What is Flipped Learning?
Can this method be part of the answer for American students?
Photo Credit: Dreambox Learning
Issue #197 Education December 14, 2022
As many of you know, I am a retired educator of all grades from PreK through university levels, primarily middle and high school. Back when I retired, we were just getting computers in the classroom, and smartphones and tablets had not been invented yet. Only a relatively few people had desktop computers in their homes.
When COVID-19 hit in 2020, it was a new or “novel” disease, and no one really knew at the very beginning what to do overall. We did know that the virus was very easily passed just by breathing on others or being near others without a mask.
We also knew very early on that while young children were not negatively affected as much as adults, they could be non-symptomatic carriers, as could many adults.
When schools closed practically overnight, most of them pivoted to online learning. While not ideal, at least students could still be in class every day as long as they had the right equipment and access to high-speed internet access. As we know, there were many students who did not have those things at home. Overall, many students lost more than a year of education.
While Republicans blame Democrats and Dr. Anthony Fauci for all of the educational problems caused by COVID (and forget to credit teachers for transitioning so quickly), I believe it would be better to look for actual solutions to get the students caught up.
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What is “Flipped Learning?”
In traditional classrooms, the teacher usually presents the lesson from the front of the class and then the students use homework time to solve problems, do research and writing, or work on group projects.
Flipped learning, which is primarily used in the upper grades and university levels, reverses that scenario. Before class time, students view digitized or online lectures and presentations, and then during class participate in active learning experiences, including discussions, peer-to-peer teaching, group projects, and problem-solving.
This is how the learning experience is flipped.
Besides the fact that students need to have access to online access and the ability to get their pre-class homework completed independently, it is generally accepted that active learning is preferable to passive learning.
The flipped learning model also allows students to learn valuable intra- and interpersonal skills.
Instead of expecting students to sit quietly in rows just listening to the teacher and taking notes, flipped learning allows students more movement, flexibility, and interaction with others during class time.
When I was an experienced teacher, I implemented many of the flipped learning components in my classrooms. Unfortunately, that is when I got in trouble with some of my principals.
It is often very difficult to move people past their preconceived ideas about how classrooms should be run and how many students learn differently.
How does flipped learning work for teachers and students?
There are four distinct components of flipped learning, described through the FLIP acronym:
F: Flexible Environment
In flipped learning, educators often physically rearrange their classrooms to more easily accommodate group work and discussions and allow the students to choose when and where they learn. Most importantly, the “F” in the model allows the teachers to be flexible in their expectations for student learning timelines, student assessments, and the various ways students learn best.
L: Learning Culture
In the flipped learning module, the class is flipped from a teacher-centered approach to a learner-centered approach. Class time is used to explore topics in greater depth and has richer learning opportunities. Students are actively involved in their pursuit and evaluation of their learning.
I: Intentional Content
The goals of teachers who utilize flipped learning include helping their students to develop contextual understanding and new ways of learning. The teachers create relevant content that students can learn on their own, while also making that content accessible to all students.
P: Professional Educator
Due to the additional stresses from teaching during COVID and pressures from politicians and parents to micro-manage their jobs, often under penalty of arrest or loss of their teaching licenses, thousands of teachers left their careers recently.
That means that classes are even larger than they were before, and many school districts are hiring non-educators to manage classrooms. Some school districts in Florida, for example, are actually hiring people without education degrees or experience. These people are nothing more than glorified babysitters.
This is not helping students to catch up after the COVID school closings.
The role of a professional educator in a flipped learning environment is often even more demanding than in a traditional classroom setting.
During flipped learning, educators are continuously observing their students, giving relevant and timely feedback and assessments, and collaborating with other educators to improve this alternative method of teaching.
How can educators adapt to the Flipped Learning method and pedology?
It often takes significant time and effort to convert traditional curricula to the flipped learning model.
Making this transition also involves convincing principals, school boards, and parents that these changes can have positive outcomes for students and a more affirmative environment for educators.
Many students learn better in group and peer-to-peer settings, and lessons that incorporate visual, auditory, and kinetic methods reach more students than just the regular reading, listening, and writing methods, especially in the digital arena.
Flipped learning can be combined with traditional education to produce better academic outcomes for all students.
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