What Is a Flipped Class?

In the traditional class, teachers spend most of the class time lecturing. Maybe 90% of the class time is spent on delivery and review of content, while 10% is spent on application of content. Clearly this is not an effective way of teaching.

In most cases, the teacher finds in the classroom different groups of students: struggling learners, middle group of learners, and high level learners. The middle group of students could follow along while the teacher explains the content. But there is a group of high level students who are not challenged to move forward. And finally, there are the struggling learners who are not receiving enough effective help to understand the content; in fact, they depend on their effort outside the class for applying the concepts given on the class. But this is almost impossible for them since they are easily distracted. It is evident that there is not enough time for effective differentiation in the classroom.

How to overcome these difficulties which represent the general case and to transform teaching and learning?

American teachers believe that "flipped learning" is the model of instruction that permits the student to being able to apply more information and do collaborative learning in the classroom. Then how to flip the classroom? This teaching method refers to the use of teacher-created videos on a media device which permit the student to watch the lesson online outside the class, freeing the students to have more time on application when they come into class.

Since home work and teaching are flipped, this is a real shift in efficiency in the classroom. Students take notes at home before class and prepare to participate in class activities. In other words, students come to school more prepared to apply what they have learned. And the teacher is allowed more time to individuated attention in classroom. In doing so, the students receive feedback right in the moment they need it. This method also opens more opportunities for collaboration among the students. When students watch the lecture videos outside of class (or in class), there is only 10% of class time allocated to watching and going through the instructional material, while 90% of the class time is spent on application of content, to promote effective learning.

Now all students could be engaged and challenged. As we can see, the deployment of technology goes hand in hand with collaborative learning and individualized education.

Marco Antonio Bomfoco, Ph.D., a Language and Literature expert, advocates for quality public education in an environment in which imagination and lifelong learning flourish. Marco Antonio wants every Brazilian child to have access to the highest quality education. He lives in Porto Alegre, in southern Brazil.