The flipped classroom : an innovation in teaching

 

‘A Flipped Classroom’, a topic given by Madam Ng has flipped my life for a week.When I first read about the title, my reaction was to switch my mind off. The next morning I read again in my facebook account..More questions started pouring into my mind , does she mean  turn the classroom upside down when she said ‘flip’..How?..Why? and then I ended up switching off my lappy and went marketing.. On the way , I couldn’t stop thinking about this idea and the rationale behind it. Oh my..this is very challenging and me …

I started reading on the flipped classroom from the links that Madam Ng gave. My mine was on the flipping classroom should I say day and night.

The experience I gained in preparing the powerpoint slide was very expensive.I spent from morning till night in the library preparing and equipping me on more ‘flip weapons’ as I am going for the battle. ha ha..

On Thursday, after so stressed up with the flipped classroom, I decided to go for a walk at Perdana Siswa and I ended up doing mehdi on my right hand.I haven’t done this for my entire life and I did it now at  this age (???)

My mehdi

 

My friday was spent totally on the flipped classroom from morning till night.I was really indulged with this theory which is not noticeable by many Malaysian teachers including me.

Saturday was the day I’ve been waiting to flip the mind of my classmates.It was not an easy job as the Q-A session began. they started shooting me using from a pistol  to a bazooka.. Ha ha.. And there Madam Ng at the back looking at me and my war..Challenging and interesting battle.Who won? that is not the issue. The issue is that was I able to change their mind into this technology???????????????

What is a flipped classroom?

A flipped classroom is a new way created by Chemistry teachers ,Aaron Sams and John Bergmann to teach students using vodcasting. It started with the idea to give input to students who were absent from classes. Students watch the lecture part of the class at home as homework and have more time in class to work on the assignments.They need to watch the videos before coming to the class. The idea is that students will prepare themselves with the whole concept and by the time they come to the class, they will have some understanding about what they are going to learn. Students will ask questions on the part where they are not clear about and the teacher will revisit the concept in a class.

There have been many arguments about the advantages and disadvantages of flipped classroom which I listed below.

Advantages	Disadvantages
increased time spent with students.	it requires technology that some may not have access to.
students can learn at  their own pace.	students cannot ask questions on the spot.
students can rewatch parts of the lecture	students who have low motivation may not watch the video
mastery learning	teachers need to know how to do the video.
more time to do inquiry

There are also comments that ‘flipped classroom is taking advantages of technology.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/story/2011-10-06/flipped-classrooms-virtual-teaching/50681482/1?csp=34news&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+usatoday-NewsTopStories+%28News+-+Top+Stories%29

Frank Noschese, a physics teacher at John Jay High School in Cross River, N.Y., says anything that gives teachers more face time with students is "a good thing." But he says lecturing, even at a leisurely pace, is still bad pedagogy. "It's just kind of 'Lecture 2.0.'"

 

http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2011/10/five-reasons-im-not-flipping-over.html

I believe there are always  pros and cons on whatever techniques or strategies that we used in teaching and learning. It all depends on the teacher to explore and decide on what is best to be applied for his students. As for me, as long as this technique can make my students enjoy the class, it  will be worth  to give a try.If I can try putting mehdi on my hand at this age, flipping the classroom is just another new experience that I would like to explore.

Even though I am going to apply this technique into my teaching next semester, there are few questions that I am waiting to be answered.Will this technique be approved to be used by my administrator? Do I have all the necessary gadgets to use this vodcasting technique? Will I be able to manage the time especially with my project paper and the video making? and finally Will I be able to make my students enjoy my lesson ?

Whatever it is, I am looking forward for the new year and my new resolution, to change the small world of my teaching.

P/s  The preparation for the flipped classroom presentation has almost make me missed my flight last week, Can’t imagine what else could happen  if I am going to spend my whole semester applying this techniques. Hope I can be as cool as the idea.