There have been incredible challenges over the last twelve months but also opportunities to innovate and disrupt traditional ways of teaching. When the pandemic forced school closures in March, over 20,000 educators turned to the Modern Classrooms Project’s blended, self-paced, mastery-based instructional model. 

While there are still challenges that lie ahead, the Modern Classrooms Project can support educators and students as they return to in-person learning and begin to address the social-emotional and academic impacts of COVID-19. Educators can also effectively differentiate instruction and deepen student learning by using technology tools like Swivl coupled with the Modern Classrooms Project instructional model.

Learning levels have widened

There have always been a broad diversity of learning levels within a classroom but the pandemic has only made these gaps more extreme. While some students thrived in the remote and hybrid learning setting, many have suffered academically, socially, and emotionally. A recent analysis of student learning loss due to the pandemic found that students learned only 67 percent of the math and 87 percent of the reading that grade-level peers would typically have learned by the fall. The learning loss was especially severe for students of color, where scores were 59 percent of the historical average in math and 77 percent in reading.

Students’ varying academic levels will need an instructional model that meets them where they are.The Modern Classroom instructional model replaces a one-size-fits-all approach with differentiated instruction and flexible structures that meet the unique needs of each and every student. Students are no longer pushed ahead to a new lesson each day. They can take the time they need to truly master new content and only progress when they are ready. 

Centering student relationships

Children and adolescents have not been spared the unique stresses of the last year. Some students may have lost a loved one or experienced economic hardship due to a parent losing their job. Some may have become more aware of systemic racism, climate change, and other societal issues like food insecurity and healthcare availability. It is critical that schools are responsive to the unique experiences, attitudes, and feelings students will bring back to the classroom. While this is a global problem, there are things that any individual teacher can do to start addressing these needs. When in-person learning resumes, we know there will be a temptation to be singularly focused on academic content to make up for learning loss. While it’s important to build students’ academic skills, it will be equally as important to focus on students’ social and emotional well-being and foster positive relationships with them.

The Modern Classroom instructional model allows educators to spend less time delivering whole group instruction and more time working closely with students. By leveraging blended instruction through teacher-created videos, teachers can use valuable class time for supervising small group work, checking in with students one-on-one, and providing meaningful and personalized support. This small group and one-on-one time helps foster healthy, trusting relationships with students. Relational teaching takes work and time, but it is the key to building supportive school communities for our students. 

Disruptions will continue

Modern Classroom educators report that our model provides them with flexibility to more easily transition between in-person, hybrid, and remote learning environments and assist  students who miss class. According to a 2016 Department of Education report, 21% of high school students miss more than fifteen days of school per year. This number could be even higher next year. Students may miss school for a variety of reasons outside of their control and should have opportunities to access content and pick up where they left off. In Modern Classrooms, students can access content at any time and from any place via teacher-created instructional videos. 

Blended, self-paced, mastery-based classrooms put students in the driver’s seat of their own learning.  Students don’t have to wait for whole-class direct instruction to access new content: they can easily hit play and watch a short instructional video created by their teacher. After watching this instructional video, students can proceed to their assignments and apply what they have learned. Students control the pace of their learning as they move from lesson to lesson. When students are in control of their learning, they naturally take more responsibility for their learning. This learner independence is a 21st century skill that will benefit students long after their school days are over.

Leveraging technology

Modern Classroom educators were at an advantage when the pandemic struck because they were comfortable leveraging technology to facilitate learning. But for many teachers, technology was not as commonplace in their classrooms and they had to quickly learn how to use new platforms, apps, and technology tools. Now that educators have these new technology skills, they can’t let them go to waste. Educators can harness their use of technology and serve their students even better than before. 

As students across the country adapted to remote and hybrid learning, they, too, became more familiar with education technology and its various uses. For Modern Classroom students, the transition to remote and hybrid learning was made easier by their expertise using technology to access instruction. A study by John Hopkins University found 66% of students in a Modern Classroom report that they learn how to use technology in class compared to only 47% of students in a traditional classroom, and that 100% of Modern Classroom educators felt they used technology effectively. In the last year, districts have invested more heavily in technology devices and infrastructure and it will be important that their instructional models support the effective and efficient use of this new technology.

Preventing burnout 

Teaching is challenging even in the best of circumstances, and  the pandemic has made it substantially harder and put immense pressure on educators. An alarming poll from the National Education Association found that nearly one in three teachers are more likely to resign or retire early due to COVID. At a time when educator’s stress levels are soaring, it’s critically important that they feel supported. 

Modern Classroom educators report that our model makes teaching more sustainable. They are able to focus less on delivering content in real-time and focus more on connecting with students one-on-one and creating learning environments where students flourish personally and academically.

Join the conversation with Swivl and the Modern Classrooms Project

Want to engage in more discussions about this topic and hear first-hand perspectives from Modern Classroom educators? Join us on April 15 at 5:30 p.m. ET and hear from Modern Classroom educator Moira Mazzi on how the blended, self-paced, mastery-based model has helped her overcome the challenges of remote teaching and will ease her and her students’ transition back to in-person learning. 

You can get started learning the Modern Classroom instructional model and bring new teaching strategies to our own classroom by enrolling in their Free Online Course at learn.modernclassrooms.org.

The post Making the Transition Back to School appeared first on Swivl.

Screencasting, Slides, Embedding to LMS

There are tons of options within Swivl to make flipped learning productive for you so you can focus on the content and not the tools. Screencasting is the easiest method that captures everything exactly as it appears on your screen, requires minimal setup and can be utilized with or without your Swivl robot. Slides allow you to upload additional media and documents that can be time-stamped to match the video as it plays. And finally, we make it easy to embed (no coding skills necessary!) your videos to your class website or preferred LMS like Canvas, Blackboard, BrightSpace, and more.

Improve Student Participation with Multi-Camera Angles

When building out a flipped classroom methodology, it’s helpful to begin with a modified approach. We suggest recording in the classroom, with students present to familiarize them with video tools. Even better, having students participate in your early videos is an engaging and fun way for them to contribute to your flipped lesson library. Parents will be delighted to watch their students participating in and out of the classroom. Utilize additional devices (like Chromebooks, iPads, and Tablets) to place around the classroom to sync with your Swivl session to maximize student engagement and capture alternate views.

Flipped Classrooms Keep Everyone in the Loop

You may not have realized it, but creating a robust flipped classroom library is not only going to benefit students who are able to come to school everyday, but will be essential for students who are homebound under any circumstance. Don’t forget to take advantage of Swivl’s integration with Zoom to live stream and then store recorded lessons within Swivl. Zoom is teacher-friendly and the setup could not be simpler. Simply invite your student to your Zoom meeting room and hook up your Swivl and markers to a USB speaker in the class. Live attendees will be able to hear the remote student and vice versa.

The post Using Swivl for Flipped Classroom appeared first on Swivl.

With so many endless inclusive possibilities to use Swivl, why wouldn’t you want to get your students involved? Their buy-in for using video in class should be as important as their parental consent. Swivl's platform is FERPA/COPPA compliant and while we don't allow students to create a Swivl account unless they are 14 years of age or higher, their videos can be safely stored in the teacher's account to be made available to both students and parents in a variety of a way. Here are a few ways students can and should be involved when Swivl is available to the classroom.

A flipped classroom is an instructional strategy and a type of blended learning that reverses the traditional learning environment by delivering instructional content outside of the classroom usually in an online platform. With Swivl, it is so easy for a teacher to record and present lessons to students in a secure space where they can utilize time-stamped commenting which provides opportunities for students to interact in a secure and private channel. Educators can also Bookmark their videos while recording so students know where to focus. 

With Swivl Live Streaming and Zoom, distance learners can participate wherever they are in the world as long as they have an internet connection. Swivl can also bring homebound students back into an authentic classroom environment. No more missed content, no more playing catch-up, and more authenticity that serves students, parents, and teachers alike. 

For ELLs and foreign language learners, Swivl makes it easy to track and accelerate language development. Teachers are able to focus on the individual needs of their students by recording with multi-video and multi-audio capabilities. Microphones allow students to practice their skills so the teacher can review their skill building after class, reducing pressure on the student to perform in a full group setting. 

Finally, students become the teachers when they take the lead and record their own videos using Swivl. Schools can promote college-readiness by Screencasting students’ presentations while they record themselves. Videos can be shared with parents so they too will never miss a moment of their child’s educational experience.

Joe Childs, Principal of Mitchell High School says, “Swivl provides more opportunities for educators to inform and engage students. And for students, Swivl provides the comfort of face-to-face instruction when they need it and the flexibility of technology when they want it.” We couldn’t agree more.

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