The "Flipped Classroom"

Many teachers are reporting success using the "flipped classroom" approach. In this teaching style, the students watch a video or explore on-line content explaining new concepts or skills at home (either generic or custom teacher-created). The class time the next day is dedicated to projects to enrich the understanding, or time to practice and apply the skills and concepts learned the night before.

Called the "Inverted Classroom” in an article by Lage, Platt and Treglia, (2000),“The Flipped Classroom” term is usually attributed to Jon Bergmann/Aaron Sams (2006) who submitted a book entitled “The Flipped Classroom” for publication in Feb. 2011, which was followed in March 2011 by Khan’s Ted Talk who popularized and became identified with “The Flipped Classroom”. (See this article by Aaron Sams for more on this history, although he omits mention of Lage, Platt and Treglia's work)

Remember, a video is a lot like a lecture - it's not a constructivist way to engage students learning. It's not a substitute for engaged, hands-on learning. Ideally, it would be accompanied by project-based learning examples in class to explore the concepts introduced by the video (not just in-class homework).

Flipping the Classroom from Devin Hess

Rethinking Instructional Models

Goal: Transform the classroom into a student-centered, project-centered learning experience:

• Key to meaningful "flipped classroom" is the transformation of the class time, NOT the home video time.
• Students gain introduction to basic content knowledge at home. Deep learning happens while exploring or applying the concepts in the classroom.

• Class time is used for project-based learning, collaborative study and exploration.

Recommendations:

• Adopt clear, student-centered instructional model (Understanding by Design, Project Based Learning, Teaching for Understanding, etc).
• Utilize collaborative learning models.
• Allow for differentiation within the classroom.
• See:
  • Ramsey Musallam's Cycle of Learning article: A Pedagogy-First Approach to the Flipped Classroom
    
  • Jackie Gerstein's The Flipped Classroom, A Full Model

Content Preparation

Goals:

• All screens display the "Essential Question" displayed at the top or bottom.
• Content should be easy to navigate: Include multiple slides or other reference points (headings, index).
• Keep production standards high enough that students will not be put off or confused: Check: Mic volume, camera focus, transitions, etc.
• Keep content clear, concise and well focused.
• Use quality recording tools.

Recommendations:

Task	Level:	Basic	Intermediate	Advanced
Computer based screen capture		Snag-It	Screen-O-Matic	Camtasia
iPad based screen capture		ShowMe	Educreations	Doceri
On-line lesson creation tools		Edcanvas	Sophia	LectureTools
iPad as whiteboard and lesson recorder		AirServer	Splashtop	Doceri

Content Access, Management and Engagement

Goals:

• Student can easily access and identify content:
  • Dropbox, Google Drive or YouTube channels containing many files identified only by name adds to confusion.
  • Keep instructions, directions or discussion points closely associated with the file locations so the learning goals of the activity are fresh in students' minds.
• Student engagement can be monitored:
  • It's important to be able to see who has and who has not accessed the material.
  • Long term trends and habits can be tracked automatically.
• Students can interact with content, other students and/or the teacher while viewing online content:
  • Some platforms incorporate limited social-network elements (eg. Edmodo).
  • Look for basic user tracking features.

Recommendations:

• Integrate with schools existing LMS if possible.
• Use prepared materials from sites intended for flipped classrooms (eg. Khan Academy).

Task	Options:
Video / Slide Access Only	YouTube	TeacherTube	SlideShare
Screen-Cast Access	ShowMe	Educreations	EdPuzzle
Multi-Modal / LMS	Sophia	Blendspace	LectureTools
	Net-Texts	Moodle
Prepared Materials	Khan Academy	iTunesU	Net-Texts