Flipped classrooms are relatively new phenomenons! We all know what a traditional classroom is. To better understand what a flipped classroom is, it might help to define what they were like before the flipped model.

Traditional Classroom: Normally, at school, teachers teach a lesson explaining and giving direct instructions on a topic and then hand out homework to be completed.

Flipped Classroom: A flipped classroom is the reverse of the traditional setting. Students watch a recorded lecture outside of class. Then when they come to school they spend classroom time doing homework, group discussion or other related activities. It intentionally changes the landscape of a classroom to become learner-centered.

Flipped classrooms were first introduced by Jonathan Bergman and Aaron Sams. They were teaching at Woodland Park High School in 2007, when they happened upon software that let them record their power points and lectures. They then posted these recordings online, which gave students access to the lectures if they were unable to attend the class. This then lead to the widespread phenomenon now known as “flipped classrooms.”

By changing the dynamic of the classroom, the pair of teachers addressed the problem of not having enough class time to lecture and give in-depth instruction on a topic. Since students feel as thought they’re not getting enough instruction, they normally leave class frustrated and not wanting to do their homework.

Thanks to Mr. Bergman and Sams, direct teaching instructions were being delivered via video, students were then given the opportunity to learn at their own pace. They could stop and pause a video when confused, rewind if necessary, and write down any questions they had which they could then bring to class. This meant the classroom time was freed up for content exploration and engagement in active learning rather than what they call “factual recall.”

Factual Recall: This is when students are just enhancing their memory and learning facts instead of learning meaning and concept.

With a flipped classroom, there are opportunities for student interaction with their teachers and students can participate group discussion with peers. This classroom model allows students to have a more personalized approach to learning rather than a “one-size-fits-all” model.

To record your power point presentations visit this list of instructions from Microsoft or here’s a list of other software programs.

Homeschool Families: if you’d like to try out a flipped classroom, VIP Kid and Khan Academy are great tools for you.