Applying flipped learning strategies in online environment

In the recent years, there has been a growing interest in adopting flipped learning not only in K-12 but also in higher education. Many articles and studies have foreseen that this model of learning would be the future of learning thanks to its immediate effectiveness and impact on learning outcomes. The common practice of flipped classroom is often described as "multimedia lectures being recorded so students can view them out of class and at their own pace" (O'Flaherty & Philips, 2015) and during in-class time, students work "through problems, advance concepts, and engage in collaborative learning" (Tucker, 2012). The ultimate goal of flipped classroom is to optimize class time and engage students with more active learning activities including discussion or group work rather than lecturing so that students can develop higher level cognitive skills. Additionally, flipped classroom also enables teachers to provide just-in-time feedback and support to students when they are struggle with convoluted concepts and/or exercises. Many studies have indicated that students and teachers perceived flipped classroom as positive learning experience and foster student performance (Avdic & Åkerblom, 2015).

When it comes to online learning, the basic concepts of flipped classroom can absolutely be applied. However, as online learning can involve various models and deliveries such as synchronous, asynchronous, or combined both modalities, it is important to emphasize that flipped classroom strategies can only be utilized in the courses where there are some components or sessions of the course delivered synchronously. Flipped classroom approach does not seem to make much sense in completely asynchronous courses in which students study on their own pace and there is no opportunities for students and instructor to be present at the same time.

With that being said, the in-class strategies and activities of flipped pedagogy can be utilized in synchronous sessions. In fact, during synchronous class meeting, the building of new knowledge should be set to occur primarily through learner-learner interaction and the role of instructor is technically providing effective prompts and guiding the exploration of knowledge rather than lecturing. More specifically, the instructor should take advantage of the breakout room feature of video conferencing tools like Zoom or Adobe Connect to split the class into small groups for discussions and activities several times and use the PowerPoint slides for providing class meeting agenda and discussion prompts instead of lectures. It is needless to say that due to the time constraint and nature of synchronous class meeting, not all students get the opportunity to let their voice heard. Thus the breakout rooms appear to be very effective for discussion as it provides opportunities for all students to contribute their ideas and makes discussion more manageable.

With regards to asynchronous component of the course, instructor can assign students reading, video lectures, exercises on a weekly basis that students need to complete before synchronous class meeting. It is needless to say that video lectures are an inevitable components of flipped pedagogy. However, instructor should be aware that video production is a resource intensive process, yet video is not an effective method for learning when it is not aligned with pedagogical goals. “If you can listen to it and not look at it, but still get the same amount out of it, should it be a video? Maybe you should be reading it, or it should be a podcast instead,” says Molly Wasser, Lead Course Developer at HarvardX. Thus when designing online courses, instructors need to be thoughtful about using video and take into considerations different affordances and styles of this medium in order to best achieve the desired learning outcomes.

In addition, group work can also be a very effective pedagogy in online learning as it can augment students’ engagement and transfer of knowledge to real world. Group work undoubtedly encourages collaboration which is now widely known as one of the four 21st century skills and has been embedded in many standards for designing effective online courses, such as National Standards for Quality Online Teaching (iNACOL, 2011), the very well-known set of standards among K-12 educators. Applying this pedagogy, students should be paired to work together on the project because the bigger group with 3 or more members is more likely to render more challenges and issues for collaboration in online environment. It is worth pointing out that learning management system (LMS) like Moodle or Canvas is the essential platform to implement group work pedagogy as it provides a venue for students to discuss, divide tasks, and share ideas for group assignments or projects.

Reference:

Avdic, A., & Åkerblom, L. (2015). Flipped classroom and learning strategies. European Conference on e-Learning. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.cul.columbia.edu/docview/1728004231?accountid=10226&pq-origsite=summon

O'Flaherty, J., & Philips, C. (2015). The use of flipped classrooms in higher education: A scoping review. Internet and Higher Education, 25, 85-95. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1096751615000056

Tucker, B. (2012). The flipped classroom, Education Next, 12(1). Retrieved from http://educationnext.org/the-flipped-classroom/