The Flipped Classroom in ELT; Part 1

Flipped learning or the flipped classroom is one of the hot topics in education at the moment.
Its a core part of the drive towards integrating technology into learning in order to improve student
outcomes. So, what exactly is the flipped classroom and what could it mean for ELT? And how well
does the concept even work for language teaching?
Definition
Flipped learning reverses the standard model of teaching by delivering instruction and input to
students at home through self-study materials and moving the homework element to the
classroom. The idea is that class time is therefore focused on the elements of learning that benefit
the most from the support and input of the teacher and fellow students. Straightforward knowledge
transmission can be covered just as well (maybe better, in fact) through online self-study, with
students able to work at their own pace until theyve got the basics covered. So, its essentially a
form of blended learning, but a little more prescriptive in terms of what should best be done at
home and what should best be done in class.
How is it done?
The flipped classroom seems to be gaining most traction in the US education system, where it
tends to consist of teachers or university lecturers making video lectures which they then make
available online, with students then doing practice activities and problem-solving tasks in class.
That does suggest that the standard unflipped classroom involves a teacher mainly lecturing
students something that is hopefully less common in ELT.
Why do it?
Well, it certainly sounds logical and attractive. Some of the key benefits are:

Students get more 1:1 time with their teacher because less classroom time is spent with the
teacher talking at the students.
It helps to facilitate peer teaching.
It makes it easier to group and pair students more effectively for example, learners who
struggled with a concept at home can be paired with students who found it straightforward.
It allows teachers to build a resource of online materials (video lectures or explanations for
example) which they can re-use and share with colleagues.
It allows students to work more at their pace and catch up on missed lessons.
It helps to create a collaborative learning environment in the classroom, since more time can be
spent communicating, rather than sitting listening to the teacher.

Cambridge English Teacher Cambridge University Press and Cambridge English Language Assessment 2014

According to adaptive learning company Knewton, student engagement with concepts taught in
schools generally is poor, while 30% of internet users have used online educational videos, such as
those provided by the Khan Academy; these two facts suggest that the flipped classroom could be
a way of improving education. Knewton say that some of the benefits of the flipped model are:

Students get instant feedback on practice activities, since they are done in class with the
teacher.

If they get stuck with their homework they have a teacher (and other students) on hand to get
them through the brick wall.

Students can build a list of questions as they watch the online video and bring them in to class for
the teacher to go through with them this ensures that classroom time is spent working on the
areas that students most need help with.
There is some evidence (including in the Knewton article) that moving to a flipped model can result
in more engaged, better behaved students and improved learning outcomes. As the flipped model
matures and continues to grow in popularity, well see more examples and get a better sense of
how effective it is and how best to apply it.
Any disadvantages?
The obvious issue is that it relies 100% on all students being able to access the online content.
And if that content is primarily video-based, then theyll need reasonably fast internet access.
Another problem is the need to create all of that self-study online content. Even simple video clips
are an extra stage in the process of setting up a course, new skills for a teacher to develop and
extra preparation time. There are blended learning options available from publishers which could
be used in a flipped class course, but none of them were really designed specifically for it, so there
will always be compromises, and deciding which elements to do in class and which your students
should do at home isnt necessarily all that straightforward. Also, there may be a risk of students
feeling theyre not getting full value if the main instructional content is delivered online rather than
by the teacher. And finally, how ready are the students to take responsibility for their own learning?
If they dont bother to do the online learning, then you may end up using classroom time to cover
the input material that the students were supposed to have engaged with at home.

Cambridge English Teacher Cambridge University Press and Cambridge English Language Assessment 2014

Does ELT need flipping?

If youre reading this, then I suspect youve never taught English by simply giving lectures to your
students every lesson and then asking them to do sets of practice activities as homework. So,
perhaps flipped learning as its usually defined isnt really an inversion of the communicative
approach in English language teaching. But the basic principle behind what flipped learning ought
to be is as valid for language learning as it is for anything else identify which areas are primarily
about input and get students to do those outside class so that in-class time is spent on areas where
the presence of a teacher, and other learners, is most useful. Applying this principle may result in a
less dramatic change to a communicative ELT classroom than it does to, say, a US university, but
there are still interesting possibilities and implications in our industry. Part two of the article will look
at some of the practical issues surrounding the flipped classroom.
References
http://www.knewton.com/flipped-classroom/

https://www.khanacademy.org/about

Cambridge English Teacher Cambridge University Press and Cambridge English Language Assessment 2014