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The "Flipped Classroom" is a term that has recently taken root in education.  Much information and misinformation currently surrounds the conversation.  We, as outspoken advocates for the "Flipped Classroom" concept, believe the following:

What Does "Flip" Imply?

"Flip" is a verb. We are actively transferring the responsibility and ownership of learning from the teacher to the students in a Flipped Classroom. When students have control over how they learn content, the pace of their learning, and how their learning is assessed, the learning belongs to them.  Teachers become guides to understanding rather than dispensers of facts, and students become active learners rather than receptacles of information.

Secondly, we are flipping the instructional process and using technology to "time-shift" direct instruction where appropriate. Direct instruction (or lecture) is still a valuable tool for teachers in some cases. Rather than relying on lecture, we simply utilize the process where appropriate to help reach a learning goal.

For instance, suppose you are teaching a lesson where students at some point will need to use technology to use a linear regression on their data. Ideally they collected data in a "real-world" environment using inquiry-based, collaborative learning methods.  At some instance they may need run a linear regression on the data. It would not be appropriate to say, "Just explore your TI-84 and discover how to do a linear regression." Most likely, students will become frustrated  and give up on the project.  In this case, they will need direct instruction on how to do a linear regression.  In others, there may need to be some remedial instruction on the procedure involved.

You could take valuable class time and have everyone get their calculator and follow you step-by-step, with some students bored and ahead, and some students behind.  You need
to stop class and get students caught up if they missed a step. Then a day, week, or month later, you will need to go through the steps again to remind kids of the process.  Or you could create a simple five-minute video showing the steps to enter data and run a linear regression. This is a permanent archived tutorial. Advanced students may never need to watch the video again. All students can re-watch the video as needed. Now, there is more class time for data collection, collaboration, and application.

What Do Classes Look Like?

In most Flipped Classrooms, there is an active and intentional transfer of some of the information delivery to outside of the classroom with the goal of freeing up time to make better use of the face-to-face interaction in school. When appropriate, information transfer typically takes advantage of technologies like podcasting or screencasting. This allows for more time to individualize instruction in the class time and keeps content alive for remediation, review, or other reference when needed. Learners have immediate and easy access to any topic when they need it, leaving the teacher with more opportunities to expand on higher order thinking skills and enrichment. Offloading some information transfer allows a classroom to develop that understands the need for teacher accessibility to overlap with cognitive load. That is, when students are assimilating information, creating new ideas, etc. (upper end of Bloom's Taxonomy) the teacher is present to help scaffold them through that process.

This can look very different from classroom to classroom and we recognize no two Flipped Classrooms look exactly the same, just as no two traditional classrooms look alike.
The Flipped Classroom is a pedagogy-first approach that strives to meet the needs of the learners in our individual schools and communities.  It is much more an ideology than it is a specific methodology...there is no prescribed set of rules to follow or model to fit.

How Does a Flipped Classroom Fit into Instruction?

The Flipped Classroom is one part of a larger inquiry or instruction cycle, not a panacea or stand-alone magic bullet for instruction. It overlaps with other instructional tools such as: Reverse Instruction, Inquiry Learning, Universal Design for Learning, Blended Learning, and Online Instruction through the use of podcasting or screencasting, Web 2.0 resources, and inquiry activities. Screencasts as instructional tools can be used in many different ways: pre-teaching, front-loading instruction, remediation, extension, providing students with feedback, student created content, etc.

Practitioners of the various flipped classroom models are constantly tweaking, changing, rejecting, adding to, and generally trying to improve the model through direct experience with how effective it is for kids. It's not "record your lecture once" and you're done; it's part of a comprehensive instructional model that includes direct instruction, inquiry, practice, formative and summative assessment and much more. It also allows teachers to reflect on and develop quality and engaging learning opportunities and options for internalization, creation, and application of content rather than just fluff or time filling assignments.

Final Thoughts

The Flipped Classroom is an intentional shift of content which in turn helps move students
back to the center of learning rather than the products of schooling. We are committed to creating dynamic and engaging curriculum through collaboration and constant revision. We understand that the Flipped Classroom is not a "silver bullet" to educational problems, nor
do we claim it to be. However, we do recognize that it can have a profound impact on issues including student motivation, achievement, and engagement.

The purpose of this article is not to convince you or others to switch to a Flipped Classroom because only you, the teacher, can make that decision based on your school's culture and
your learners' needs. We, the authors, hope that you have a more balanced understanding
and each of the authors would welcome further discussion or questions.

Authors
Brian E. Bennett, Teacher, Evansville, Ind.
Dan Spencer, Educational Technology Coordinator, Jackson, Mich.
Jon Bergmann, Lead Technology Facilitator, Kenilworth, Ill.
Troy Cockrum, Teacher, Indianapolis, Ind.
Ramsey Musallam, Teacher, San Francisco, Calif.
Aaron Sams, Teacher, Woodland Park, Colo.
Karl Fisch, Teacher, Centennial, Colo., USA
Jerry Overmyer, Outreach Coordinator/Math Instructor, Greeley, Colo.
The Flipped Class Network


PUBLISHED 12/1/2011 THE DAILY RIFF

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