I started a short glossary of terms that will help our district and school re-opening planning teams communicate more easily. What am I missing? What would you add? Please leave a comment if you see something that needs to be added. (Updated on July 24, 2020.)
| Face-to-Face Learning | What we consider the traditional teaching model where all kids are in class with one main teacher. The teacher utilizes methods of direct instruction such as lecturing and different forms of whole-class discussion, as well as having kids work individually with the teacher monitoring and supporting kids to small group work with the teacher monitoring and helping teams. |
| Online Learning | Learning where students are not in a classroom and the instructor can teach the course from anywhere. Typically makes use of a Learning Management System or LMS like the ones mostly used in Education (Google Classroom, Canvas, Schoology, or Blackboard). The LMS serves as the medium where all the course materials are placed for the students. In the LMS, certain course features can occur such as discussion forums for synchronous and asynchronous class discussion on varying course topics as well as video conferencing for synchronous class meetings such as schools did with Zoom or Google Meet. Asynchronous video lessons can also be included in the LMS with tools such as Screencastify for Chrome or Loom and Screencast-O-Matic for use on any laptop for teachers to record what they were demonstrating on their computer screen. Teachers also cameras such as smartphone cameras to record themselves teaching concepts for students to watch at their convenience. Videos can be stored in Google Drive to share with students or uploaded to YouTube. The power of online learning is that students can work at their own pace as well as have choice as to which assignments they can complete to meet the requirements of the course. Students also get to work at times that are most convenient for them aside from the required synchronous events. The downside of online learning is that it’s easy for students to put off or quit entirely, even when they chose that course of study. Giving choice and making the learning activities highly engaging helps students stay with a course versus not engaging or giving it up entirely. |
| Blended Learning | Blended Learning happens in the classroom and takes advantage of the best features of Face-to-Face learning while also taking advantage of the best features of Online Learning. The idea is to leverage existing Online Learning technologies to give students choice, provide engaging activities, differentiate instruction, and allow students to be able to work and learn at their own pace. For example, teaching a lesson by starting with direct instruction then having students work in small groups or individually on different activities shared through Google Classroom while the teacher monitors and offers support is an example of blended learning in the classroom. One benefit of blended learning is how easily students can switch to online learning because they already have experience with the LMS and the tech tools and online activities in class. Here’s a nice article on Blended Learning. |
| Distance Learning/ Remote Learning | These terms as synonymous with Online Learning above and refer to students learning from home 100% of the time. |
| Hybrid Model | A Hybrid Model in the age of COVID-19 refers to having students come to school some days of the week for blended learning as described above and learning at home the other days of the week that they are not in school to engage in online learning. (Comparing Hybrid Models) Different types of Hybrid Models include the following: AA/BB – Half the students from Cohort A are in school Mondays and Tuesdays for blended learning with a teacher, then working from home Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Wednesdays everyone is working from home (this could be Fridays too), while the schools are cleaned, and while teachers either collaborate with each other on their online learning activities or provide online support, office hours, for students who need help. The other half of the students, Cohort B, have the opposite schedule where they are learning from home on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, and at school for blended learning on Thursdays and Fridays. AB/AB – In this model, Cohort A students are in school Mondays, Cohort B students are in school on Tuesdays, Wednesdays are for cleaning and teacher work, Cohort A students are back in school on Thursdays, and Cohort B students are back in school on Fridays. AM/PM – This model will have Cohort A students coming to school every day except Wednesday but only in the morning, and Cohort B students come every day except Wednesdays in the afternoon. This model allows for students to have less time in school so they don’t have to wear masks and social distance from each other for a full day. Other hybrid models exist such as an AA/BB where each cohort attends school face-to-face for a week or more at a time, while the other cohort works remotely from home. I’ve seen different variations of the AA/BB where cohorts are in school for more than two days at a time to reduce the switching of different groups of kids. And in some districts the lower grades, K-5 or K-6 are on different schedules then the upper grades, 7-12. Another variant of the hybrid model is to have students who are at home use Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, etc, to join the class virtually, This presents problems for the classroom teacher to try to attend to the needs of the kids in the room as well as the kids online. Either way, this model also extends the day because if the teacher does not review the work of the kids who are working from home once the face-to-face kids go home, the work will pile up and the kids working from home will not get timely feedback. |
| Teacher Supported Blended Learning | This model while not technically blended learning can serve all students and teachers while not having teachers prepare full-time face-to-face teaching experiences IN ADDITION TO full-time online learning experience. Understanding that preparing face-to-face AND online learning experiences will take twice as long as doing one or the other, in this model teachers would prepare ONLINE learning experiences ONLY. Teachers are responsible for monitoring those ONLINE learning assignments, labs, and activities for their students only. Whether the teacher is teaching from home or in the classroom with students, the teacher is there to support the students in completing their ONLINE learning experiences. This spares the teacher from doing double the work and allows for teachers to check in with the students who are in school from their homes only requiring an adult in the classroom with the students. (Seethe Flipped Learning Model below.) Even with 12 to 16 students in the classroom, if they are three feet apart or six feet apart, they still cannot safely take advantage of small group work or work with shared materials so they will have to do computer work, so this model makes sense in that way. And when, because it will most likely happen, we have to shut down schools and go to full-time online learning, students will be ready because those who were at school got support and tutoring from their teacher. For parents this model is able to accommodate any of their needs whether they need their child to be in school full-time (face-to-face or Hybrid), part-time (Hybrid), or not at all (Online Learning). What parents need to know is that when their children are at home, providing the space and a set schedule for their children to be online is all they need to do. The teachers will take care of the teaching. |
| Flipped Learning (aka Flipped Classroom) | Content consumption, what was typically done via direct instruction or lecture, is recorded on video. Videos can be recorded by the classroom teacher and can be on Google Drive and shared with students or uploaded to YouTube OR videos can be found online such as Khan Academy videos or videos on YouTube created by other educators and shared on Google Classroom. Students consume the content at home during their online independent learning time. This could also be done in class for students who for whatever reason did not get it done at home. Face-to-Face time is then used for students to work on practice activities, what was traditionally given as “homework,” where the teacher can help students if they get stuck. This model flips what was traditionally homework and what was traditionally done in the classroom and will work quite well for the Teacher Supported Blended Learning model above. Pre COVID-19, students were able to work in small groups with students who were at the same place in the learning to help each other so that the teacher could help those who needed it the most. With social distancing requirements, this aspect of the Flipped Learning model will be difficult because in a room with 12 students, even a few them trying to communicate would be quite disruptive to the others. |
| Project-Based Learning (can also be Problem-Based Learning or Phenomena-Based Learning) | PBL has been around for a long time and it’s the use of multiple skills and varied content and standards through a many day or many weeks long project. Project-Based Learning has often included research by the students to learn what they need to learn to complete the project. Student often work in teams and often each student in a team has responsibilities or jobs to complete that are different from the responsibilities or jobs of the other students in the group. Some teachers started using real-world problems as project ideas for their students, hence the designation Problem-Based Learning, which is still a form of PBL. For those of us who teach with the Next Generation Science Standards or NGSS, Phenomena-Based Learning is another way to have students engage in PBL activities. One consideration to take into account when planning PBL learning activities for students is to figure out how much autonomy students will have through the process from the topics of study all the way to how they research their topics, to how they share their learning. At one end of the spectrum the teacher assigns topics, research materials, and assigns how students will present their final product and at the other end of the spectrum is Genius Hour where the students choose everything from topic, to research material, to final products and how they share their final products. Genius Hour also makes use of another P for PBL – Passion! I’ve heard Genius Hour referred to as Passion Projects so why not Passion-Based Learning? 🙂 Most of our projects fall somewhere along that spectrum! |
| Game-Based Learning | Simply put, GBL is learning through the use of games. Now this could be as simple as using a Legends of Learning game to teach a specific standard. In that example the game is an educational game created for the express purpose of teaching students school content. GBL is also the use of games that didn’t start off as educational games but had so much educational potential that they are now educational games such as Minecraft Education Edition. GBL also encompasses the use of games sold and played commercially for educational purposes for which they were not intended. For example, using Fortnite Creative to 3D virtual learning, using Civilization for social studies, or using Gone Home in English classes. GBL learning is often confused with Gamification, which is really different. Gamification refers to using what are called gaming elements, not actual games, to deliver content to students. With Gamification teachers are teaching exactly what they’ve always taught, not using any games whatsoever. What teachers do to gamify their existing curriculum is use features used by games which may motivate players to continue playing the games such as using experience points instead of tradition grading, giving students badges for completing units of study instead of paper certificates, or using tools like Kahoot, Gimkit, or Quizizz to make studying more like a game. |
I was actually thinking of adding Project, Problem, or Phenomena Based Learning. But then I’ll have to add Game-Based Learning. And then I’ll have to add Gamification. Then I’ll want to add Passion Based Learning or Passion Projects or Genius Hour! Okay, I added most of those! 🙂
Should I add all those or is that too much? –> I did add most of them after all! Thanks to Sheree for the encouraging Retweet!
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