The answer to these questions is most likely some degree of “Yes.” We know the challenges and benefits of teaching and learning with technology. But we also know there’s something special about the learning experiences we share with our students in the face-to-face class.
The face-to-face learning experience just can’t be replicated, yet many of us keep trying to recreate it with technology. But maybe that’s the wrong approach. Perhaps we shouldn’t try to “replicate” those face-to-face learning experiences. Instead, we should try to find the technological tools that allow us to adapt the strategies we use in our face-to-face classes to engage with and connect to our students in the online environment, just in a different way.
One way to address this is to apply the flipped philosophy to the online class. The flipped classroom model can help us design more interactive and engaging online learning experiences, and online classes can help us expand on what it means to flip. Certainly there is something to learn by combining these two conversations. During the past two years, the flipped class has been defined as reversing what happens “in” and “out” of the classroom.
Some scholars define the flip even more specifically as reversing homework and lectures where students watch videos of lectures for homework “out of class” and then engage in problem-solving and analysis “in class.” But what happens when we apply this flipped model to an online class? The “in” class and “out of class” terminology doesn’t work. In the online class, what exactly is “class time” and what is “before class time?”
If the definition of the flipped classroom always distinguishes between “in class” and “out of class”, how can we apply the flipped approach to an online class? This is why we need to expand the definition of the flip. In our work, we continue to push the conversations toward more comprehensive definitions of the flip. At its core, the flip means shifting the focus from the instructor to the students.
You can do this by inverting the design of the course so students engage in activities, apply concepts, and focus on higher-level learning outcomes (Honeycutt & Garrett, 2013). Using this definition, the flip moves away from being defined as only something that happens in class vs. out of class.
Instead, we focus on what are students doing to construct knowledge, connect with others, and engage in higher levels of critical thinking and analysis. This applies to both the online and face-to-face environment. The real flip is not about where activities take place—it’s about flipping the focus from you to your students.
(Next page: Three flipped strategies for online class integration)
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