As a student, I want to learn and succeed in my classes for a variety of personal motivations.   I believe that I thrive when my teachers cared about me enough to give me individualized attention.   How do we encourage this style of teaching?   To answer this question, I would like to introduce you to one of my favorite teachers.

I enjoyed my graduate computer science (CS) education at UCF.   I, however, can especially remember my algorithms class very clearly.   Algorithms, one of the first CS courses I took after working as a professional software guy for five years, nearly broke me.   Why?  Writing business applications for years really involves math concepts that you pick up in elementary school.    I had not used math skills like calculus, linear algebra or differential equations during that period of my life.  In the first week of class, many of peers and I felt like we were just run over by a bus because we needed to re-gain expert knowledge of these topics.

I survived that class for three main reasons:

(1) Arup Guha is a wonderful teacher.

(2) Arup invested a lot of time with his students outside the lecture to make sure they were not left behind.  He really cared about you and that you owned the knowledge.

(3) During the class, I formed some great relationships with my peers.  We would study together constantly.

I don’t remember the name of every teacher I have had.   I, however, will always remember Arup.

Is there a way that great teachers can give more individualized attention to students during class room time?

I would like to introduce you to the khanacademy.org.    Founded by Salman Khan, the organization has the mission of “changing education for the better by providing a free world-class education to anyone anywhere.”   I believe that Mr. Khan’s work might be one of the great positive revolutions and innovations in education.   This is exactly what we need!   To learn more about Khan Academy, I invite you to review his TED talk below.

What is the impact of these ideas? Quotes from viewers:

• “i’m impressed and feel inspired to create some videos on science.”
• “This guy is absolutely amazing. A true world-changer.”
• “Amazing. Truly innovative.  This is the true purpose and essence of the internet.”
• “Sal deserves a nobel peace prize!! He is responsible for helping me pass Physics, Earth Science,and Math!”
• “it was very strange for me to do something of social value” great line….something to aspire to!”

As technology professionals, how do we support teachers who might consider flipping their class room?

How do we minimize the cost of change in teaching style?

For teachers who are flipping their class room, what do you do during your class time?