The
idea of a flipped classroom is all the rage lately, but is it really as
revolutionary as they claim?
Before
researching it, I had a shallow understanding of flipped learning, as many
people do I fell into the trap of thinking that video lectures and flipped
learning were synonymous. The bare bones explanation of Flipped teaching I had
heard previously was that you “flip” when students do homework with when they
are lectured to. This was achieved in my understanding by assigning video
mini-lectures as homework, and using the freed up class time to work on
homework. This way students could work with the teacher when they were
struggling with a concept, instead of coming back the next day with ingrained misconceptions.
This
is close to what flipped learning is, but it is not the whole picture. After
reading a blog following Robert Talbert’s , a GVSU Professor, experiences and thoughts
about flipped teaching I realized I was missing a crucial part of what flipped
learning is supposed to be. Flipped learning is supposed to focus on the student,
and their ability to self-regulate learning. Talbert states that we shouldn't be spoon feeding things to students, that learning has to be driven and
regulated by the students themselves. Many people argue that some students
cannot teach themselves, which seems like a very strong point. However, Talbert
countered with an equally strong point, that the most important things we learn
in life are self-taught; things such as talking, and eating to name a few.
There
are many pros and cons to the flipped approach.
Pros:
Frees
up class time to work with students where they are struggling
Allows
students to work at the right pace for them
Allows
students to revisit lecture points they may have missed
Cons:
Students
won’t watch the videos outside of class
Not
all students learn well from watching lectures/videos
It
is just a “fancy” way to lecture, no real change was made
Not
all students have access to technology
Doesn't allow for student exploration of a topic
Students
will be lazy and not keep pace.
Flipping
pros are hard to argue with, and as such some educators have videos created to supplement
their class, but not replace lecture time. As for the cons, there are some strong points
here. However many articles and educators for flipped classrooms would argue if
you are going beyond the basic idea of “flipped” just being recorded lectures.
You still have to get creative in the classroom, help students interact with
the material in a way they couldn't in a non-flipped classroom. Some options
are to let students explore a topic in class the day before assigning them to
watch videos that clarify things they haven’t self-learned. To prevent students
falling behind, teachers will still need to make deadlines to keep student on
track. One of the best arguments I saw was that some communities don’t have enough
technology to successfully pull off a flipped classroom. That is a very good
point, and although there was some kooky suggestions on how to get around that,
they were not very practical.
Overall
flipping is an interesting idea, which I believe I will be partially integrating
into my classroom. Perhaps a Flipped Friday?
This
article lists the pros and cons of flipping your classroom. I included this
because it helps show both sides.
This
article is a list of positives and negatives to flipping a classroom. I
included this because it helps show both sides.
This
article discusses how you would start to flip your classroom if you had not
flipped before. It gives a positive view on flipping and helpful tips.
This article was about the
main arguments against flipped classrooms. I read this to help balance the
abundance of good articles I was exposed to before researching.
