Few weeks ago I posted a note on the Khan Academy and the idea of "flipping" the classroom. The Khan Academy provides a few thousand simple instructional videos for free. These videos all explain a basic concept, for instance relating to mathematics, chemistry or physics. Khans idea behind "flipping the classroom" is to have the students get acquainted with the concept individually and at their own pace by watching the video, and thereby save time in the classroom which can be used for more individual attention.
Now this idea of "flipping" is rapidly evolving and made more accessible for educators worldwide. TED, known for its videos on "ideas worth spreading" has recently initiated Ted.ed. At the site you'll find a catalogue with videos on a variety of topics. Right now I have seen that there are 117 educational videos, but I am sure this number will grow rapidly. I have seen a few and they are really great, clearly the result of the good collaboration of gifted educators and animators. Some of the videos are even really funny, like this one:
After having watched a video you can do an interactive quiz to check the learning and you'll get some questions and challenges for further reflection. And that's only the start!
You can use the video's from TED.ed to create your own lesson by adding a context and/or changing the content. When ready you upload your "FLIP" and send the unique URL to your students. TED.ed allows you to follow the progress and see the scores on the quiz.
A second very useful feature is that apparently (not tried it myself yet) you can use any youtube video and create your own FLIP and share it with your students.
If you want to take the tour at TED.ed, follow this link
