The Flipped Language Classroom

So in my technologies course, we have spent the majority of the class talking about and exploring different technologies to use in the classroom or for professional development.  This week's topic is learning about the Flipped Classrooms more in depth.  Here's a general overview and of course, my initial reaction!

A Flipped Classroom is one in which the instruction occurs outside of the classroom and homework time occurs in the classroom, pushing students to learn independently and at their own pace, while in class achieving higher level thinking and problem solving.  It sounds great, right? Well, let's first go over the positives because there are many, but I do see this posing quite a few challenges.

According to Three Reasons to Flip Your Classroom, implementing this:

1. Increases comprehension of course material: Students can learn at their own pace.  They can pause an instructional video at home to take notes and to let what the teacher said "sink in," where as learning in a classroom doesn't allow for this
2. Increases interaction with the instructor and peers: Class time is spent applying what was learned for homework, not with the teacher lecturing.  This gives the teacher more time to guide students as they apply what they learn.
3. Increases critical thinking as a natural part of the learning process: By learning outside of the classroom, there is more time to apply higher level thinking inside the classroom, like analyzing, applying, and creating.

In other words, as put by Flipping your EL Classroom: A Primer, In a sense, what is flipped is the clock. The clock at home gets used on instruction, on piquing curiosity, on initial exploration. When the classroom clock starts ticking, teachers spend their time interacting with students on activities that they used to assign as homework. Like all good homework assignments, these activities still challenge students to use what they have learned. 

My initial reaction to reading about the flipped classroom was "Wow, this makes a lot of sense," but at the same time, "Wow, this sounds like a lot of work for the teacher, and potentially the students."  A teacher who has never taught a flipped classroom before has to prepare homework by creating instructional videos or learning activities which teach students the main ideas (something that the teacher would have traditionally taught in the classroom) and also prepare actual class time for the students to apply what they learned.  As it's name suggests, it is truly "flipped." Despite this initial workload though, what challenges does the flipped classroom pose? Well, on the side of the teacher, I think it takes a lot of time and skill to create effective virtual lessons for the students.  Teachers need to search for effective videos (or create their own), or come up with other creative ways for students to learn from their textbook.  Students then need to be able to learn from this so that the teacher doesn't need to "re-teach" the entire lesson the next day.  Also, would this really work for students? There may be a student without a home computer, or with limited data plans on their phones to access online material.  In theory students could stay after school in the computer lab or go to the public library, but this all boils down to school resources, student transportation, and student responsibilities at home.  And what about students with different learning styles or with disabilities? Some students do learn best being guided by the teacher.

Later this week in school I will be creating my own Ted-Ed lesson for my imaginary students and I am sure as I work through this unit I will see how feasible it is to create a flipped classroom and what challenges I face.  Despite my concerns, I am intrigued with the idea of the flipped classroom and think that this new way of learning teaches students many skills, and if done right, could be a much more effective use of class time. Students learn best when they discover knowledge for themselves, and I think that by flipping your classroom there is a definite possibility for students to be challenged more and to learn more!