Listening to one my recommended podcasts I heard the phrase ‘Flipped Classroom’, curious, I wanted to find out more.
What does Flipped Classroom mean?
A flipped classroom is an instructional strategy and a type of blended learning, which aims to increase student engagement and learning by having students complete readings at their home and work on live problem-solving during class time.
It moves activities, including those that may have traditionally been considered homework, into the classroom. In a flipped classroom, students watch online lectures, collaborate in online discussions, or carry out research at home while engaging in concepts in the classroom with the guidance of a mentor.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia
Video explaining Flipped Classroom
Interesting, as a trainer, I always want to make my sessions interactive, engaging and generally better.
What are the positives?
Taken from the Panopto Blog – The (Flipped) Classroom of the 21st Century [Edited for readability]
1. Flipping allows students to learn at their own pace
Under the traditional lecture model, the pace is set by the teacher. Instructors have to teach the entire curriculum within the classroom time allocated. Should a student have trouble with a concept, they are forced to either interrupt and ask for help, or do their best to keep up and ask questions at the end.
However, in flipped classrooms students can go back over any part of a recorded lecture. They are able to come to class prepared with specific questions for their instructor.
2. Flipped learning is customized, active, and engaging
With the foundational material covered before class, instructors craft learning activities that engage students through active learning. Before class, the instructor has information to be able to gauge the class’s level of comprehension with the material. Instructors have data that shows students have engaged with the pre-class content, and design the session on what remains to be learned. Gone are the days where classroom instructors had to guess at an arbitrary average.
The flipped classroom are now able to focus on learning that put students in an active role, testing and applying the knowledge presented in the lecture. It shifts the focus of learning to the students themselves, to learn through experience and critical discourse. It is through these exercises that students can solidify what they have heard, test their comprehension and master the content.
3. Flipped lecture videos help student review for exams
For more than a decade, universities have been recording traditional classroom-based lectures. Many are surprised to see not only how much video students are watching, but also when in the semester. In retrospect, it’s rather obvious: students go back as a study aid during midterm and final exam periods.
Flipped classroom videos can offer the same benefit as recorded in-class lectures. When pre-class materials are made available, students can go back and review those resources to better prepare for tests and exams.
4. Flipped content can be richer through curation and continuous improvement
While teachers already curate different resources, flipped learning makes that process even more rich and effective and accessible. Since students are consuming lesson material at home, it need not be confined to the form of a lecture. Teachers can assign films, games, and readings, using short videos they record to tie it all together.
And as time goes on, flipped instruction benefits teachers who can make better use of their own time and resources to do more each year. By flipping, teachers can:
- Save time by creating basic lecture content once and sharing it with multiple class segments for subsequent years
- Continually improve specific parts of lecture content by reviewing analytics, video comments, and discussions in class
- Allow themselves to invest time in learning and sharing new and more detailed content, either as future lessons or in classroom discussions
- Ensure their own missed classes don’t mean missed learning, by providing reliable and consistent learning materials for substitutes to use
All in all, instructors report a high level of interest in the flipped classroom. A report from Classroom Window, 99% of teachers who flipped one year plan to do so again and 88% said that their overall job satisfaction had improved.
And the Negatives
Taken from Teach Thoughts – 10 Pros and Cons of a Flipped Classroom
1. It relies on preparation and trust
There is also the concern that since flipped classrooms are dependent on student participation, one must trust students to watch the lectures at home. Unfortunately, there is no way to guarantee students will oblige or cooperate with the flipped model.
2. There is significant work on the front-end
Additionally, there is a concern that implementing a flipped classroom adds an extra workload on teachers, as there are several elements that must be integrated carefully to allow the class to flourish. Responsibilities include taping and uploading condensed lectures, which take time and skill, and introducing activities in the classroom that will enhance the subject matter as well as motivate students to participate and prepare for class. Though teachers can gradually integrated flipped elements into their classrooms, it will still require additional time and effort from teachers.
3. Not naturally a test-prep form of learning
Whether you think this is a good or a bad thing is another conversation, but it’s important to realize that generally speaking, flipped classrooms do not “teach to the test.” Flipped classrooms do not follow the model of teaching to improve standardized
As with most things, there’s both good and bad, but this is referring to classroom, and formal education.
What about training – either face-to-face or online?
The Good Points
Today there are a lot of content already available through a variety of methods – from videos (YouTube), audio (Podcasts) and written (Blogs, Posts – the Internet).
This means that we ‘don’t have to reinvent the wheel’.
Curated content is already in place for many companies and in many training portals, and that’s what this seems to be referring to.
Content Creation – many companies have specific training requirements or procedures, and with the wide range of technology available to us to content creation this can be done in-house.
The Concerns
Time – this is usually the big issue within business, making time for development.
The ‘Flipped Classroom’ strategy expects that people will spend time watching videos or reading information to learn something in preparation for practice.
In your working hours – if so, when.
Otherwise, it’s in your personal time – how much of that do you have?
Today it’s all about just in-time learning, to be shown how to use something and immediately put it into practice.
Time also factors into finding good content – it’s easy to find content, but you need to search for the content that’s right for you.
Conclusion
I think that parts of a flipped classroom is already coming into learning and development.
Content on-demand – availability of information 24/7, from text to video to audio.
For those people who have an active personal development passion, they will enjoy the idea of the flipped classroom, with emphasis on self-paced learning, followed by supported practice.
However, for those that new information isn’t as important, finding time for the learning will be the hardest part.
Use the comments to share your thoughts on this strategy – would it work for you?
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