The Paperless Office: How's your 21st Century Classroom's workflow?

OK, I've got this down to a science! This year, I'm ScreenCasting from a Linux desktop with a real SmartBoard as needed and focusing on AP Computer Science with java. I hope you have been enjoying all the new recordings! However, I'm also using recordings from prior years for preCalculus and AP Calculus. Next year I hope to record Computer Math and Calculus Research Lab.



Typically, I start a Math unit on http://www.edmodo.com with an assignment sheet listing daily topics, homeworks, quizzes and tests for a whole chapter of the textbook. These assignment sheets usually span 2-4 school weeks. I link to the appropriate MP4 file from http://www.youtube.com/calcpage2009 to Edmodo daily and Blogspot weekly. I also link the current PDF from http://www.slideshare.net/calcpage2011 to Blogspot weekly. Note: I don't record, upload or link anything to do with review material, quizzes, tests or solutions. For example, today I linked to pre506.mp4 on Compounded Bank Interest from Youtube to Edmodo as shown above. I also uploaded pre506.pdf to Slideshare for future reference!



A Computer unit on Edmodo usually starts with uploading the current chapter as a PDF of our etext. Then I upload the exercises for that chapter. Finally, I give out hardcopies only of the curent lab assignment or test. Again, I link MP4s from http://www.youtube.com/calcpage2009 to Edmodo daily and to Blogspot weekly. I also link from http://pastebin.com/u/calcpage or SAGE to Blogspot weekly. For example, I recorded C5X0X1.mp4 today and uploaded it to Youtube and linked it to Edmodo as shown above. Further, I uploaded C5X0_DataSet.java and C5X1_QuadraticEquation.java to Pastebin for the weeekly blog.

preCalculus 506 Compounded Interest

View more documents from A Jorge Garcia

In my Math classes, everything I do at the SmartBoard, including what I say, is recorded in real time! I attach a wireless lapel mic to my SmartBoard PC and run http://screencast-o-matic.com in the background. Screencast-o-matic renders the recording as an MP4 file that I upload to YouTube. SmartNotebook files can be exported to PDF and I upload these files to Slideshare as shown above. Actually, I'm using Xournal on 64bit Ubuntu this year instead of SmartNotebook as there's only a 32bit version for Linux, but the result is the same (I only use SmartNotebook as a pen app anyway).



My Computing classes are a little more keyboard intensive. I still use the lapel mic to record what I say as I type. However, for these classes I'm stuck at my desktop in the back of the room. I use a Bluetooth Wacom Gaphire 6x8 tablet to write on the SmartBoard remotely if need be. TXT files I type for these classes get uploaded to Pastebin as shown above. I also upload new MP4s from Screencast-o-matic for these classes to YouTube.

https://clemix.clemson.edu:34567/home/pub/251

I link all these files to my blog weekly and to Edmodo daily for students that are absent or want to review old topics. However, I do not link files from pastebin or slideshare to Edmodo anymore. I find that doing so just clutters up the Edmodo page for each class (Edmodo looks and feels a lot like Facebook). The result is a huge number of links from the beginning of a unit to the end making it hard to find the first postings when needed. The files on pastebin and slideshare do get linked to my blog on a weekly basis so students have access to written class notes whether it be SmartNotes as PDFs or code as TXTs. BTW, code for Computer Math and Calculus Research Lab is linked from my account on a SAGE server as shown above (CM 4.4 Infinite Series).

Well, that's all folks!

Teaching with Technology, 

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Flipping The Classroom: "To flip or not to flip," that is the question!

What follows is an email I recently posted to the AP Computer Science listserv that I thought you'd appreciate:

Flipping the classroom has been a controversial issue for science teachers for some time now as evidenced on the AP Physics listserv. It's only natural that we, as Computer Science teachers, would like to emulate this fad. The idea is this:

(1) if you have sufficient electronic materials such as ppts, pdfs or mp4s, and

(2) if you have sufficiently motivated students ready for said material, then

(3) you can assign most of the traditional class work to be done at home, and

(4) you can focus on the lab work with the students in class!

The problem is that this model is meant to make the most of lab time for lab intensive courses. However, many teachers are flipping their classes even if they teach non-lab based courses. For example, some on the AP Calculus listserv are doing this. I have resisted this trend as I think that the students loose something in the translation. They are there, at least in part, to benefit from your guidance. You can flip a few classes or a unit or two for variety's sake and to see how it works for you. However, if you flip the whole class, you miss interacting with the students and adding your unique perspective on the topic at hand.

The Flipping Trend is a hard one for me to ignore as I have many of my classes recorded as ScreenCasts and SmartNotes that the students could easily view online at home and still get my perspective on things. I share these files with my students already for those that need to review a difficult concept or need to make up work due to an absence. I post these files as mp4s and pdfs on my ftp, blogspot, youtube, slideshare, pastebin and edmodo sites. I don't think I'd flip a Math class. However, my Computer Science classes could use more lab time....

Here's the rub: most of our students are not as well prepared or dedicated as we would like to think. So, many students probably won't complete the assignment at home. Those students will still be wasting lab time trying to catch up on what they missed at home. Let's face it, today's AP students are way too over booked with other AP courses and activities. Now the student is even farther behind the 8-ball!

HTH,
A. Jorge Garcia
Applied Math and CompSci
http://shadowfaxrant.blogspot.com
http://www.youtube.com/calcpage2009

Well, that's my 2 cents for the week. I am now stepping off the soap box.

Generally Speaking,