In a flipped classroom, students are
asked to study course materials on their own and class time is devoted to one-on-one
or small-group interactions with the teacher. One problem with the approach is students
who don’t have at-home Internet access aren’t able to watch the assigned videos.
Software from aTube Catcher provides a solution, according to Shannon Holden,
an ed-tech enthusiast and veteran teacher who created newteacherhelp.com, a web
site dedicated to helping teachers make it through their first year in the classroom.
“It all happens thanks to a USB drive,”
Holden told eSchool News. “The excuse of ‘our kids don’t have the Internet so we
can’t flip the classroom’ is gone. If we get inventive enough, 100% of kids
will be able to participate in the process.”
The aTube software provides
instruction on how to download all kinds of videos from any number of sources
to a USB drive. The student can then take the drive home to view the material.
The software even works on many Blu-ray and DVD players, as well as most newer
television sets and Xbox 360 and PlayStation consoles.
Holden created a YouTube video on the download process with advice on implementing flipped learning in the
classroom and a preview of other professional development videos he’s working
on.