Flipping the Facility: Blended Learning in a Web 2.0 Classroom

I am very excited by the idea of flipping. The last 2 posts look at this in a way that takes it far from watching a video for homework.  The idea of a "Flipped Facility" is an attempt to communicate what is unique about my classroom in hopes of inspiring others and learning from my PLN how to deepen the experience and my own teaching and learning.

I think about my facility as flipped in the sense that the students have responsibility for the product and content that emerges from it.   I point out that it is a facility to show how our classroom is interconnected in a building and its related systems.  It is a web2.0 classroom because it is based on student created content.  There are faculty and programmatic structures in place-- but the learning activity is the production of content created from a student community --through design, productions, and media.  When I created my program, I envisioned a transformed learning community and encouraged the components that nurtured community and collaboration.   The facility would be a 100% student operated facility, including: a stage, the Box Office, costume shop, scene shop, videostudio, a recording studio--  Students take responsible, meaningful roles such as: Stagehands, Actors, Musicians, Technical Directors, Production Managers, Stage Managers, Designers, Directors, Dancers, Choreographers, Master Electricians, Master Carpenters, Master Sound, Master Props and Master Video, Costumer, etc. They do it all.  

Creativity and Innovation come from collaboration--NOT competition. Here is a picrture of the production cast and crew, along with the hosting crew from a visiting college production. Student Centric!

Giving students the responsibility of the various positions helps them take ownership and commit themselves.  This collaborative and cooperative team structure is one of reciprocal apprenticeships.  It creates Department Heads (Masters), Assistant Department Heads and crew in each area.  The teacher in all of us emerges in this scenario.  I am inspired by the Barefoot College  where their model is to find the teacher in everyone.  The apprenticeship and peer to peer model values the contributions of the newcomers as much as the students further

along.  As students take more ownership with their position and responsibilities they passionately dig into the subject area. The learning objective is to have the students become self directed learners following their passions.

In a design based, productivity focused learning environment, students are incredibly creative and highly productive.  They must collaborate in a high stress, constantly changing, diverse and technology saturated environment.  They create tangible, measurable and assessable events and artifacts that, over time, give full testimony to their talents, interests and growth.  It’s often messy, overtly dramatic; there is a tremendous amount of growing up going on--and not.  This is the part where the culture of the students, creates the learning environment --and you have to learn how to collaborate within it.