Dr. Mingyu Sun is doing some really innovative things, especially with video, at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Check out their website to learn more.
In her IALLT presentation, she and her colleague John Bowden talked to us about their ongoing “Flipped Classroom” initiative.
Just by way of background, “flipped classroom” pedagogy is this idea of switching around the order of a so-called “conventional” classroom so that instead of watching lectures in the classroom and doing practice exercises at home, students watch short video lectures at home and then work on activities/exercises based on these lectures in the classroom. Maybe the difference is less dramatic for language classes where there’s not usually so much lecturing happening, but the notion is still relevant: mini lectures for home viewing followed up by application in the classroom.
Anyway, here’s how Dr. Sun set up the process:
- gather together people with an interest in language teaching (e.g. language instructors, advanced language students, and staff from her Language Center)
- brainstorm desired material types
- prioritize concepts to be used (e.g. direct instruction versus self access materials)
- create and curate relevant content
- adapt content to particular courses/programs
Take a look at some of results below:
- grammar concept mini lecture (Japanese video and related activities)
- online flashcard collections (Spanish example)
- conversation skits (Arabic videos)
In her presentation, Mingyu emphasized starting small…and doing one thing at a time. So, if this is of interest, please get in touch.