Student’s name: Velardez, Martín

Course of Studies: Profesorado de Inglés e Inglés Técnico

Subject: English Language IV

Lecturers: Orozco, Adriana & Nastri, Mariano

Assignment: Extended essay on Education

Length: 2252 words

Date: August 13th, 2020

 Flipped Teaching and Learning in times of the Pandemic: Benefits and

Drawbacks

Long before COVID-19 appeared on the scene, English Language Teaching

seemed to be fixed inside the confines of classrooms, but learning can and should be

happening everywhere and anywhere. Learning should be able to take place beyond

the brick-and-mortar building, and it can take many forms. In the present context of the

pandemic, there is a new normal that should be embraced. Whatever one calls the

present era, the shift in paradigm that it represents has brought anew the need for a

different approach to education. Face to face lessons had to be put on hold for some

time and part of the ELT community has decided to lean back on a variety of

approaches to make the most of teaching and learning in these difficult times.

One of the approaches that has been recently reconsidered is the flipped

classroom, a pedagogical trend which employs asynchronous video lectures and

practice exercises as homework, and active, group-based problem-solving activities in

the classroom. According to some researchers, this approach represents a unique

combination of learning theories once thought to be incompatible—active, problem-

based learning activities founded upon a constructivist ideology and instructional

lectures derived from direct instruction methods based on behaviorist principles.

However, the question arises as to whether the flipped classroom is a viable approach

to teaching ELT in this current context of the pandemic. The aim of this essay is to delve

into the advantages and disadvantages of the flipped classroom as part of the new

normal