Learning and Leading - June/July 2012

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POLL RESULTS

To Flip or Not to Flip?

Flipped classroom supporters cite the model’s potential to make better use of class time, while critics point out that it still relies on lecturing.

What’s Not to Love?

The transition from a traditional classroom to a flipped one was effortless. Parents love that their children are only spending 10–15 minutes preparing for my class at home in the evening. Students love that they can access my lectures any time that is convenient for them and watch them as many times as they wish. Without any encouragement, my students spontaneously collaborate with and peer-tutor each other.

Thaddeus Wert Chairman, Upper School Math Department Nashville, Tennessee, USA

Flipping Fail

I have attempted this model and not been impressed with the results. It worked great for the top learners in my classroom (for whom nothing I do affects their learning), but it was a complete flop for the struggling learners.

David Wees Learning Specialist for Technology Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

The Possibilities Are Endless

A flipped classroom does not require a lecture-based learning environment. A flipped classroom could be implemented by showing a clip of a scientific phenomenon and collecting responses online, posting direct instruction that would have otherwise been given to a live audience, delivering an overview of an author’s life, or recording and annotating individualized feedback on a student paper on a screencast. There is no such thing as the flipped classroom.

Aaron Sams Chemistry Teacher, ISTE Author Woodland Park, Colorado, USA

Define Engagement

If a teacher stands-and-delivers content and students are not engaged and succeeding, then of course once they are given an alternative, they may be more engaged and even show higher results. Has it been considered that students may be more engaged because they can fast-forward or mute the lecture?

Reshan Richards Director of Educational Technology Montclair, New Jersey, USA

Tossed but not Transformed

In the video examples I have viewed, flipped classrooms were “tossed but not transformed.” The use of (computer) technology centered on teacher-created videos. Evidence of problem- or inquiry-based learning using technology to analyze, problem-solve, communicate, or share was lacking. Back in the classroom, most videos showed students answering questions from the textbook with the teacher for support. Is this really the role of a “guide on the side”?

Kendra Grant Chief Educational Officer, Sublime Learning Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

Where Engagement Meets Efficiency The dictates of a content-heavy curriculum ensure that teachers are forced into delivering content in the most efficient manner possible—and that leads to lectures, rather than lessons. But in a flipped classroom, students enter the classroom pre-armed with knowledge, so teachers can devise interesting, meaningful, and challenging activities.

Keith Haggart Online Learning and Mentoring Coordinator Emu Plains, New South Wales, Australia

Flip with Flexibility

Video is just one example of an evolving flipped teaching sensibility. Flipped instruction today is defined by a teacher’s willingness to help students learn how/ when they see fit, release control of the classroom experience, and find the best way to reach and respond to students individually. The appropriate medium to convey information beyond class (videos, podcasts, worksheets, articles, etc.) is selected based on content, community needs, and teaching style.

Jac de Haan Middle School Educator, Blogger Seattle, Washington, USA

Make Formative Assessments Feasible Most of us recognize the power of formative assessment and differentiation, but time and logistics make them difficult to implement. The flipped classroom leverages technology to make these strategies very feasible.

Trevor Shaw Director of Technology Englewood, New Jersey, USA

Just-in-Time Learning

When the classroom is flipped, students have access to new material, better enabling them to come to class prepared and take part in in-class activities. Providing new information when students are ready, just in time, scaffolds use of new vocabulary, grammar structures, and content in authentic environments.