The COVID-19 pandemic made it essential for educational organizations to switch from classroom learning to elearning. But both classroom learning and elearning have their owns pros and cons. Many educational institutions these days bridge the gap between elearning and classroom learning by adopting blended learning. Flipped classroom model is one of the widely used forms of blended learning.
What is Flipped Classroom Model?
Like other blended learning strategies, flipped classroom model focus on integrating classroom learning and elearning seamlessly. A teacher can flip a classroom to enable students to study at home by accessing a variety of digital content – ebooks, documents, video lectures, podcasts, audiobooks, and infographics. Also, the students will have some background knowledge about a concept or topic discussing the concept in the virtual classroom.
According to TeachThought.com, “A flipped classroom is a type of blended learning where students are introduced to content at home and practice working through it at school. This is the reverse of the more common practice of introducing new content at school, then assigning homework and projects to be completed by the students independently at home.”
The blended learning model boosts learning experience and knowledge retention by integrating self-paced learning and face-to-face interaction. Students can acquire knowledge outside the classroom by accessing multi-format digital content. Also, they can understand the concepts clearly by asking questions and clearing doubts by interacting with the teachers. Hence, students will practice skills, complete homework, and participate in discussions in the classroom, while reading/reviewing digital course material and participating in online discussions at home.
Why Teachers and Educators Have Been Flipping Classroom?
According to EdTechReview.in, “96% of teachers who have flipped a lesson would recommend that method to others. Also, 71% of teachers indicated that grades of their students have improved since implementing a flipped classroom strategy.” The statistics suggest a consistent increase in the number of teachers flipping classrooms. There are a number of reasons while educational institutions implement flipped classroom models while switching from classroom learning to elearning.
Allow Students to Learn at Their Own Pace
Most students these days collect information from diverse sources using their smartphones and tablets. In addition to attending classes regularly, they use the internet to acquire knowledge outside classrooms. The smarter teachers enable students to learn at their own pace and convenience by adopting flipped classroom models. They help students learn various topics elaborately and complete homework effectively by uploading university notes and video lectures.
Make Students Explore Subject Deeply
The conventional classroom model requires teachers to explain topics in a stipulated timeframe. The stipulated timeframe often makes it difficult for teachers to explain all aspects of a topic. Likewise, it does not allow students to explore a subject more deeply. The flipped classrooms allow both teachers and students to explore a subject more deeply by allocating more time. The students can further clear doubts and complete homework by availing assistance and guidance from teachers outside classrooms.
Facilitate Classroom Discussions
A teacher cannot teach a topic effectively without facilitate class discussions and encouraging students to participate in the virtual classroom discussions. The flipped classroom model makes it easier for teachers to facilitate classroom discussions. The teachers can allocate more time to make students discuss and collaborate by uploading lecture notes and creating online discussion forums.
Avoid Dictating Notes in the Classroom
While taking classes, teachers spend time dictating notes to students. Also, the students have to put extra time and effort to take lecture notes. The elearning tools enable teachers to share notes instead of dictating notes. A teacher can allocate more time to cover various aspects of a topic and answer questions asked by students by sharing lecture notes over the internet.
Make Students Come to Class Prepared
A teacher can easily keep students interested, engaged, and motivated by making them prepare for upcoming classes. The flipped classroom model helps students to prepare for upcoming classes by reading the announcements and information posted by teachers. The students can clear all their doubts and participate actively in classroom discussions by coming to the classroom prepared.
Improve Students’ Academic Performance
Several studies have highlighted the effectiveness of flipped classroom model in improving students’ academic performance and exam grades. According to FlippedLearning.org, “Flipped Learning is also being used in higher education, and results have been documented in student academic performance and student and instructor morale.” Hence, teachers convert conventional classrooms into flipped classrooms to boost the academic performance of students.
How Can Educational Institutions Adopt Flipped Classroom Model Successfully?
Cloud-based elearning solutions make it easier for educational institutions to flip both conventional and virtual classes without escalating infrastructural costs. For instance, an educational institution can implement flipped classroom models in a short amount of using a learning management system (LMS) that supports both teacher-led learning and self-paced learning.
Likewise, it can subscribe to ready-to-use digital libraries to enable students to access a wide range of digital content. But no educational institution can implement flipped classroom model successfully by only investing in the right elearning tools for flipped classrooms. In addition to choosing and integrating the right elearning tools, every educational organization must implement a multistep flipped classroom implementation strategy.
Step 1: Building a Student-Centered Learning Environment
While implementing a blended learning model, every educational institution must focus on setting up a student-centered learning environment. The learning environment must be flexible enough to allow students to acquire knowledge at home and complete homework in the classroom. Also, the environment must make teachers and instructors act like guides. Instead of teaching, they need to focus on answering questions, clearing doubts, and facilitate classroom discussions.
Step 2: Choosing the Right Elearning Solutions
Anytime and anywhere access to digital content or elearning material is a key feature of flipped classrooms. The teachers can enable students to acquire knowledge at home only by using the appropriate elearning solutions. For instance, an educational institution can flip classrooms using an LMS that supports self-paced learning, teacher-led learning, and multi-format digital content. Also, it can use virtual classroom software to facilitate active learning and provide access to multi-format digital content.
Step 3: Making Students Familiar with the Content or Materials
A teacher cannot make students learn or review instructional content before classes. The teacher must help students to prepare for classes by accessing and reviewing the appropriate digital content. Also, she needs to ensure that a student can familiarize herself with the content by accessing the learning materials in the desired format. A teacher can flip classrooms successfully only by enabling students to acquire background information by reading an ebook, watching a video, or listening to a podcast.
Step 4: Motivating Students to Self-Study and Prepare
Teachers cannot boost knowledge retention in virtual classrooms without keeping students interested, engaged, and motivated. Likewise, they need to motivate and encourage students to familiarize themselves with the instructional materials before a class. Learning management systems (LMS) enable teachers to motivate students to prepare for classes by asking students to answer questions, solve problems, prepare a presentation, and find examples related to a particular topic or subject.
Step 5: Deepening Understanding by Planning In-Class Activities
In addition to persuading students to understand concepts, teachers must help them to deepen their understanding through a variety of in-class activities. The teachers must create opportunities for students to discuss ideas, ask questions, and solve problems in the classroom. Also, they can make the flopped classroom implementation more effective through in-class activities like presentation, skill practice, laboratory experiments, and peer reviews.
Step 6: Making Assessment and Evaluation an Ongoing Activity
Continuous performance evaluation and tracking are an integral part of the flipped classroom model. The teachers can boost the academic performance of students by flipping classrooms only when they understand the concepts deeply and retain the knowledge. That is why; teachers must measure the understanding and performance of students regularly by conducting tests, quizzes, and online discussions. The learning solutions help teachers to monitor and measure the progress of students regularly by conducting tests, quizzes, and assessments.
Flipped classroom model is a type of blended learning that is adopted and implemented by educational institutions. In addition to integrating teacher-led and self-paced learning, the widely used instructional strategy boosts students’ academic performance and communication skills. But no organization can leverage the benefits of this blended learning approach fully without flipping classrooms accurately. They must implement a multistep flipped classroom implementation strategy to adopt and implement the widely used blended learning model successfully.
