Oh, flip that! An evaluation of flipped learning flip......or flop? Heather Lister, Sarah Rose, Jane Brooke Selby College February, 2015 But, certainly, quite a lot of flapping

What is it? The use of digital technologies in order ‘to shift direct instruction outside of the group learning space to the individual learning space, usually via videos.’ (Hamdan et al., 2013: 3) In theory, teachers can then capitalise on students’ preparation by using class time to apply knowledge via active learning strategies. In addition, there is more time for individual support. Ideally, flipped learning encourages students to become ‘agents of their own learning’ (Hamdan et al., 2013: 3).

The history Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams – regarded as the pioneers of FL (Hamdan et al., 2013: 2) - two Chemistry teachers from Colorado, were concerned that students often missed last classes, so introduced live video recordings and screencasting software, etc., to record their lectures. These were loaded onto YouTube so students could access them whenever and wherever. However, the model less important than the result: Bergman and Sams found that after they flipped their classrooms, students interacted far more. They also found that ‘flipping’ the classroom allowed for more flexibility during contact time: students behind were given more time; advanced could still progress.

Sooo much literature...

What’s in a name? Technologies are already established in education: Online/distance: remote, no face-to-face. Blended: usually have online element, but often the face-to-face elements are the same as traditional. Some online courses do have synchronous elements, but not so much asynchronous. Obviously, there are so many different experiences

So, how is ‘flipped teaching’ different: Use of technology, particularly Web 2. This allows for and encourages collaborative teaching and learning. And, of course, allows us to explicitly model.

“But we don't want to teach 'em," replied the Badger. "We want to learn 'em” Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame. The literature frequently refers to how the relatively quiet apparent lecture scenario is replaced with a noisy, more obviously ‘active’: that is, the teacher-centred model becomes a student-centred model. There are obvious other benefits: students who are absent can still catch up with the content. Listening to a lecture at home allows more time to engage in the concepts. Students can reflect, listen at their own pace, rather than trying to capture the content of a live lecture. Many of us don’t lecture, and some subjects do lend themselves to the concept more easily than others.

Why should we be doing it? Teachers are expected to ‘Promote the benefits of technology and support learners in its use.’ Teachers should also ‘Apply theoretical understanding of effective practice...’

What we’ve used...

Can introduce theoretical concepts at home, and discuss/apply in class. Allows us to cover more content. Students can work at their own pace. Increases the ‘HE’ experience. Develop a bank of resources

What do you do if some haven’t ‘flipped’? Technology issues: not all students have been able to access materials; learning how to use it – tutors and students; how to fix it when it ‘breaks’; free technologies: restrictions re time, storage, disappearing acts Time : learning the technology and creating quality resources.

Sidelines… Potential for other materials such as support re academic writing. Developing our own IT skills, and transferring them to our other subjects. ‘quickies’ for students e.g. helping them with English/Maths support.

Students’ responses

Student engagement Hi Heather, Just got through the Nearpod. It might be useful for you to mention that today I have had a really bad day at work. Having come home I was feeling a little worn out and demotivated. Despite this I found that I still learned a lot and the questions in context of the material inspired a lot of independent thought and ideas. I hope my responses demonstrate this. In terms of constructive criticism, I'm having a hard time finding fault with it. The videos at the end were really entertaining and the inclusion of them was nothing short of genius. I think this is because they made me feel positive and may help me recall the information. Also an interesting thought occurred to me when considering the Bobo Doll experiment. In the department I work in there is a lot of external pressure and criticism on what we do. One colleague in particular gets very frustrated when this occurs and often becomes very animated in this. I have realised that this behaviour is often mirrored by others and more worryingly I often feel like behaving the same way. I wonder if this is the Bobo Beatdown occurring. Best Wishes Xxxx (name, not kisses…)

Student engagement 2 (but same student…) Good Evening, After my Moodle issues were resolved I started to work through the content. I just thought I would feedback on what I thought about it. When I look at a presentation that is absent of any human content; such as, a voice or video, I feel its difficult to connect with it. This is helped by having some interaction with the content; for example, a quiz or independent learning activity. However, if there is that 'human' element I feel connected to the presentation and so I learn better. I particularly liked Jane's 'Principles of Learning' screencast. It felt like a Skype session and the slight informality of it created, for me, an enjoyable experience. I particularly enjoyed the occasional feline interruption. What I thought could be improved was the content on punctuation. If this was done using the screencast method, with tasks inserted much like Heather has in her prezzies I think it would be extremely effective. As I have tried to correctly punctuate this any feedback would be appreciated. Enjoy Your Weekend xxx

Closing thoughts… Many of us are already giving homework for students to prepare. This often includes preparing for active learning for a session. Just because we’ve ‘flipped’ something, doesn’t mean that the actual classroom will be any different from our normal practice. But, following a bit of flipping, does it actually mean anything different occurs during class? Some subjects lend themselves to flipping. How much flipping should we do?

References Hamdan, N., McKnight, P., McKnight, K., Arfstrom, K. (2013). A Review of Flipped Learning. Flipped Learning Network. Nelson. R. (2013). Flipped Teaching – Is it a new pedagogy? Is it Sustainable. (Unpublished). University of Huddersfield. Nesta. (2014). The glass tower: the market for higher education and online learning. Retrieved from tower-market-higher-education-and-online-learning