Flipped Learning

Gateway to Student Engagement

Jonathan Bergmann, Aaron Sams

• Publisher: International Society for Technology in Education
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781564845399
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Standards

Flipped classroom pioneers Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams take their revolutionary educational philosophy to the next level in Flipped Learning. Building on the energy of the thousands of educators inspired by the influential book Flip Your Classroom, this installment is all about what happens next — when a classroom is truly student-centered and teachers are free to engage with students on an individual level.Flipping, combined with practical project-based learning pedagogy, changes everything. Loaded with powerful stories from teachers across curriculum and grade levels as well as technology coordinators and professional learning specialists who share how they were able to go deeper into content, Flipped Learning will once again turn your expectations upside-down and fuel your excitement for teaching and learning.These stories share how to apply flipped learning techniques to:

• Go deeper into content
• Let students' curiosity take learning further
• Help students develop positive relationships

Audience: K-12 classroom teachers

Chapter 1

the flipped learning model

WITH THE EDUCATIONAL media outlets full of articles, blog posts, webinars, and interviews about flipped classrooms and flipped learning, many educators are left wondering: What exactly is the flipped classroom? We have hesitated to answer this question because we strongly believe that what we originally called the flipped classroom is just a stage leading to what we were really promoting—flipped learning. This may seem like mincing words, but we want to be clear that what has popularly become known as the flipped classroom is only one basic form of the flipped learning model.

Defining Flipped Learning

The commonly known definition of a flipped classroom is when students watch instructional videos at home and do the typical homework (worksheets, problem sets, back-of-the-chapter exercises) in class. We are calling this version “Flipped Class 101.” This is the entry point, but it is not the goal or a place to stop. Moving direct instruction out of the group learning space and into the individual learning space is a great place to begin your journey, but it is not the destination itself.

In our first book, Flip Your Classroom (Bergmann & Sams, 2012), we wrote about the first year we flipped using Flipped Class 101. That year we focused primarily on producing high-quality videos for our students. However, as the year progressed, we realized we could use elements of the flipped classroom to move students to mastery. So we moved through Flipped Class 101 and developed the flipped mastery model. Even that wasn’t the ending point. We moved further, into flipped learning.

But what exactly is flipped learning? We like the definition that the Flipped Learning Network (www.flippedlearning.org) adapted from the work of Ramsey Musallam (www.cyclesoflearning.com):

Flipped learning is a pedagogical approach in which direct instruction moves from the group learning space to the individual learning space, and the resulting group space is transformed into a dynamic, interactive learning environment where the educator guides students as they apply concepts and engage creatively in the subject matter.

The basic premise is that direct instruction, which is often referred to as lecture (though it is not necessarily the same thing), is not conducted in large groups. In flipped learning, the direct instruction is delivered individually, usually—though not exclusively—through teacher-created videos. This time shift then frees up the face-to-face time for richer, more meaningful learning experiences for students.

If a teacher is not using direct instruction in class, what does she do instead? You can get to the answer to that question by answering the One Question: What is the best use of face-to-face time with students?

Flipped learning, at its core, is individualized learning. There are many methods, variations, and types of student-centered learning—differentiated instruction, problem/project-based learning, inquiry-based study, and many others. When combined with the flipped learning concept, these strategies become practical to implement. Flipped learning is fundamentally learner-centric.

Flipped learning isn’t a set process; it allows for many expressions of the model. There is no single strategy that works in every classroom, for every teacher, and for each student. However, flipped learning is adaptable to your style, methods, and circumstances. Each teacher can personalize their version of flipped learning for their students. It also allows teachers to play to their individual strengths as educators. However, there are some key components of all successful flipped learning environments.

Components of Successful Flipped Learning Environments

As we have interacted with many teachers, we have noticed some key reasons they have been successful with flipped learning.

Collaboration

It is very difficult to incorporate flipped learning alone. When we implemented flipped learning, our rooms were right next to each other. As we were developing our versions of flipped learning, we were constantly talking with each other about how we could tweak and overhaul our teaching practice. Neither of us could have done this alone. And as others have discovered flipped learning, many of the most successful teachers have done so within a community.

A great example of collaboration involves English teachers Andrew Thomasson (found on Twitter at @thomasson_engl) and Cheryl Morris (@guster4lovers). Andrew teaches in North Carolina and Cheryl teaches in California. They met while attending the 2012 Flipped Class Virtual Conference, realized they had similar teaching philosophies, and began to collaborate. They are now making instructional videos together, even though they are three time zones apart. Their success is primarily due to how well they networked and connected with each other. They are also connected to the larger flipped learning community via Twitter and other social networking sites.

Student-Centered Learning

Too often, classrooms are centered around the teacher. The teacher is “teaching” by standing up and giving a presentation of some sort to their students. Even when this is done well, there are often students who are disengaged from the learning process. We observe that when the teacher steps off the stage and becomes a facilitator of learning, rather than a presenter of content, the classroom becomes a center for learning where the focus of the classroom is on the student.

Optimized Learning Spaces

The physical design of most classrooms is based on the idea that the teacher and the presentation of content should be the focus. Twenty years ago, this meant the blackboard and a teacher desk were the focus of the room. As technology changed, the blackboard became a whiteboard, the whiteboard was replaced with a screen and LCD projector, and many schools invested great amounts of money in interactive whiteboards. Unfortunately these changes did little to change the teacher-centered classroom dynamic. The teacher remained the center of attention of the class, and students still sat in nice neat rows while passively being exposed to content.

As teachers implement flipped learning and find that they are not consistently presenting content to all the students at one time, many also make changes to their physical space. Sometimes this is not possible due to the permanence of some school furniture. Others have to share their rooms with other educators who may not want to alter the structure of the room. But those teachers who have the flexibility to do so can creatively alter their spaces.

As there is no one way to flip a class, there is also no one way to configure learning spaces for students. However, there are a few general principles that we want to highlight:

Create collaborative spaces. Flipped learning is inherently a collaborative endeavor, and we encourage flipped learning teachers to arrange furniture in ways that encourage collaboration.

Create individual spaces. Not all work should be done in groups. There should also be places in the room where students can work individually with fewer distractions. This is often difficult in a room that emphasizes collaboration. One possible way is to acquire a few sets of noise-canceling headphones for student use.

Emphasize student-centeredness of the class. The class is now student-centered, thus the room layout should take the focus off the teacher. We know of teachers who have gone so far as to get rid of their teacher desk. This has forced them to be up and about, working with students.

Emphasize learning, not teaching. Rearrangement of the room should emphasize that this space is designed for learning, not teaching. Often schools think direct instruction should be the priority and that the classroom ought to be arranged accordingly. We argue that learning should be the number one priority of a school, and that the learning space should reflect that priority.

Adequate Time for Implementation

A great deal of time is required to fully implement any new teaching strategy, and flipped learning is no exception. There will be a steep learning curve as teachers not only rethink how their classes should operate, but also learn new technologies and implement new procedures. In 2010, we had an opportunity to help the school district in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, implement a mastery system. They were planning on using elements of the flipped mastery model in their implementation. This district applied for and received a grant to develop this program. The leadership realized that the limiting factor in implementation of this model was time. So they designed the grant to pay teachers extra money for overtime work as they developed the necessary learning objects to implement the flipped learning curriculum. Honoring teachers in this way produced great results. We encourage schools and districts to think of ways of compensating teachers for the extra time it takes to truly implement the flipped learning methodology.

Support from Administrators

Flipping a class, or even just a lesson, is a different way to teach. Administrators need to support their staff as teachers lead the way in innovation and change. We have seen the most remarkable change happen when the school leadership, whether at the school level or the district level, embraces the flipped classroom concept and provides professional development, resources, and a willingness to embrace change for the sake of their students.

Support from the IT Department

One of the big questions that each school and district needs to answer is: Where do I put my videos? We have found that there is no one right way to answer this question. Different schools will have their students access the videos from different places. But for adequate access to effectively occur, the IT department must be supportive of flipped learning. It is best that the IT experts develop simple workflows for their teachers that make it easy to create, post, and share videos and other learning objects.

Thoughtful Reflection

The teachers who are most effective at using flipped learning are thoughtful and reflective about their teaching practice in general. They are constantly looking for ways to improve their craft. They realize that there is not just one way to flip a class, and they are constantly modifying and tweaking their practice to meet the needs of their learners. These teachers evaluate every aspect of their classrooms to determine if it is helping to achieve learning goals. This metacognitive process ultimately benefits all their students.

One teacher who attended a past Flipped Class Conference went back to his school and implemented the Bergmann-Sams version of the flipped classroom model, and it was an utter failure. He reflected on why it didn’t work and came to the conclusion that he needed to customize the model for his own setting rather than emulate Bergmann and Sams. Once he did this, he experienced great success.

Many Paths to Flipped Learning

We have met a great number of amazing educators around the globe who have moved through Flipped Class 101, just as we did. They usually spend about one or two years teaching via Flipped Class 101, but then realize the flipped class is only a gateway to flipped learning. Not all teachers gravitated to the flipped mastery model like we did. Many have gone from Flipped Class 101 directly to flipped learning. We want to encourage our readers to move through the Flipped Class 101 stage to “deeper and further” learning experiences for their students. These learning strategies are discussed in Chapters 3 and 4.

For example, Justyna Kalinowska is a seventh-grade math teacher at the Joseph Sears School in Kenilworth, Illinois. During her first year of Flipped Class 101, she focused on making instructional videos. In the spring of that year she had the opportunity to attend the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics conference in Philadelphia. While there, Justyna attended presentations about better ways to engage students in math. She came to realize that the heart of good math education isn’t memorizing how to complete mathematical processes: students needed to be able to think mathematically. With this insight, she came back energized and began to implement deeper learning strategies. Justyna was a fast learner. She didn’t need a whole year like we did. She had recovered valuable class time with Flipped Class 101, and moved through that model of instruction over the course of one year. Later in this book you will hear from several teachers as they explain how they moved through the flipped class to their own classrooms of deeper learning.

Transformational Versus Revolutionary Change

Some educators might ask: Why isn’t this book about a top-down revolution in education? It might be helpful to understand the difference between revolutionary and transformational change. Recently, on a widely syndicated radio show, the host was interviewing a guest about this topic. The guest made some very salient points about the nature of revolutions:

• Revolutions are change from the outside in.

• Revolutions target the head of a government.

• Revolutions typically replace the “leader” of an organization/country.

• When a revolution occurs, change happens from the top down.

• Often revolutions replace one despot for another, which doesn’t change the plight of the people very much, if any.

The guest then went on to contrast revolutionary change with transformational change. In transformational change:

• Change happens from the inside out.

• Change happens virally, as one person at a time is “converted.”

• Transformational change happens via multiplication, meaning that as each person changes, they share what they have learned with others who in turn become change agents.

• Change happens from the bottom up.

And lastly, the guest argued that transformational change is a far superior model to revolutionary change. This is not to say that all revolutions are all bad, but rather that transformational change is a better and more lasting change model.

In our experience, too many of the change ideas in the educational world come as top-down revolutions that often left teachers out of the dialogue about how schools should function. Unsurprisingly, these revolutions have done little to change individual classes. These educational initiatives come and go, and though many were, and are, great pedagogies with solid research background, they have not significantly changed schools for the better because of the limited adoption by individual teachers. We must confess...