Flipped Learning

• August 30, 2018
• admin

Article written by Mansur Akbulut, an Erasmus+ Intern from Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt Üniversitesi. Mansur is an intern with eSkills Malta Foundation.

The successful use of technology in education is not something new. Most of the students have been receiving education in the classrooms with technological support such as smart boards, projections, tablets and so on. Yet, these technologies are mostly used as a means rather than an end. This article is about a technology-based learning method, namely Flipped Learning, which has had reasonable effective.

Eric Mazur, one of the physics professors at Harvard University, describes learning in two steps. The first is that of transferring information to students through education or other sources, and the second is the internalisation of the information by students. In the traditional education system, educators transfer the information that is relatively easy to learn by their students and they are left alone with their homework and projects in a more difficult process that is the internalisation of information. In the Flipped Learning method, on the other hand, transfer of information is provided by complementary materials that are prepared by the instructor before the class such as videos, presentations, documents, and images. Thus, the class becomes a dynamic and an interactive learning space where the teacher guides the students in applying the concepts they have just learned online and students creatively work on the subject with through group work, discussions and peer feedback.

In brief, the traditional teaching processes are inverted by providing students online instructional contents in Flipped Learning. The basic idea behind using this method is to create a learning environment of student-centered teamwork, research, creativity, and problem-solving activities take place.

According to the research, the application of the Flipped Learning method brings more positive results when compared to more traditional methods. Advantages of the Flipped Learning method include:

Students get more confident because they know basic information about the subject just before the class time.
The speed of comprehension of each student may not be the same. The instructor cannot understand it in the traditional method. In Flipped Learning, the student can quickly watch, read and repeat related contents thanks to the always-accessible online archive.
Students post their questions in an electronic environment. Thus, instructors come to class with the best answers. Even sometimes, the questions can be answered by peers.
The interaction and personal contact between students and instructors become more.
Lessons will be easier to understand because the lessons will be interactive and applied. It means students convert theoretical information into practice.
Thanks to teamwork and discussions, there will be an environment where students will take more responsibility and all students are active in the classroom. It is not possible for students to be indifferent to the lesson.
Students who cannot attend classes due to compulsory reasons such as illness, sports and club activities do not fall behind.
Families have a chance to take a look at online contents. They are able to help if their children do not understand any subject.

The Flipped Learning method is not as common as it should be. Maybe we cannot see this method in every place of education but one can start from a point if interested in Flipped Learning. Educators may not be able to upload the contents of your class to an online platform but students still have a chance to experience this method by watching or reading the other materials that were not prepared by your teacher before the class time. Both educators and students can observe the change if they do this, and can decide whether it fits the student or not. In addition, teachers working in the traditional method can try Flipped Learning and notice the change. Today, it is not hard to find an online platform to upload materials and direct students to this platform.

As a summary, it seems that numerous benefits can be gained by shifting to Flipped Learning from more traditional method. The concept of “Homework at School, Lessons at Home” will become more popular in the places of modern education in the near future.