Heard about the ‘flipped classroom’ but unsure how to put it into action?

Let these tips be your guide

If you’ve been anywhere near the education sector over the past few years, you’ve probably come across the term ‘flipped classroom’. The theory, which brings technology into the classroom as an extra learning resource to give teachers more time with individual students, is transcending buzzword status and becoming an increasingly well-recognised teaching methodology.

You may have liked what you’ve heard about the flipped classroom, but how can it be put it into practice? Here’s 5 tips for flipping your class and transforming your students’ learning experience. You can bookmark this page for future reference and why not check out our ‘7 ways to use video in the classroom’ guide too? Anyway, onto the tips.

1. Give your students the license to be creative

In the flipped class, students should not be passive learners. For a fun exercise that ensures they actively participate in the subject, challenge them to make short animated videos about what they’ve learned. Why not encourage the students to educate each other by showing off their Wideos in front of the class? Give yourself and your students the opportunity to keep up with the trends. Multimedia helps foster skills like critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, communication, and collaboration. Not only will it cement what they’ve learned, but it hones their IT and design skills in the process. A perfect flipped lesson.

2. Record interactive tutorials

In the flipped classroom boom of recent years, teacher-made ‘screencasts’ (videos showing a user’s computer screen as they navigate through tasks) have formed an integral part of many a flipped lesson. By recording a sequence on your computer you can break down more complicated processes for students, while at the same time creating a resource they can repeatedly refer back to. From mathematical equations to ICT tasks, recording a screencast tutorial for students to watch at home creates a perfect flipped practice for your classes. Plus allows those absentees to keep up with the material at home.

3. Tutor, don’t lecture

As The Daily Riff puts it in its flipped classroom myth-buster, teachers should be less the “sage on the stage” and more the “guide on the side”. As such, rather than giving one long, catch-all lecture for the students, cut time at the front of the class and spend the lesson directly interacting with individuals. Video combines visual and auditory stimuli into one single package. Spreading things out across different styles, and creating short animated movies will address the naturally diverse nature of students’ methods for soaking up info through media. Every student thinks and learns differently, so tailor your teaching to their needs with short hands-on explanations and engaging short videos, as you weave around your flipped classroom.

4. Fill your walls with images and videos

Technology plays a key role in the flipped teaching theory, and using a projector to throw images and videos onto your classroom walls is one fantastic way to utilise classroom tech. It will help your students visualise concepts and events while fully immersing them in the subject. A classroom projector means you’re no longer restricted to the whiteboard, so splash some visual treats across the walls and make your classroom a truly stimulating learning environment.

5. Digitally archive your teaching materials

Another advantage of the flipped teaching format is the boundaries it breaks between home and class. Lessons should never be left at the door when students walk out of school, and moreover, you know they’ll be pining for revision notes when exam time comes around. Uploading and archiving your lesson materials empowers your students with the ability to learn wherever they are, and saves you the trouble of writing and photo-copying all those extra notes. Flip your lessons into the digital realm and improve processes for all.

Here are some ideas of how you could use Wideo to flip your class:

1. Create a video assessment – instead of writing essays get your students to make a wideo about the point they need to get across.
2. Use videos to introduce a presentation – Capture the attention with an intro video to the presentation you’re about to give.
3. Create a lesson summary – capture the main points discussed in the lesson and put it on your youtube channel for the students to view at home or have access to when they need it.
4. Hold a wideo creating workshop – teach concepts of colour combination, design ideas, how to create captivating presentations etc.
5. Create an end of year video – Capture photos during the year and create a special end of year photo compilation video for the students to keep
6. Greeting cards & invitations – Instead of paper invitations to parent teacher conferences or sending out numerous greeting cards, create a fun wideo to post online and simply send out the link, or embed it in your blog.

The bottom line?

The flipped classroom is achievable. No longer should ‘flipping’ lessons be a futuristic concept adopted by a select few; an open mind to technology and entrusting students with more responsibly can radicalise the lessons of any teacher – as Brian E. Bennett emphasises in this handy guide to flipped classroom web tools on Free Tech For Teachers.

Flip your class today with Wideo 🙂

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