Module 4 Unit 1
The Flipped Classroom
A Flipped classroom is a type of pedagogical tool that reverses the traditional learning environment by delivering instructional content, often online, outside of the classroom. 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 and engage in concepts in the classroom with the guidance of a mentor.
Watch the video below, which explains what a Flipped Classroom is:
- Provide an opportunity for students to gain first exposure prior to class: you can approach this in different ways, whether it is giving your students a reading to do before class, a video to watch, or a podcast to listen to.
- Provide an incentive for students to prepare for class: Give students a reward to come to class prepared. This could be in the form of points, for example.
- Provide a mechanism to assess student understanding: You can ascertain how well students understand the material through an online or in-class quiz. This is not to award marks, but rather to gauge which students are grasping the material, which students are lagging behind, and which students are not making an effort
- Provide in-class activities that focus on higher level cognitive activities: Activities in class are for deeper learning and knowledge creation, so you can engage your students in discussion and activities that challenge them intellectually.
- Provide an opportunity for students to gain first exposure prior to class: you can approach this in different ways, whether it is giving your students a reading to do before class, a video to watch, or a podcast to listen to.
Now that we understand what a flipped classroom is, we can move onto understanding why we would use this pedagogical tool…
- It is useful for busy students- flipping your classroom will allow students to learn content when they have the time and concentration span
- It helps students who might be struggling with the material- students are able to pause, rewind, and re-watch content in their own time which puts less pressure on them to learn quickly and gives them more time to absorb information
- It helps students with different abilities to do well- Flipped classroom appeals to students of all abilities because learning occurs at the student’s own pace
- It increases student-teacher interaction- because students do a lot of their engagement with the material before class, they are able to engage with the teacher more during class
- It changes how we engage with parents- instead of focusing on whether their child is behaving in class, the focus often shifts towards meaningful conversations about how the child is learning and how it can be improved.
- It is useful for busy students- flipping your classroom will allow students to learn content when they have the time and concentration span
Although as educators, we face challenges in any type of teaching that we do, there are always inventive ways for us to work around these challenges. Watch the video below which highlights some of the most common challenges as well as how to overcome them.
As we have seen, the Flipped Classroom model is an exciting and interesting tool. But how do we put this into practice? Watch the video below, which explains how you might Flip your Classroom:
Even though the content part of the lesson is done when you are not around, it is possible to engage with the students using social media messaging tools such as WhatsApp or Telegram. We have covered this in the social media module which is M2U5. To refresh your memory on this module click here.