My Relationship with iBooks Author

I was first exposed to iBooks Author when attended the Apple Distinguished Educator Institute in Bali, March 2013. I spent forever being utterly confused as how the program worked and what was the point of it all. It wasn’t until I started creating my own iBook that I actually saw its full potential as a learning tool. My first class, first day back from the institute, my students were taking a test. Normally I’d be, “woohoo, kids taking tests… quiet time for me to do some work” but not this time. I sat there feeling angry and was thinking what was the point of all this. Yes, my students were taking a test but it hit me that a test was a terrible way of showing their learning. Things needed to change. After spending the day in anger and frustration, I decided to approach my team. You see, because there are multiple teachers teaching the same course, we need to have common assessments. So unless we come to an agreement on our assessment, there was nothing I could do.

My precalculus team were receptive in trying out the iBook as a project for our students. Soon after that, I was able to set up a department iBooks Author training from one of our Ed Tech members (Tim Bray). Students were also very receptive to the project. The product of their efforts were astonishing. Their books could easily be used as a textbook. They demonstrated their understanding of the topic clearly and were able to use a lot of creativity to make the book interesting. After the iBooks were completed, we had a peer assessment class where they viewed and critiqued each other’s books. During that time, I would frequently hear “whoa, that’s so cool!” They blew each other away in the way they presented the topic. The iBooks Author project was a success! Here are few of the statements made by students when I asked them to reflect on the project.

"I personally enjoyed doing the iBooks author because I can create a book of my own using the knowledge I know. Compared to other projects, I was interested in my own project for the first time."

"Wow, what a fun project! The project was fun; I learned to use iBooks author, a new program! I think that my book was very creative, and that a lot of my classmates had very creative and sophisticated projects. The peer assessment was also very beneficial because I got fresh eyes to look at my project. This type of project is beneficial to our learning, and I hope that we do more of these in the future"

"I really enjoyed the ibooks project. It was my first time to write a book and I was surprised how easy it is to write a book because I am not that good with computers."

It was from this that I thought about a year long iBook project as their digital portfolio. My next post will be about how I used this idea to pilot my Student Lead Project Based Learning class.

Below are some screenshots I have taken from various student created iBooks from my classes.

How I Structure the Class Time in My Flipped Classrooms

The whole purpose of flipping my classes was to have more time to assist students in the learning process. To make the learning process more meaningful and engaging for them, rather than having to listen to me speak. I strongly believe that, a well structured class can take the learning to a whole another level for your students.  

Most common question I get asked is, “How do you know if your students watch the screencasts? How can you make sure that they come to class prepared?” This is one of the main reasons why teachers can be hesitant about trying this method. So, what did I do to make this method work for me? The most important thing I have learned is to have students’ “buy in” with the method. If students believe that this is something that is worth investing their time and energy into, they will do it. And once they start seeing the benefits, they are willing to try out new techniques and go with you on this ride.

So here is my typical structure, in a nutshell. I have adopted some of the Kagan Cooperative Learning Strategies in my day-to-day running of the class.

1) I group the students in mixed ability groups, 3-5 students per group. 4 is ideal but sometimes the numbers in class does not allow the perfect grouping.

2) I set a task for them to complete while watching the screencast at home. Previously, I have asked them to come up with concept questions, but this year I am asking them to take notes on the lecture.

3) They come to class with their notes, which I check for completion, and we spend the first 6-8 minutes at the beginning of the class for them to go through their notes in their groups. At the end of their sharing session, I throw a few concept questions to different groups to check for understanding.

4) I give each student a handheld whiteboard and I ask them to solve a question I have selected from the textbook. After a minute of solving on their own quietly, one member in each group is selected to explain step by step to the rest of the group how they went about solving the given question. This process happens for 5-6 questions, while each member in the group is taking turns in explaining the steps to others. I will step in and explain concepts and/or methods of problem solving to the whole class when needed.

5) For the remaining of the class, they are given time to work on individual practice problems, ask questions and just solidifying their understanding of what they just learned.

The above structure is for the day-to-day lecture learning classes. The verbalisation and repetition of explaining helps with the retention of the information and it also creates an engaging,  comfortable and cooperative learning environment. Students, in their reflection and feedback, have all said that they enjoy the group discussion, as it keeps the class interesting and really helps them to understand the concepts better.

Having said that, each teacher needs to find a structure that works to their teaching style, their personality and the dynamics of the classroom. I have tried number of different things and I’m still tweaking as I go along. Through reflection and student feedback, I am confident that we all can find a structure that each of us are happy with that engages our students in a dynamic way.

Below are some images of students working in groups explaining their solving process to each other. 

Creating Content Resources for a Flipped Classroom

The concept of a Flipped Classroom isn’t a complex one. It simply means that students receive the content material at home and when in class, teachers help students to put the content into context. Now, the most common question is, “How do we provide the content for students to use at home?”  

There are many ways that this can be done. It can be as easy and simple as assigning articles and textbooks for students to read, to very complex videos. As long as students are receiving some content at home, and not being lectured in class, it can be called a flipped classroom.

Now, since I teach upper level mathematics, which requires some direct instruction, I chose the video route.

There are many options on how to create a video. My typical style is to have my notes on the computer screen and just have my voice recorded as I go through the notes. I have tried two ways of achieving this task. Using a program called Jing and Quicktime on the Mac. Both are free options and are simple to use. Here’s a comparison of two, based on my experience.

Jing vs Quicktime	Jing	Quicktime
Advantages	-Can be stored online and share with a weblink (screencast.com) - Concise. Only allows 5 min of recording which is excellent for student project to keep a time limit.	- Able to edit with the right apps - Can easily change the file format to use in other mediums - Able to view offline when downloaded
Disadvantages	- Not editable - File format cannot be changed for other use - Storing online after a certain amount costs money	- Large file sizes to upload and download - As the videos are built, larger storage space required

I found the Jing files much more useful when posting the videos on our school’s learning management system, such as wiki and Schoology. However, I ran into problems when I needed the recordings as an mp4 to upload it for my iTunes U course, so I’m having to re-screencast my Jing files with Quicktime. There is also a program called Camtasia that allows you to do both. You can edit, save as whatever file format you want, and be able to upload to screencast.com for a web link to share, but the program has to be purchased and the storage space also needs to be purchased the same way that Jing does.

So, my advice is to really think about how you would like to manage your files with your students and choose the route that is more suitable for your needs and what your budget allows.

Here's an example of one of my screencasts. Clicking on the image will take you the link of the video at screencast.com.

The Birth of My Flipped Classroom

I knew I wanted to be a teacher since I was a little girl. Growing up, lining up my toys as students while using my bedroom wall with chalk, pretending to be a teacher was my favourite past time. Most of my teenage years, I wanted to be a music teacher. I always loved music and instruments always fascinated me. Then in my 11th grade, I fell in love with Chemistry. That was it. Decision was made. I was going to be a Chemistry teacher. So, how did I end up being a Math teacher? I was fairly good at math in high school. It was a subject that was easily digested for my overly logical and linear brain. So the last two years of my high school career I was taking more math classes than anything else. By the time graduation came around, I was so very sick of Chemistry but still quite enjoyed math. So... math teacher it is.

I spent the first 13 years of my teaching career being very content and confident with the kind of teacher I was. Students learned well from my classes and I always got positive feedback. Then one day, early on in my 14th year, something didn’t feel right. Class time felt tight and it was stressing my students out and in turn, stressing me out. My enthusiasm for teaching was dwindling. My principal walked in to casually observe my class. I saw myself through his eyes and I didn’t like what I saw. I quickly fell into depression. Questioned myself as an educator and even contemplated giving up teaching. I was very unhappy and was ready to throw in the towel. I consulted with few of my peers, mostly venting my frustration and after two weeks of that, my flipped classroom was born.

Flipped Classroom in Action