Review and Reactions: Tech and Blended Learning @ P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School's

I noticed that PK Yonge School's model of blended learning and highly integrated technology were featured on edutopia--and what a great and inspiring model it is.

Here are some of my reactions and what I noticed, both in reviewing this promotional video and other media items on the school's site:

1. Students review lessons through teacher screencasts, students apply their own understanding by developing their own screencasts, and a fair amount of teacher intervention/instruction is seamlessly integrated.

2. Students use a variety of hardware and tech media to realize learning: laptops, home computers, iPads, and smartboards.

3. Students still insist on keeping the teacher on-line, as it were, both in the classroom and beyond (through screencasts).

4. While the video features a math/science HS classroom, I could imagine something very similar in the humanities in which students review key skills, prepare readings and presentations for teachers and peers, and collaborate in focused ways towards goal- and standards-focused projects.

5. And as a writing intensive/workshop-oriented teacher, I'm inclined to explore this model further: I already pursue the flipped model of applied writing in the classroom, and pre-writing/revision at home. Journaling, Outlining, and even Drafting generally happen in my classroom anyhow, I would just need to continue to flip the model in a more sustained and integrated way.

6. I imagine that this would demand lengthy prep to translate materials for my classroom into screencasts and (generally speaking) independent/standalone materials, though I do think that one of the next steps is to get over the screencast hurdle and see if I can run a week of school in such a radically flipped manner (i.e. take myself out of the "live" picture in the classroom and assign students to watch screencasts for homework, followed by applied work in the classroom).

7. This is entirely unrelated, but I love the idea of high schoolers designing lessons to teach elementary school students. I think that they could absolutely do this and learn much about the trans-disciplinary work needed for good teaching: scaffolding knowledge (architecture), anticipating goals for understanding (pedagogy), translating their own knowledge into that of a different developmental stage (psychology)!

Here's the video in full. For more videos and testimonials, check out the school's media site here.