Flipped classrooms

A fl ipped classroom – what do we mean? We are not turning the classroom upside down; rather we are changing the way learners interact with lesson material. Language teachers have been ‘fl ipping’ the classroom for years, where they tell you to go home and read the book, and then you come back to school to discuss or learn more about the informa on. A fl ipped classroom scenario is a type of blended learning where learners are asked to engage with the content at home, then when at school they work through/discuss or complete a task using the informa on, but having some base knowledge of the content. Normally in a classroom a teacher introduces the content at school, and learners work through or prac ce the informa on at home. In a fl ipped classroom approach there is a combina on of face-to-face engagement and lessons mixed with independent work, usually using some type of technology. The origins of a fl ipped classroom are when teachers began reques ng learners to watch pre-recorded videos, or read documents, background informa on or ques ons related to the content, at home, in order to discuss this in class. The teacher then saves me as the learners have viewed or read the content and have even begun thinking about the informa on. The teacher can now deep dive into the teaching and learning of the content. This provides more me for teaching and learners interac ng with informa on, which hopefully builds greater self-knowledge and understanding.

Examples of fl ipped classroom tasks:

●  Watch a pre-made video about a par cular concept or content area – this may be a video made by the teacher or an exis ng online video ●  Read and review an online document or ar cle ●  Research informa on about a par cular topic or ques on ●  Complete a simula on task, to build understanding of a concept, e.g.: a balance and mass, where learners have to digitally place objects onto a digital scale, and compare the mass of various objects

Online learning is not the next big thing, it is the now big thing. Donna J Abernathy

Examples of in-class lesson tasks related to the fl ipped classroom:

●  Teaching further about the content viewed or read, thereby crea ng greater clarity and understanding ●  Teacher-led, face-to-face classroom discussion ●  Unguided learner-led face-to-face classroom discussion ●  Debates about the topic ●  Presenta ons about fi ndings or researched informa on ●  Interac ve ac vi es or tasks related to the content ●  Peer evalua ons, or peer reviews of informa on shared ●  Task-based or sta on-based ac vi es, which learners can rotate through in the classroom – the informa on would be related to the work done at home ●  Actual experiments, a er prac cing on the simula ons at home

The benefi t of the fl ipped classroom is learners can be encouraged to ask ques ons about the content. They are able to share ideas with background knowledge due to having done ini al research. Learners can be further empowered to take ownership of their learning.

Sources

● h ps://www.evolveschool.co.za/post/it-s-all-about-the-ques on ● h ps://www.evolveschool.co.za/post/2019/01/12/communica on-among-class-peers