Flipping the Classroom: A Guest Blog Post

Thanks to my colleague Burgen Young for this guest post!

Flipping the Classroom
Do you wish for more class time for practice but need to use that time to explain content instead? Then flipping the classroom may for you. In a traditional class the teacher lectures during class and students do application exercises for homework. In a flipped class, the content is delivered by assigning students to use resources such as video lectures, podcasts, or screencasts at home, freeing up class time for application.


Why flip? What are the benefits?
The main benefit is that more class time can be devoted to practice. Students come to class with questions and the class can go deeper with the material.
Advantages also include that students can work at their own pace through the resources, absent students don’t miss out on the introduction of new material, and students can review content whenever they want. Students can hit the pause or rewind buttons as many times as necessary without feeling like they are burdening their teacher. Plus, it is sometimes possible for students to watch lectures by experts in the field.


What if students don’t have computers at home?
It is still possible to share resources with students by copying the resources onto DVDs that students can play in a DVD player. If purchased in bulk, DVDs are inexpensive.
If students don’t have Internet access, but do have computers, the resources can be copied onto a flash drive.


Where can I find resources?

There are free lectures available on iTunes, YouTube, TeacherTube, SchoolTube, and other specialized sites. Be sure to check out the great math and science resources available at Kahn Academy.
You can also create your own customized resources. All you need is a recording devise of your choice. Use a video camera, or create a podcast using Audacity and a reasonable microphone on your computer. Create a screen cast using Jing and record your voice while you show PowerPoint slides or other software.


Can language teachers flip?
Flipping works best for classes that are taught lecture style. Flipping can work for some language lessons, such as grammar, vocabulary, or life skills lessons. Check out this example of a vocabulary lesson for a Spanish class.


Where can I learn more?
Check out this article at EmergingEdTech to learn from others who have flipped their classrooms. 

Can't get enough of Tech Training blogs?  When things are slow around here, there's plenty to be found elsewhere.

My friend and MLC colleague Jason Brazier (who occasionally guest posts here) is blogging too.  You can find him at: http://jaytrains.blogspot.com/.  He's got some nice posts up about managing email and dealing with recalcitrant printers, among other things.

You can also find good language teaching tech ideas over at Nik Peachy's ESL Tech Blog:  http://nikpeachey.blogspot.com/.

Enjoy!

Susan

How do you spot a Phish?

Phishing scams worry me.  Not because I'm afraid I'll fall for them and give up my private bank data to some jerk in Russia who works for the mob - or in Texas or China or wherever these guys are these days - but because these scams are becoming ever more common, more sophisticated, and harder to spot.  And as I work in a field that's striving to get more adult English language learners and lower-literate adults online, I worry about how well we are preparing our clients to be safe.  Do you know how to spot a phishing scam?  Do you know how to teach someone else to spot a phishing scam?  Not sure?  Here's a few tips using a phishing email that arrived in my inbox today (after getting past my pretty rigorous spam filter!).

Here's the original message.  Take a look and see if you can spot the red flags.  Then read on to see how many you saw.

Red Flag #1.  I don't know who the sender is.  I've never heard of Fulton Bank before.  Why would they be contacting me?  OK, you don't have access to my brain, so you probably didn't spot this one.  But did you look at the name and think "Who's Fulton Bank?"  Then you're on the right track.

What to teach?  Your students - even those with limited reading skills - need to learn to recognize the names of the legitimate businesses they do business with, and to be suspicious of emails that don't come from trusted businesses.

Red Flag #2:  They don't know me, either.  The message is addressed to "Dear Fulton Bank member" not "Dear Ms. Wetenkamp-Brandt."  Also, the "to" line in the message is blank - a red flag for Spam. 

What to teach?  Your students should be suspicious of email messages that address them as "customer" or "member" rather than using their proper name.

Red Flag #3:  They ask me to "confirm my profile," name, address, etc.  YIKES!  Of all the red flags in a phishing scam, this one is the most brilliant shade of crimson.

What to teach?  Your students need to know that no legitimate business will EVER send an email asking them to provide this kind of information.  EVER.  Under no circumstances should they ever respond to such an email, call a number provided in it, or click any link in the message.  If they do accidentally click the link, they should immediately close the browser.  The most important message is that they should never provide their personal information in response to an email request.

Red Flag #4:  The writing/language is less than professional.   Many phishing messages include spelling and grammar mistakes.  This one is pretty good (see what I mean about the scams becoming harder to spot?) but there are run-on sentences and generally it just doesn't have a professional tone.

What to teach?  Well, literacy.  Have your GED students ever asked you to provide a real-life use for all that practice with "authorial tone?"  Here's one!  This message lacks a professional tone - and it's a red flag that, yep, the message is a fake.

Red Flag #5:  When I point my mouse at the link in the message (note just point! not click!) the URL does not match the linked text, and it looks phishy!  OK, you get a pass if you didn't spot this one, because you don't have the original message and can't do it.  But, give yourself extra credit if you thought about doing it!  (And take a look at the image below to see what I saw.)

What to teach?  How to point a cursor at a hyperlink without clicking it, to see where the link leads.  How to read a URL and differentiate a legitimate business website address from a phishy one.  Yes, this is the hard part.  But it's a very important step in making our students safety-savvy.

Need resources to help you teach these concepts?  Here are two good videos that drive home the point:







Happy Browsing!  And don't get caught by anything phishy!

Create interactive online charts with iCharts

This free online tool allows you to upload your data and create charts and graphs with a few easy clicks - no programming required.

Next time you and your students are focused on chart reading for CASAS or TABE, think about making some of your own charts online. Your students will get to practice both their computer literacy skills and their chart-reading skills.

New Website for Minneapolis Public Schools Adult Education

Thanks to Nathan Syverson at Minneapolis ABE for sharing the following information:

Minneapolis Public Schools Adult Education has made a major update to its website and went live as of Thursday, July 14 2011. You can view the updated website at http://abe.mpls.k12.mn.us. This is a complete overhaul, featuring a new layout, a design refresh,  new content, and a reorganization of popular web resources.

Many readers of this blog use the following resources:

• The Online Activity List
• Bethany Gustafson's English for Work video series 
• MPS Adult Education's Touch Typing Curriculum.  

These can be found under the Students Section of the website.  There you can also find our Online Bookstore with a selection of books that we recommend to our ELL and GED students.

Also of note is our ABE Professionals section.  This is where we will post all of the materials we create that we wish to share with ABE and adult literacy professionals everywhere.  Do take a look from time to time, as it will be updated periodically.

Happy browsing!

Nathan Syverson

Minneapolis Public Schools Adult Education

Pic-Lits: picture-prompted writing

I found this little gem of a website this morning and am thoroughly enjoying it!

PicLits.com creates a mechanism for generating writing through providing striking images and drag-and-drop words to layer on them (you can also go freestyle and type in your own text if you prefer).

Here's the PicLit I made:

One small annoyance: their "blog this" feature isn't working so I had to make a screenshot of the image in order to share it here.  But tech glitches aside, this could be a really engaging activity for ESL and ABE students.  How many of us have heard our students say that they don't know what to write about or have no ideas?  A powerful picture speaks volumes.  Using PicLits, those stalled writers may find some inspiration!

This activity could also be done as a whole class on a SmartBoard if you are lucky enough to have one in your classroom.

Botnets, or What you don't know CAN hurt you

If you're online regularly enough to be reading this blog, you probably already know that there's some nasty stuff lurking on the Internet: viruses, worms, Trojans, and other malware.  Even if you don't know precisely what all these things are and how they work, you probably figure that you've got your bases covered with a good anti-virus program.  You know not to open unusual email attachments or get caught by too good to be true advertising (Click here to win a FREE iPAD!!!!).  But there's one security threat that you may not know about... and what you don't know can hurt you.  It's one of the hardest to prevent, hardest to detect, most widespread, and downright nasty pieces of work out there: a botnet.

Never heard of it?  A lot of people haven't.  And sadly, a lot of those people are probably infected.  So what is a botnet?

As defined by Google dictionary, a botnet is "a network of private computers infected with malicious software and controlled as a group without the owners' knowledge."  (The term botnet itself is shorthand for "robot network.")  If your computer is infected with botnet software, part of its memory and processing power are taken over (enslaved!) by a "bot master" who controls thousands or even millions of slave computers, known collectively as a botnet or zombie army.  The botnet is used to carry out cyber crime like sending vast amounts of spam email, attacking and bringing down legitimate websites, and capturing bank and credit card details.

Here's the worst of it: because the bot master has an interest in keeping your machine running and keeping its enslavement a secret, there is often little outward sign to you when your computer becomes infected.  The signals are there, but they aren't the major crashes and data losses that signal a virus infection.  You'll see your computer running slowly, you may be warned about suspicious activity, or occasionally your browser will lock up when you're online.  But generally you'll keep on working, oblivious, while the botnet does its dirty work in the background.

And the worst news of all?  Anti-virus software alone usually can't protect you from botnet infection.  So how can you protect yourself?

1)  Your computer needs a comprehensive security solution that includes anti-virus and anti-malware programs, and most importantly, a personal firewall.  (Not sure if you have a firewall?  Need to get one?  CNET's download.com has several good options.)

2)  Make sure Windows is up-to-date.

3)  Make sure your browser is up-to-date.

4)  Many botnets (including the largest ever detected, spanning millions of computers across 172 countries) are spread via portable devices like USB flash drives, so be careful where you put that thing!  Plugging your flash drive (or digital camera, smart phone, etc.) into a computer whose defenses you are unsure of is the cyber equivalent of unprotected sex or sharing dirty needles.  Sure, that computer might be clean, but there's no way to tell by just looking.  If you must use your flash drive on public computers or the computers of less-than-savvy web users, set your security software to scan your flash drive whenever you insert it in your home machine.

For another, somewhat humorous but enlightening take on botnets, watch this video from Symantec.  (Yes, they are selling you their product, but, hey, it's a good product and their videos are top-notch.)