Flip the classroom with Sophia

I first learned about Sophia Learning a few years back while reading the Sunday paper.  The premise was to offer a social engagement platform focused on learning.  From a learner standpoint, there was a great deal of tutorials that one could review at their own speed and from the educator's perspective there was an easy to use application to incorporate into the classroom.



I had the opportunity to utilize the platform a while back.  I was teaching an adult Excel 2010 basics class and for a for one of my college classes I the full workshop on the Sophia site to use a a basis for a flipped workshop session.  The playlist featured seven separate modules and I was hopeful that the class participants would be open to using the technology. 

What I learned was that not only did my students appreciate the tutorials to view over and over to gain skills, many of my college peers used the site to learn how to use Excel for their own project submissions.  I even found out that a high school classroom somewhere in the U.S. was also using the platform well over a year later.

Bonk (2009) reminds us that, "Thoughtful, and engaging educational content can come from anyone with time, technology access and creative talent" (p. 212).  In that vein, I will use this platform again in the future with my adult students in two ways.  First, like I did before, I will create tutorials for them to utilize in preparation for a class.  Secondly, I will encourage them to each complete two tutorials for future learners using a pay it forward expectation of community learning.  In a community, it is not just a single learning experience. Information is meant to be shared for the benefit of all.

Reference

Bonk, C. J. (2009). The world is open: How web technology is revolutionizing education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.