It's Flippin' Easy! F2F, Online, & In-Class Flipped Model to Maximize Learning

Purpose & objective

Challenge/Situation

It is now evident that technology has allowed us to reach students in the learning process without being bound to four walls. Teaching videos, AI content, virtual reality, and synchronous platforms are just a few of the ways that technology provides access beyond those walls. Many teachers are intimidated by how to incorporate technology in their classrooms. Some will adhere to a mentality to use it simply to engage learners or to get a checkmark for using technology on their teacher evaluation. But true technology integration will not replace good instruction, it will supplement it - whether that is inside the four walls or outside of it. This presentation will use a flipped classroom methodology in a variety of formats - a traditional flip, an online flip, or an in-class flip, to structure good teaching lessons, actively engage in quality teacher to student interactions, and keep formative assessment alive in driving learning.

When using technology to create teaching content, teachers must remember that they don't always have a live, captive audience, nor the luxury of using classroom management skills to help focus students in the same way that they do in face-to-face instruction. But that doesn't mean time away from the teacher is passive. Teachers can use technology to create active opportunities to engage students in the content.

Regarding pre-recorded or live online content, there is not a wealth of research on how long or how much time K-12 students stay engaged. Much of the research in online instruction focuses on the higher education audience. And this research shows that when using pre-recorded content, many learners tend to tune out after about six minutes! (Buchner, 2018; Gruber & Buchner, 2017; Guo, Kim, & Rubin, 2014; Thomson, Brigestock, & Willems, 2014). We assume that college students have longer attention spans and more practice with study skills to limit distractions. But how much practice has a typical eighth grader had in these environments? Or a kindergarten student? It must be concluded that the attention span of these learners might be even less which means that virtual learning content must be concise, to the point, and focus on the absolute most important elements that need to be learned. This also means that any and all instructional activities should be purposefully aligned to the overall learning goal. Teachers can only identify the absolute most important content by using a backward mindset lens approach toward planning.

There are two ways in which teachers should use content to structure flipped classroom methodologies in their classrooms:

Asynchronously. Teaching content is pushed out via pre-recorded teaching via screencasts or podcasts, through supplementary resources such as YouTube videos and other media content, or in the form of articles and textbook reading. Students then complete activities (i.e. guided practice or independent practice) such as answering discussion board questions, taking quizzes, or writing reflections at their own pace. Work is submitted and then graded by the teacher later.

Synchronously. Teaching content is pushed out via live video conferencing tools such as Zoom, WebEx, or Google Meet that allows the teacher to communicate and teach to students similar to a F2F setting via a computer screen. In this form of online instruction, the teacher structures the lesson very similarly with students participating at the same time. This would be needed in the case of an online flipped classroom, but also in purposefully planned small group rotation activities in the in-class flipped model.

In an asynchronous approach to the flipped classroom, teachers need to become well-versed in how to anticipate common misunderstandings so as to prevent possible misconceptions. But it also means that learning activities and assessment evidence used to gauge student understanding must be specifically tailored to an environment in which feedback is sometimes delayed. An additional implication is that assessments will need to be designed so that teachers can assess potential errors or misconceptions in a different way.

Technology Intervention

Asynchronous tools - Loom, Nearpod, Google applications, Flip, EdPuzzle are just a few that will be mentioned, modeled, and experimented with.

Synchronous tools - Zoom, Google Meet, WebEx

Differentiation strategies of structuring the traditional flip, online flip, and the in-class flip.

Models Employed

Tenets of the flipped classroom approach include:

Step 1 - Teachers create or use high quality teaching content in short spurts and assign this content for students to view. This content is often created in teacher-made teaching videos and cover foundational or basic aspects of a lesson. In a traditional and online flip, this content is accessed OUTSIDE of the classroom, preferably before showing up to class. In the case of the in-class flip, students would view this content during class in pre-structured small group activities.

Step 2 - Teachers assign a short, low stakes viewing proof assignment that goes with the asynchronous content. This serves as proof that the student interacted with the content and to check for initial understanding of the concept. The activity is usually low-stakes in that students get a completion grade for turning it in.

Step 3 - Checking for understanding activity. When students come back to class (or meet online or go to the next teacher led group) the teacher rather than starting out with the lesson, checks for initial understanding and student mastery. The lesson picks up from where this content left off and can typically go to higher levels of learning.

Step 4 - The teacher provides hands-on engagement and in-class application (either face-to-face or online, virtually via Zoom synchronous platforms) to go deeper with the content and engage the learners further in the content rather than sticking to basic foundational skills pushed out in step 1.

This presentation will focus on the practicality of using this method in both blended (virtual and F2F) environments AND in 100% online environments via asynchronous and synchronous platforms. Furthermore, a typical typical lesson sequence will be modeled while engaging learners in a complete flipped classroom cycle including recorded content, viewing proof activity, checking for understanding, and in-class applications. Suggestions for tools to create teaching video content will also be discussed in addition to the research on this area.

Instructional Activities/Strategies

This presentation will focus on three methods of implementing a flipped classroom:

Traditional flipped classroom - asynchronous content outside of class, whole class synchronous learning back in class led by the teacher.

Online/Blended flipped classroom - asynchronous content before class, whole class synchronous learning that occurs via Zoom or similar platform. This is NOT lecture-based, but purposefully designed activities to engage learners to go deeper with content introduced in the asynchronous portion.

In-Class Flipped Classroom - asynchronous content assigned as part of in-class rotation activities. Designed so that students access the content first, practice with other rotations, and then access a teacher led lesson last so that the teacher can assess students and provide feedback, go deeper with the concept.

Evidence of Success

Participants will come away with concrete strategies for creating asynchronous content:
Slideshow templates that showcase key elements of a good lesson:
Introduction/Engagement/Background knowledge
Model using a research-based strategy such as examples/non-examples, graphic organizer, comparisons, etc.
Teacher modeled practice problems
Teacher modeled practice problems that ask students to pause video, solve problem or answer question and then come back to video to confirm if they are doing it right
Lesson conclusion/wrap up
Short assessment in the form of viewing practice

Video screencast recording tools: Loom, EDPuzzle, Nearpod, etc.
Make a sample video (1-minute using template and screencast)

Participants will come away with concrete strategies for engaging synchronous via online strategies (Zoom) OR in small groups for the in-class flip. Participants will experience sample lessons of both and will use templates to start their own lesson.

All participants will come away with templates and materials that can be used to create their own asynchronous and synchronous learning content immediately.

Outline

Activity 1 - Introductions & Introduce key terms needed for the session. Define traditional flipped classroom, in-class flip, and online flip and show examples of each type. (5 minutes)

Activity 2 - Discuss flipped classroom applications to ALL learning environments using the actual flipped content. Discuss strategies to create asynchronous video content using easy to access tools such as Loom, Panopto, Flip, Nearpod, etc. Show example video with matching learning activity. Have participants create a brief 1-minute test video. Discuss methods for creating quality screencasts & teaching resources (8 minutes).

Activity 3 - Discuss flipped classroom applications for synchronous learning in a blended or online environment the (online flip). In this scenario, the class would meet online via a virtual platform via Zoom. Participants will experience a brief synchronous activity by all logging into a Zoom platform (8 minutes).

Activity 4 - Discuss flipped classroom application for synchronous learning in a tradition or in-class flip scenario. Model synchronous in-class application activity using Google slides and notecards and grouping strategies. If using a traditional flip, the activity will be posted at the front while attendees work in partners or groups to discuss. If using an in-class flip, attendees will work in small groups to complete as part of class rotations.This part of the activity has two purposes: 1. To engage learners in discussion about learning design and 2. To model in-class application activities in two environment s- F2F traditional or F2F in-class as part of the flipped classroom model. (9 minutes).

Supporting research

Brame, C., (2013). Flipping the classroom. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved from http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/flipping-the-classroom/.

Buchner, J. (2018). How to create educational videos: from watching passively to learning actively. R&E-SOURCE. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327423659_How_to_create_Educational_Videos_From_watching_passively_to_learning_actively.

Gonzalez. J. (2014). Modifying the flipped classroom: The in-class version. Retrieved online from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/flipped-classroom-in-class-version-jennifer-gonzalez.

Gruber, H., & Buchner, J. (2017). How to create inverted classroom videos for teaching and learning music outside and within the classrooms. Presented at the 25th EAS Conference and 6th European ISME Regional Conference, Mozarteum University Salzburg. Retrieved from:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326698063_How_to_create_inverted_classrom_videos_for_teaching_and_learning_music_outside_and_within_the_classrooms.

Guo, P., Kim, J., & Rubin, R. (2014). How video production affects student engagement: An empirical study of mooc videos. In Proceedings of the First ACM Conference on Learning at Scale Conference (pp. 41–50). Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1145/2556325.2566239.

Hattie, J. (2018). Visible Learning Framework. Retrieved online from https://visible-learning.org/hattie-ranking-influences-effect-sizes-learning-achievement/.

Thomson, A., Bridgstock, R., & Willems, C. (2014). ‘Teachers flipping out’ beyond the online lecture: Maximising the educational potential of video. Journal of Learning Design, 7(3). Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.5204/jld.v7i3.209.

http://rtalbert.org/what-does-the-research-say/
https://er.educause.edu/articles/2017/9/myths-and-facts-about-flipped-learning

https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/blended-flipped-learning/can-flip-online-class/