In January, Grand Valley State University math instructor and friend of MIT OpenCourseWare Robert Talbert began a series of posts about his experiences flipping his calculus course on his blog, Casting Out Nines.  These posts provide great insight into the considerations instructors face when they attempt to reshape their pedagogy to take advantage of digital tools and resources.  Here is an excerpt from his first post:

The inverted calculus course: Overture

Let me begin this series with a story about why I even bother with the flipped classroom.

The student in my programming class looked me straight in the eye and said, “I need you to lecture to me.” She said, “I can’t do the work unless someone tells me how to get started and then shows me how, step by step.” I took a moment to listen and think. “Do you mean that you find the work hard and it’s easier if someone tells you how to start and then what to do?” I replied. “Or do you mean you just can’t do anything unless someone shows you?” “I mean I can’t learn without someone showing me,” she said.

What a failure – not of the student, but of the way we “educate” students. I put “educate” in quotes because a system of schooling that actively builds dependencies of students upon teachers for their learning is not an educational system. Read more.

We’ll continue to follow this series here at Open Matters.