Do you remember those moments when you were sitting in the classroom in school idle and clueless when the teacher was explaining a difficult concept which you couldn’t follow? Don’t worry, even today, several students face the same problem. This is a major drawback of traditional classroom based teaching. In a traditional classroom setup, the teacher explains a particular concept to a group of students. By the time the class is over, there is hardly any time left for solving the doubts of students or answering questions which they may have. Till the next class, the students have already forgotten their doubts. Also, this teaching strategy is not useful for a student who has missed the basic first module and is unable to follow anything in the subsequent class. Here is where flipped classrooms come into the picture.
The flipped classroom model is gaining tremendous popularity in the USA amongst the teachers and schools as well. Wondering what a flipped classroom is? What is making this teaching strategy so popular in the US? Here is the answer.
What is a flipped classroom?
A flipped classroom is a technique that involves the use of instructional content and learning materials by students at home prior to the beginning of the class. Before attending the class, students review and go through various content types at home as homework. The different content types may be in the form of animations, videos, presentations, pre-recorded video lectures and video broadcasts. Once the students watch the interactive content given to them, they experience improved conceptual clarity. The in-class time can then be dedicated for interactive activities, fun experiments, discussions, projects, and debates. All the activities which are usually performed by students for homework can be done in-class under the guidance and support of the teachers. Any questions or doubts that the students have can be cleared by the teachers directly in the class.
Here is how the flipped classroom model is transforming and reshaping learning for students in the US:
1) Enables learners to learn at their own pace
The flipped classroom enables learners to learn concepts from interactive content at their own pace at home. In a traditional classroom setup, students have no choice but to follow the pace of the instructor. This will help slow learners who take time in grasping concepts. They can rewind the content as many times as they want.
2) Promotes active learning amongst students
A flipped classroom is an effective means to facilitate active learning amongst students. Since the students are already aware about the content and concepts previously, a flipped classroom is more of an interactive learning environment for the learners. This is because various active learning techniques like quizzes, debates and discussions, team games, and application oriented activities are used in class.
3) Builds an interactive learning environment in class
The traditional classroom involves the instructor taking the class by teaching some concepts everytime. There is hardly any time for students to ask questions or get their doubts cleared. It is more of a one-way conversation from the instructor to the students. On the contrary, a flipped classroom creates an interactive learning environment for the students in class since it involves communication from both sides, the student’s side as well as the instructor’s side.
4) Better learning and understanding
The flipped classroom model facilitates much better understanding of concepts than what the traditional classroom approach is capable of. The challenges laid in front of the students in the form of activities and assignments takes leaning to a totally new level. Thus, with flipped classrooms, students get a much solid foundation over a subject which otherwise wouldn’t have been possible.
Considering the benefits offered by the flipped classroom model, it is all set to become a new normal in the education field in the US moving forward.