As a former school board member of ten years in Georgia, I was required to complete 12 hours of training during my first year of service and six hours each year thereafter. The training requirements have now changed; however, school board members must still complete training courses so that they are in compliance with this requirement.

During my tenure on my local board, we board members attended training sessions offered at Georgia School Boards Association events and additionally participated in whole board training through retreats twice a year. With the implementation of technology in public education, there is now a much easier way for board members to take some of those required training courses! GSBA’s School Board U provides an online portal for board development and training courses. If an individual wishes to take a two-hour course on ethics, no problem! He or she registers through School Board U and then can take the course anywhere and at any time! There is an assessment/check so that the individual is assured that he or she grasped the content of the course.

Learning made EASY! And, convenient!

Further, if a school board member attends a GSBA-sponsored workshop or event for training, he or she will also see School Board U utilized as the structure for teaching the face-to-face course! In answering the needs of school board members in providing both board professional development, continuing education, and training in an efficient and effective way, Georgia School Boards Association yet again incorporates technology as the solution. From the association to the board room to the school level and classroom, we should model and expect 21st century governance.

School Board U paves the way!

Here are some resources for you to look at if you are deciding what type of course is for you!  Online, face to face or hybrid!

Georgia School Board Training Requirements

Online vs Face to Face Throwdown: Good Teaching Transcends Course Format

Quiz: Is Online Learning for YOU? (for a college course- Not School Board U)

What is School Board U? (SBU website)

Key Work of School Boards (NSBA)

If you are a school board member and have taken a School Board U course, please share your experience here.

Have you heard about it and what the advantages might be?

As you know, new content is “typically” delivered to all students at the same time by their teacher. Some call this “sage on the stage”, presentations (with or without PowerPoint), or simply a lecture. Sometimes this type of instruction is very effective (depending on the teacher and student) and sometimes it is not.

After the content is presented, “typically” students are given homework assignments to practice, work out examples of the problem taught in class or other assignments to extend or add to the ideas and concepts presented in the classroom.

The flipped classroom makes the use of technology so that the main content concepts are delivered as homework via short recorded videos and then the classroom time is used for practice and extensions activities, the stuff traditionally done as homework.

There are many advantages to this practice and also many potholes to look for.

Pros to a Flipped Classroom

• Teachers have more time to work individually and in small groups with their students.
• Students can review, rewind, start and stop the recorded presentation at any time and at their own pace.

Cons to a Flipped Classroom

• This is new to some students and parents so teachers will probably need to at least send home an explanation!
• Some students may not have the technology at home to watch the videos (computer with internet access.)*

*There are ways to address access issues like giving them a few days to watch the assignment.  They could go to the library, the school’s computer lab, stay late or come in early.  Tell them to let you know confidentially if this would be a problem and perhaps you can work it out individually.  (This is really no different than assigning a research paper, no?)

I won’t go further into this concept because honestly there are so many great articles on the subject, I’d rather give you links to explore on your own.

Check out these great articles and resources:

USA Today: “Flipped” classrooms take advantage of technology

Promethean Planet: Can technology help us “flip” the classroom?

Shawlervision: Inverted or Flipped Classroom Resources (High school science teacher in Georgia)

TedTalks: Salman Khan: Let’s use video to reinvent education

The Flipped Classroom Model: A Full Picture

The Flipped Classroom: An Infographic (Check this one out for sure!)

Now I would like to pose these questions to you for self-reflection:

How can or should this flipped classroom concept apply to training for adults? (Teachers in your schools… board member training.)

What percentage of us hates sitting through professional development and listening to a lecture?

How often do you “miss out” because you were distracted or missed a point because you were taking notes (or taking a call!)!

Don’t most of us ask for more “hands-on” when we fill out those evaluation forms?

If we ask our teachers to effectively use technology, why do we not model this in the professional development for our staff and leadership teams?

Could watching assigned short videos as pre-assignments can give us a way to be more efficient with our time and more time collaborating, discussion and interacting in the classroom?

I’ve been fortunate to be a part of the planning team for GSBA’s new School Board U. Their new website will provide a learning platform for school board members to access all of the materials (videos, handouts, agendas…) for ALL courses for school board members whether these courses are face-to-face, completely web-based and self-paced, webinars or a “hybrid” course (blend of face to face and online). School Board U will allow you to access materials when you want, where you want and at your pace.

Would you like to learn in a flipped classroom? Please post why or why not!

(School Board U was officially rolled out at the GSBA Summer Conference in June 12.  Here’s a link to the website where you can watch the videos!