Synchronous Online Flipped Learning Approach — SOFLA

Purpose & objective

Objectives: Participants will be able to identify and describe the 8 steps of the SOFLA® learning cycle; Participants will be able to explain how SOFLA® fosters teaching presence in online settings both synchronously and asynchronously; Participants will be able to apply SOFLA® to their subject matter and grade level in their local context.
Educational Challenge: How to maintain and foster teaching presence in an online learning environment.
Models Employed: SOFLA® - Synchronous Online Flipped Learning Approach.
Lesson Plan/Instructional activities/strategies: 8-step learning cycle: (1) Pre-Work; (2) Sign-In Activity; (3) Whole Group Application; (4) Breakout Groups; (5) Share-Out; (6) Preview and Discovery; (7) Follow-Up; and (8) Reflection. Instructional electronic resources or tools: Videoconferencing (any application), Shared interactive social annotation tool (Perusall), Video lessons with embedded questions and discussion (PlayPosit).
Evidence of Success: Data from 5 years of implementation of the model in teacher education programs.

Outline

Timed Agenda
Content: Flipped Learning
Detail: Four key questions to ask when flipping instruction online
Minutes: 2
Activities: 8 Steps of SOFLA®
Detail: Participants go through the 8 steps of SOFLA in a whirlwind demonstration of the model: (1) Pre-Work; (2) Sign-In Activity; (3) Whole Group Application; (4) Breakout Groups; (5) Share-Out; (6) Preview and Discovery; (7) Follow-Up; and (8) Reflection.
Minutes: 12
Content: Evidence of Success
Detail: Data from student interviews and questionnaires
Minutes: 4
Questions/Comments
Minutes: 2

Supporting research

The Synchronous Online Flipped Learning Approach (SOFLA) draws from two research areas, both focused on best practices in instructional technology: online learning and flipped learning. The Community of Inquiry framework for online teaching (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000) provides the foundation for the synchronous component that fosters both teaching presence and social presence and complements the asynchronous component that consists of content delivery. Flipped learning (Bergmann & Sams, 2012; Flipped Learning Network, 2014) is a pedagogical approach that moves direct instruction to the out-of-class individual space and brings practice and application activities into the group or in-class space. In an online setting these correspond to the asynchronous and synchronous components of SOFLA. In terms of Bloom’s revised taxonomy (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001) the lower levels of Bloom’s hierarchy are “flipped,” leaving class time for engaging students in the upper levels of Bloom, activating critical thinking and deeper learning.