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A blog by Joy MacMahan using the flipped classroom model to encourage and integrate technology into the learning experience.
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Creating a Flipped Classroom that isn't a Flop!
Creating a Flipped Classroom that isn't a Flop!
I found an article, "Lessons from Flipped Classrooms and Flipped Failures", and began thinking that the reason many educators are hesitant to conform to a Blended Learning or Flipped Classroom is because of thoughts of failure. Some key elements to this article states one, Give yourself a lot of time to ease into it. Talbert goes on to say, I try to suggest a one-year plan between the moment you become interested in flipped learning and the moment you actually use it in the classroom. Take a solid year to plan, to develop materials, to test things out and so forth. Don’t try to jump straight into it (Young, 2017).
Two: Be open to good communication. Understanding what your students get and don't get within the knowledge portion of these models is important. Making sure your instructional videos and classroom activities are being understood and that the students are grasping the information is a main point in creating these Edtech classroom changes. Because one of the things about flipped learning is that it opens the class time up, what is called the group space in the classroom where students are actually meeting and working together and anything could happen. It’s quite an improvisational approach to teaching in the classroom. So if you don’t plan ahead for contingencies, at least mentally prepare for them, something’s going to happen that you’re not ready for and it’s going to cause issues, to put it mildly (Young, 2017).
Three: Break the traditional lecture model where students get addicted to educators teaching. There can be an unhealthy dependency of students upon instructors (Young, 2017). Students gang up on educators, wanting the teacher to give the answers. This is where the student needs to be accountable for their own education. When peers teach peers, the information can just click for both students.
I think that students can often take the approach where this is the only thing they’ve ever known. It’s not a failure of character amongst the students. It’s just an unfortunate artifact of the kind of educational system they grow up with, that students go to class expecting the teacher to do work for them (Young, 2017).
Four: With traditional ways of teaching, students may be able to solve problems that are similar to the teachers examples, but what happens when the problem to solve is slightly different? Students must learn how to think outside the box, and with these new ways to educate and drive information home, students will slowly but surely learn how to solve these problems that are outside the box by googling or asking peers instead of demanding answers from the teacher and in this approach, retention of the information tends to stay. It is super important for students, especially college students to learn material on their own.
Five: Why its works; One thing that the flipped model is really good for is giving you plenty of opportunities to gather data about student learning. When you’ve basically freed up class time so there’s very little lecturing going on, you can give lots and lots of formative assessment day in and day out.
You can interweave the formative assessment so that if you cover a topic in week two you can give them a little in-class quiz in week five to see if it’s still there. I’ve noticed that it’s still there. It really persists throughout the course. I’ve seen lots of great success stories with students coming through where it might take them a little while longer to really get it, but they get it because they have freedom, they have flexibility and they have attention (Young, 2017).
In conclusion, give time for thorough lessons and be sure the information presented is sinking in. If it is not, break the traditional teacher badgering and make peers teach peers. Ask questions of the students and create an open communication with the class. Create a classroom where students learn things on there own, what an amazing life lesson. Last but not least, the flipped classroom works due to the large amounts of formative assessments that will now take place.
Some of my flops include: Not knowing how the web 2.0 tool works to its entirety. Meaning not realizing how I get students responses or how to use the tool to its full extent. I've also had ideas to use as classroom activities and the students were mute. No discussion or collaboration. That made the class very long.
What are some flops you have had with flipping your classroom?
Reference:
Young, Jeffrey. 2017. "Lessons from Flipped Classrooms and Flipped Failures." Digital Learning in Higher Ed. Retrieved from Edsurge.com February 11, 2022.
Comments
Joy,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing the article and for summarizing these tips. I think the article was very helpful and insightful to anyone who considers using a flipped classroom model as part of their online or blended classroom. I'm honestly not looking into widely using this model and integrating it with the courses that I design but based on my limited experience with the flipped classroom, I can relate with the flops that you shared. I remember a feedback from a learner at the end of a class that really resonated with me when we tried using a flipped classroom: I wish I could collaborate more with my peers. In theory, a flipped classroom, to a teacher with the right skills, practice, and experience, is a very powerful and time-saving way of integrating technology in the classroom but it could also hinder collaboration among the students and sometimes between learners and educators.
Greg,
DeleteWell with every good idea, there are always flops. Why not share the flops for others to learn from? Right?
In reference to the flipped classroom model, I believe the activities within the classroom that I choose tend to circle around student collaboration, usually in small groups, whether to answer questions from the chapter or write test questions and then answer as a group, etc. Through my short journey thus far, I do try and integrate self learning or learning with peers. I like them to try and figure out their questions amongst themselves before turning to me. Sometimes that too is a flop, but at least a work in process. Thank you for your response.
The information you provided really hit home. I do not feel like many of us were given ample time to create a solid plan and develop materials for a flipped classroom. Due to the pandemic, many educators were thrown into 100% online learning and then thrown right into a blended learning environment. This is one of the many reasons the last two years have been so stressful for me. I have been thrown into two brand new teaching environments without the proper training with the new tools that were provided. This is why I am happy with my choice in returning to school and getting my master's in applied technology. The courses that I am taking are preparing me for using the flipped classroom and blended learning approach.
ReplyDeleteOne flop that I have had is not being fully prepared for the students that did not watch the videos before coming to class. In class, most of the class was ready for group work but I was not sure what to do with the students that were not prepared. Should I put one in each group? Create a group of all the students that need to catch up?
Jennifer,
DeleteThat's a brilliant idea, creating a group of those learners that were ill prepared. They would have to start from the beginning as to not have the students whom are prepared waiting for the others. I have a small group of nine college students this semester and they have realized that when I create a due date for assignments, they are to be prepared. If not, I do take off a point. Radiography is not an easy course and point means a lot in their worlds so it does get my point across.
I agree that these courses are helpful with my curriculum and learning the many different ways I can drive home the information. I did not teach throughout the pandemic, unfortunately I was a hospital employee at that time, but I can only imagine having to teach in a brand new fashion over such a short period of time. Kudos to you and all educators for figuring it out quickly for the best interest of our children. Thank you.