The Flipped Classroom

How is a flipped classroom better than a regular classroom?

When you picture a classroom, you probably picture students sitting at desks, watching
the teacher lecture, and then going home to do homework. But flip that image in your
head, and you get a different kind of classroom - the flipped classroom.

In the flipped classroom, students watch teachers' lectures at home, and then go to the
classroom to do 'homework'. Lectures are pre-recorded, and students watch them on their
home computers. 'Homework' is group projects that students work on while the teacher
walks around, offering guidance.

The flipped classroom concept isn't new, but it has recently taken off. This is due to
improved technology, and to positive research findings.

One experiment was conducted in a high school in Michigan (U.S.), in which many
students were failing math and science. The school divided the students into two classes.
One was a flipped classroom, and the other was a traditional classroom. The students in
the flipped classroom brought their grades up to a C+ or higher, after only 20 weeks. The
students in the traditional classroom showed no improvement. The flipped classroom
worked. As a result, the administration flipped every class in the school.

The success of the flipped classroom is attributed to high school science teachers
Jonathan Bergman and Aaron Sams. They started using the method in 2004, as a solution
for students who missed class. Bergman and Sams discovered software that allowed
them to record their lectures and turn them into video presentations. By 2007, they were
recording and sharing all of their lessons. By the next year, they were requiring all
students to watch the lessons at home, and use class time to discuss and experiment with
the material. Bergman and Sams even found ways to adapt the method for students
without Internet access, including downloading lectures onto cellphones. Today, Bergman
and Sams have their own Web site and even host boot camps, and teacher workshops.

But Bergman and Sams didn't invent the flipped classroom. The concept was first
presented in a paper published in 2000, called 'Inverting the Classroom'. But technology
was not advanced enough to implement it. With today's technology, however, the flipped
classroom finally stands a chance of flipping the entire education system on its head!