give
students independence and flexibility with their education. The Google Classroom
environment provides students the ability to access their class and assignments
wherever they are such as in a flipped classroom. In an age of smartphones,
students are rarely without one attached to their hand. With the ability to
view their work anywhere they can always stay on top of things. Success in any
form of class, especially online classes, is directly related to student/teacher
communication (Simonson, Smaldino, & Zvacek, 2015). Google Classroom gives
students and teachers an immediate and open line of communication with each
other.
Support Materials:
Media, handouts, and supporting material are very
important to online or distributed learning (Simonson, Smaldino, & Zvacek,
2015). The easy integration of all the Google applications make it simple for
teachers to supply students with copious amounts of information. Videos, images, assignments, and assessments
can be appended and managed at the click of a mouse.
Assessment:
A major component of any class is evaluation. Assessment is
used for many reasons but mainly it is used to provide feedback (Simonson,
Smaldino, & Zvacek, 2015). Feedback to the learner and to the instructor is
crucial to the learning process. Google Classroom makes it simple to assess
students at various levels. Teachers can create simple quizzes that can be
automatically graded for immediate feedback or they can create more complex
assessments that require the teacher to grade more thoroughly. Google Classroom
allows teachers a wide variety of assessments making it a great tool for the
classroom, both distributed and distance.
Erdogan, E.,
& Akbaba, B. (2017). Should We Flip the Social Studies Classrooms? The
Opinions of Social Studies Teacher
Candidates on Flipped Classroom. Journal
of
Education and Learning,7(1), 116. doi:10.5539/jel.v7n1p116
Flipped Classroom Resources [online image]. (2018).
Retrieved from https://www.slu.edu
Kellogg, N.
(2015, August 03). Google Classroom – 5 min demo [online video], Retrieved from
Simonson, M.
R., Smaldino, S. E., & Zvacek, S. (2015). Teaching and learning at a distance:
Foundations of distance education. Charlotte, NC: IAP, Information Age Publishing.
Teachings in
Education. (2017, June 20). Flipped Classroom Model: Why, How, & Overview
[online video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com
I completely agree that Google Classroom would be the best CMS/LMS for implementing a flipped classroom. I also selected this system as the most appropriate for my organization. Unlike typical LMSs, Google Classroom does not provide automated tests or quizzes to learners, but as you pointed out, Google makes it very easy for teachers to create a variety of assessment types. By teachers creating their own assessments they can be assured that it matches learning objectives. According to Simonson, Smaldino, and Zvacek (2015), this is one of the main characteristics of a good assessment tool. Additionally, during my own research, I found that Google Classroom is actually considered to be more suitable for this type of blended learning or flipped learning, than a fully online program (Pappas, 2015).
ReplyDeletePappas, C. (2015). Google classroom review: Pros and cons of using google classroom in elearning. Retrieved from https://elearningindustry.com/google-classroom-review-pros-and-cons-of-using-google-classroom-in-elearning
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., & Zvacek, S. (2015). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education. Charlotte, North Carolina: Information Age Publishing, Inc.
It certainly speaks to the ease of use and popularity of the tool that all three of us chose Google Classroom as our management system for our organizations. I also focused on the aspect of online learning as what Simonson, Smaldino, and Zvacek describe as distributed learning. I believe that Google Classroom really does an excellent job integrating into a more digital lifestyle with the Google Classroom App and notifications. It helps that many students are familiar with the majority of the tools and can see inherent value in its use. I love the information you include on the flipped classroom, and hope that you do see enhanced use of the method in your schools. I know your teachers are well supported!
ReplyDeleteimonson, M., Smaldino, S., & Zvacek, S. (2015). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education. Charlotte, North Carolina: Information Age Publishing, Inc.
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., & Zvacek, S. (2015). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education. Charlotte, North Carolina: Information Age Publishing, Inc.
ReplyDeleteSimonson, Smaldino, & Zvacek(2015) explained that one area where the digital divide is significantly level is in the use of mobile technology, especially the digital phone(pg. 191). We utilize Google Classroom in our school system also and I've implemented it into my classroom for the past three years. A few issues I've come across as far as accessing what's needed on smartphones is the size of the Google Classroom app & the lack of a Google Forms app. As far as an app for Google Forms, this may be more of an inconvenience from a teachers perspective especially when it's used as an assessment method. The size of the app download has been an issue for at least one of my students every year. Their storage space is taken up by all of their necessary apps, pictures, music, etc. that they just absolutely can't do without(their perspective). As long as the students have the email address to their Google Classroom account linked to their phone, they should receive all of the important notifications. I love it when students come in and tell me they knew to check Google Classroom because I was blowing their phone up with notifications!
ReplyDeleteSimonson, M. , Smaldino, S., & Zvacek, S. (2015). Teaching and learning at a distance (6th ed.).Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc.