Flipped Learning and Real-Time Assessment in the Judaic Studies Classroom, A @DigitalJLearn Google Hangout

Today, I had the privilege to present a Google Hangout on Flipped Learning and Real-Time Assessment in a Judaic Studies Classroom for the DigitalJLearning Network. DigitalJLearning is one of the leaders in helping Jewish Day Schools adapt blended learning models in a thoughtful and incremental way to create lasting educational change so it was my pleasure and honor to present to this network.

I find giving webinars to be strangely exhilarating. On the one hand, you really are presenting to a blank space. At times, I could see Gary Hartstein from DigitalJLearning who was facilitating today's presentation, for most of the time when I was sharing my screen I could not even see him. But I could never see or actively connect to anyone else who might have been tuning in. It is probably akin to the experience of being a radio talk show host with a few staff "behind the glass", the occasional caller, and the unseen world of listeners who might be tuning in. However, I am trained as a teacher not as a radio person. I take my cues from the constant feedback that I get from my students throughout the lesson who I can watch and call on to check for understanding.

Still I find this experience to be exciting. First of all, I have to prepare A LOT because I will be speaking the entire time. I usually over-prepare, a process which helps me solidify my own thoughts on the topic of my presentation. I also imagine that through my Hangout which is streamed live and then recorded for future viewing on YouTube, I am creating something that hopefully will have a lasting value for people who tune in at some future date.

The topic of my talk, Flipped Learning and Real-Time Assessment, is one that I have blogged about a great deal in the past and I have tried to fully integrate as a regular part of my teaching. For example, you can read some of my posts on Flipped Learning here, here, here, and here. And a guest post on flipping by a colleague of mine in Frisch here. You can read my experiences with some real-time assessment tools in this posting on Nearpod and this one on Edmodo. So I am not sure if my presentation today said anything new but I enjoyed the process of putting together the various strands and presenting them in a (hopefully) cohesive and coherent unit.

You can watch my presentation below. Here is a link to the Prezi upon which the presentation was based and a sheet with most of the links that I referenced in the presentation. I welcome your feedback and experiences using flipped learning and/or real-time assessment in your classroom. Please add them to the comments section of this posting.