Flipped Classrooms

By Khalid Mazhar

One of the transitionary pillars in smoothly moving from old classrooms to digital and ubiquitous learning environments.

You ask students to have a taste of what will be discussed during a lesson beforehand, may be in lecturer form or as a presentation.

There are many benefits of this type of classrooms like:

As described in Harvard’s Derek Bok center,

Some of the benefits of a flipped classroom are:

“it's flexible
students can learn at their own pace
students take responsibility for their learning
students learn rather than encounter material in class
there are more opportunities for higher level learning
increased collaboration between students ” ¹

Many researcher deem it particularly good for low achievers² and believe so much that flipped classroom saves a lot of time both for teachers and students and say farewell to didactic classroom teaching3

There’re however some drawbacks as well:

There will be a greater digital divide⁵
Students will be required to spend more time on internet⁵
It is not a tested form for all age learners⁵
Over-reliance on digital world⁵
Heavy reliance on students motivation ⁴
Too frequent testing and judging may de-motivate students⁴

However, young generation is already spending more time on ubiquitous computing, further research detached with big tech companies may help.

References:

1. https://bokcenter.harvard.edu/flipped-classrooms#:~:text=A%20flipped%20classroom%20is%20structured,that%20involve%20higher%20order%20thinking.
2. Nouri, J. The flipped classroom: for active, effective and increased learning – especially for low achievers. Int J Educ Technol High Educ 13, 33 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-016-0032-z
3. Eric Mazur, Farewell Lecturers, Vol 232, Science, 9th January 2009 published in AAAS www.sciencemag.com
4. Shi-Chun, D.U., Ze-Tian, F.U. and Yi, W.A.N.G., 2014, April. The flipped classroom–advantages and challenges. In 2014 International Conference on Economic Management and Trade Cooperation (EMTC 2014) (pp. 17-20). Atlantis Press.
5. https://www.teachthought.com/learning/pros-and-cons-of-a-flipped-classroom/