Even as early as ten years ago I recall walking in to Sears and heading over to the hardware department where there was a watch/key service counter on which was placed an array of key blanks. The man that worked at that counter had various jobs, one of which was to duplicate keys.
I handed him my house key and he looked it up in some catalogue, flipped through his available supply of key blanks, and then turned to me, holding one up, said "Yes, I have that one. I can make you copies of your key. It will be about ten minutes." Then I would walk around Sears a bit while the man worked diligently with his electric grinding tool, or whatever, and made me two duplicates of my house key.
Fast forward to today.
I happened to be walking through my local Lowe's and found this...
It is an automated key copying machine. Self-Service. A close up of the machinery will show you your key being duplicated WHILE you watch:
BENEFITS: (a) COST EFFECTIVE- This device requires NO SKILLED LABOR (other than the periodic maintenance required by the company that provides the machine.... Much like what occurs if the store owned a Soda Machine. Someone has to come in and resupply the machine, remove the cash, and make sure it remains in operating order.) (b) It is QUICK, only a couple of minutes required to duplicate a key. (c) It supplies it's service ON DEMAND (you don't have to wait in line for someone else to be available to help you.) And (d) it is EASY TO USE OVER AGAIN if you need to.
LIMITATIONS: (a) It DOES NOT WORK ON EVERY KEY (since it has a limited supply of blanks as well as a limited tool-set.) (b) It doesn't make the BEST keys. The keys made with this device may be a bit "sticky" or "rough" and you may find that they do not work at all once you try them on your lock. These limitations can only be surpassed by having a skilled person and a wider variety of tools and supplies available.
Hopefully you can see how this might relate to EDUCATION (and, also, to my www.colbysworld.net project?)
Let's consider Depth Of Knowledge in education. (Here is a useful diagram).
In common core education there are four levels of depth of knowledge: Level 1 is the simplest (basic recall of facts). Then Level 2 (students begin applying the basic facts... skill). The higher Level 3 and Level 4 require more problem-solving, creative thinking, and in-depth applications.
What I am proposing to do with my "flipped classroom" is to AUTOMATE PART of my lessons... I want to use the computer to help students learn the Level 1 and some of the Level 2 concepts. Much like a key-duplicating machine which can effectively handle the more simple, pattern-based topics. The computer is SELF-SERVE, available 24 hours a day, and allows the student to learn on their own, bypassing that bottleneck that is the "classic" model of the teacher being the soul source of tutoring/learning for the student.
Obviously automation can not handle everything. But it just may free up the teacher, and valuable classroom time, allowing one to focus more on those elusive, Level 3 and Level 4 topics....
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