Contents
The flipped classroom
In 2008, Jonathan “Jon” Bergmann and Aaron Sams invested $ 50 in a software to record and annotate lessons for absent students. This was appreciated not only by absent students but also by others: They used the online material as well, mostly to review and reinforce classroom lessons. The idea of the flipped classroom was born.
The core idea is to flip the common instructional approach: With teacher-created videos and interactive lessons, the instruction that used to occur in class is now accessed at home as a preparation for the onsite teaching and taken in advance of class. Classroom teaching has been developed to the place to work through problems, to ask questions, to increase the understanding of the content, advance concepts, and engage in collaborative learning.
Some observations of Jon Bergmann were groundbreaking for further development. So, it turned out that the teachers now spend more time with the struggling students. This group of students tended to give up on homework. Now they could work through challenging problems in class. The more advanced students had the chance to use time in more freedom to learn independently.
Characteristics of a flipped classroom
The concept is to teach with videos to replace the typical classroom lectures. Students are learning the content at home. They come to class well prepared to apply what they have already learned at home. Students learn for and by themselves. The materials reviewed prior to class can take the form of recorded lectures (podcasts), curated videos, reading assignments, video broadcasts — any material that the instructor assigns to be relevant to the topic at hand. The system expects a higher student engagement. More time is available for face-to-face time in class or small group work to clear open questions, deepen knowledge or solve problems in the classroom.
Risks
Several risks must be taken into account using the flipped classroom. This is on one hand the technology used in the pre-class learning, the need of highly motivated students, the fact that not all students learn well through visual learning (based on videos) and finally that flipped learning at home is still homework.
Comment: Flipped Learning 2.0 relies on active learning. To watch a video is a passively done job – so it is necessary to provide sone amendments to use videos as “aktive learning tasks”.
Ways to implement the flipped classroom
As a standard way the creating of videos by the teacher has be seen. These videos should follow the specific guidelines: they should be short (8 – 12 minutes), should be appealing and interesting, meaningful, planned and well structured, include two or three main parts and should be exciting.
Comment: Our study about the length of a video shows 2 minutes up to maximum of 5 minutes. The mentioned duration is simply too long. Additionally, videos are no active learning means.
Flipped Learning
Flipped learning has been defined as a pedagogical approach (in 2012) by the Flipped Learning Network (which has been established by several teachers). Their definition of flipped learning is:
Flipped Learning is a pedagogical approach in which direct instruction 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.
Source: https://flippedlearning.org/definition-of-flipped-learning/ (Flipped Learning Network)
The pedagogical approach is based on four pillars:
- Flexible Environment
- Learning Culture
- Intentional Content
- Professional Educators
Source: Flipped Learning Network (FLN). (2014) The Four Pillars of F-L-I-P™, Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND License, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Is a flipped classroom the same as flipped learning?
It is necessary to distinguish between a Flipped Classroom and Flipped Learning. These terms are not interchangeable. A flipped classroom can be done using flipped learning as a pedagogical approach, but must not use flipped learning. The core issue is to shift learning from lecture-based school teaching to individual learning at home. The face to face time ist used for questions, practice, group work or other interactive learning methods to deepen and foster the learning results.
Flipped Classroom is a form of blended learning in which students learn content online by watching video lectures, usually at home, and homework is done in class with teachers and students discussing and solving questions. Teacher interaction with students is more personalized – with guidance instead of lecturing. Blended Learning describes the way of the delivery of the learning. It defines a certain structure but does not refer to any pedagogical approach.
Flipped Learning 3.0
Flipped Learning is a pedagogical approach in which direct instruction 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 (Source: Flipped Learning Network)
A pedagogical approach refers to the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by the social, political and psychological development of learners. It describes how the learning is done and the intention behind the learning. It is a methodology of learning and does not define the implementation or the used methods.
Flipped Learning 3.0
Flipped Learning 3.0 describes the modern pedagogical approach to the original version of flipped learning”. It is a further developed methodology of flipped learning and is based on learner-centered and active learning. Since the flipped classroom and flipped learning has been developed from the K 12 system (this describes the school system in the United States covering the typical school career from 6 years old pupils to 18 years old students covering 12 years of learning) Flipped Learning 3.0 is a versatile pedagogical approach that can be used in all fields of education (School Education, Higher Education, Vocational Education and Training as well as Adult Education).
Flipped Learning 3.0 is currently using the 187 Global Elements of Effective Flipped Learning. These elements are organized and structured in 12 sectors (the core items of effective flipped learning). These families are (ordered in relevance for Adult Education) the Group Space Mastery, the Individual Space Mastery, Learning Spaces, Student Feedback, Assessment, Communication and Culture, IT Infrastructure, Professional Development, Planning for Flipped Learning, Understanding Flipped Learning, Evidence and Research, and K-12 Focused.
Flipped Learning uses the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy that uses verb forms (for the terms defined by Bloom 1956) since 2001. The six categories are remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create.
The pre-classroom learning focuses on the two categories remember and understand. These are the basics the learner has to bring into the classroom. The higher categories like apply, analyze, evaluate and create are used in interactive and collaborative work in the classroom monitored and guided by the teacher (as a facilitator of the learning).