Homework and schoolwork “flip”

Designed into these learning stories:
Redesigning school
Visualizing the planet surface
Designing a physics simulation
Designing a math learning game
Okulu yeniden tasarlama
Gezegen yüzeyini görselleştirme
Bir fizik simülasyonu tasarlama
Bir matematik öğrenme oyunu tasarlama

Narrative

I’ve been teaching for nearly ten years and have decided to try the popular idea of “flipping” in my class. The basic idea behind flipping is that lectures become homework, while class time is used for collaborative student work, experiential exercises, debate and lab work. Videos and other e-learning materials are used extensively during “home time” to deliver learning content, while class-time becomes open to experimentation and collaboration.  I’ve read about flipping and realize it’s not a fully-fledged pedagogical approach, but a philosophy meant to be used flexibly and fluidly alongside all the tools I have gathered during my career. I’ve read how “flipping” can positively impact student learning regardless of the subject or the type of classroom.

It is important to me that the additional classroom time gained through flipping is used as effectively as possible, and that the resources students use in their own time are of the highest possible quality and appropriate to their current levels of knowledge. A content library that is integrated with online videos checked for quality and accessibility seems the best way to ensure success.  My colleagues and I have developed teaching resources, videos and online activities over the years, and I’ve also kept the best revision materials developed by students at the school. Now it’s time to put this rich repository of content to good use in a structured approach, filling any gaps with high-quality resources available for free over the internet.

I look within the curriculum to identify topics that lend themselves well to ‘flipping’, like those that don’t require significant initial student-teacher interaction and that have high-quality resources for the at-home instructional element. I also ensure that students understand the purpose and format of ‘flipping’.  I support students who lack access to resources at home to find other times and locations to view the materials.  I also take advantage of a new school scheme that provides students with notebooks, to help ensure access for students and encourage them to complete their home tasks.

After the first weeks of flipping, some initial challenges arise. I realize that class time requires a different, but just as rigorous, form of planning, and that collaborative activities and project work come with their own issues to be addressed separately. However, after some initial adjustments, the benefits become evident, as the classroom becomes a place for more effective learning activities and increased student-teacher and peer interactions. Many students begin to choose how they learn content and demonstrate understanding, all while being allowed to master it at their own pace.

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

This post is also available in: Turkish

One Response to Homework and schoolwork “flip”

  1. Adil Tugyan says:

    This learning story is amazing because letting students learn at their own paces is really benefical for students if planned and organized in a systematic and careful way.If teachers understand the idea lying behind flipping and use appropriate sourses and materials ,they can achieve satisfactory results and outcomes.I used this method with my students just to get the idea oh how useful it would be with my class.It worked .I used direct teaching in class and recorded the lesson then I provided students with some extra videos and documents and uploaded the to our class blog , after a certain time I put my students into groups of five and asked the to share what they learned with their friends and then with the whole class.The result was incredible.The only challenge I had was the absence of internet connection in some of my students’ houses.I let them study in the school revise in the computer lab at school.

    VA:F [1.9.22_1171]
    Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Leave a Reply