Benefits of Flipping the Classroom

Sick. Vacation. Sports. All-state choir or band. Daydreaming.  Whatever the reasons, the reality is students will miss classroom instruction and learning opportunities.  When students do return, teachers, including those who are the most organized and skilled in classroom management, often find it difficult to ensure the absent students receive the same quality instruction as their peers.  In 2007, two chemistry teachers at Woodland Park High School set out to solve this problem and the result was the flipped learning movement (Johnson, 2015).

Before proceeding any further, I think it is first important to define the term flipped classroom.  According to the Flipped Learning Network,

Flipped learning is a pedagogical approach in which direct learning moves from the group learning space to the individual learning space, and the resulting group space is transformed into a dynamic, interactive learning environment where the educator guides students as they apply concepts and engage creatively in the subject matter (What is Flipped Learning, 2016).  

Also, I’d like to share that I am an 8th grade math teacher and understand that flipped learning applies to certain subjects and grade levels better than others.  I teach with a team of teachers that shares a laptop and an iPad cart and work for a district that has a 1:1 student to iPad ratio at our high school.  Finally, for the purpose of this blog we will focus on the positive aspects of flipped learning and will save the negatives for a future blog.  

Flipped learning first caught my attention while I was searching for an answer to the problems mentioned in the introduction.  For my grade and subject, flipped learning is a great solution to this problem because it guarantees that all students have equal access to the same quality instruction.  Whether a student is homebound, participating in another school activity, or absent for whatever reason, using a flipped approach allows students to never miss instruction.  Besides having access to instruction, students are able to view the lessons as many times as needed and can pause and rewind the video to ensure they understand the material. Therefore, the accountability for learning shifts from teacher to student, which is where it should be if our goal is to create lifelong learners.  The other major benefit is that classroom time becomes much more meaningful.  Students can spend their class time collaborating to solve problems and creating projects that demonstrate their understanding of the content.

As I continued looking into flipped learning, it struck me that this approach is similar to how many adults and students learn outside of school.  Whenever I engage in conversations with students about their interests outside of academia, such as sports, video games, video production, etc., I often ask them how they learn to do such amazing things.  The most common answer?  They watched videos online of course.  If this is true, why wouldn’t educators want to reproduce this style of learning in the classroom?  

Ever been to a party and seen adults high-five and bond over the fact that neither of them is “good” at math?  I’ve never understood this phenomenon; however, my guess is that it is rooted in a lack of mathematical confidence.  Another common thing I overhear parents say is that they don’t get this new “common core math.”  While I believe they are confusing “common core math” with new methods in math instruction, which is a conversation for another day, a flipped learning approach is still a solution to these problems.  By allowing parents to have access to their kids’ instructional videos, parents would be able to offer more support to their children because they would now know what, how, and why their kids are learning certain things.

Another positive aspect of flipped learning is that it can help students become college and career ready.  The flipped classroom was included as an emerging trend with an adoption time of one year or less in the 2015 Higher Education Edition of of the NMC Horizon Report.  The report suggests that 29% of higher education instructors are currently using flipped learning and another 27% plan on using it within a year (Johnson, 2015).  If over 50% of colleges plan on using flipped learning in the next couple years, don’t we owe it to students to familiarize them with the process?  Click here to learn more about how flipped classrooms are being used in higher education.

So what would my flipped classroom look like?  First, I’d have students watch a teacher created instructional video.  Why teacher created instead of using one from a site like Kahn Academy that is already available on the web?  I think Katie Gimbar says it best in her video Why it Has to be Me so I’ll let her explain.

 Unlike Katie, however, I prefer to use a narrated screencast video because it allows me to use Smart Notebook which is the same thing I’d use for instruction in class.  Next, I’d have students take a small quiz through a learning management system such as Schoology to allow me to get a snapshot of student understanding before they get to class.  Once in class, I would offer small group face-to-face instruction to students needing intervention as identified by the Schoology quiz.  Other class time would focus on sharpening skills and understanding through the use of responders or apps such as Kahoot It which most students find engaging.  Students would also spend class time solving problems that involve higher order thinking skills while collaborating and creating projects such as instructional videos that demonstrate their understanding of the standards.  

In the next blog we will discuss the potential limitations to flip learning.  What issues do you see with flipped learning? Do you have any experience with flipping?  Would a flipped approach work for your content and grade level?   Please feel free to share any experiences you have with using a flipped approach whether it be positive or negative.  For more information, visit the Flipped Learning Network.