# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The rotation model is one of the most common models in blended learning. In the book Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools, authors Michael B. Horn and Heather Staker describe the rotation model in the following way:

The model that classroom teachers in particular gravitate toward first is the Rotation Model. This category includes any course or subject in which students rotate-either on a fixed schedule or at the teacher's discretion-among learning modalities, at least one of which is online learning. Often students rotate among online learning, small-group instruction, and pencil-and-paper assignments at their desks. Or they may rotate between online learning and some type of whole-class discussion or project. The key is that the clock or the teacher announces that the time has arrived to rotate, and everyone shifts to their next assigned activity in the course.

The idea of rotating among stations is certainly not new to education. In fact, teachers have rotated groups of students among centers for decades, predominantly at the elementary school level. The new element is that online learning is now part of the cycle.1

There are four different varieties of the rotation model: Station rotation, lab rotation, flipped classroom, and individual rotation. How do they compare?

In station rotation, students rotate through modalities within a classroom or a set of classrooms.

In part, students learn using software or other online-based coursework on classroom computers. Students can do a variety of activities, including but not limited to previewing, completing, or reviewing skill lessons, reading stories, or taking computer-administered assessments. Through these kinds of tech-based activities, students have opportunities to work independently and privately, free from concerns about how they will perform in front of their peers.

For the offline part of their learning, students receive direct instruction from a teacher, followed up by a variety of activities, which could include modeled and independent reading, workbook pages or other pencil-and-paper tasks, one-on-one tutoring, small-group work, projects, games, flash cards-the list of possibilities is nearly endless.

Lab rotation is very similar to station rotation, except that with lab rotation, students fulfill the online learning part of instruction in a computer lab rather than in the classroom. One benefit of this model is that using the lab frees up classroom space for other activities within the rotation model.

Adequate access to a computer lab is an important consideration for this model. In some schools, lab time can be restricted to certain days or time frames. Mainstream K-3 classes often have to compete with other grade levels and classes for lab time. In intervention settings, students typically have additional access to the computer lab; however, these students usually need more supervision than mainstream students, so careful planning and teacher guidance in the computer lab during online learning should factor into decision-making.

In a flipped classroom, students learn the lesson content offsite via the computer and use class time for activity-based learning rather than passive learning. For example, students can complete software lessons outside of class time and then do homework during class time, when a teacher is available for assistance. This model helps ensure that students are actively engaged in learning while in the classroom, which is one reason why it is a favorite of secondary schools.

In individual rotation, students move through a variety of different learning modalities, but rather than the rotation being prescribed by a teacher or schedule, it is customized for each student according to individual needs.

This model is adjustable, which frees students from having to move through every modality at every stage in their coursework and instead lets them work in modalities that better meet their needs at any given point. Teachers are available to clarify or expand on the information learned online and provide support.

To learn more about the various blended learning models, we encourage you to visit the Blended Learning Universe via the following link:
www.blendedlearning.org

[Notes]

1 Michael B. Horn and Heather Staker, Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools (United States: Jossey-Bass, 2014), 38.

The images on this page are adaptations of graphics originally appearing in the book Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The rotation model is one of the most common models in blended learning . In the book Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools, authors Michael B. Horn and Heather Staker describe the rotation model in the following way: The model that classroom teachers in particular gravitate toward first is the Rotation Model.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/ssf-cci/sscc-intro-blended-learning/sscc-blended-learning-models/v/sscc-blended-station

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This is an updated version of an article that appeared on June 9, 2015.

Chances are, you've heard of the flipped classroom. In fact, you could be tired of hearing about it by now or dismiss it as a fad. "What's the big deal?" you might ask. After all, pre-teaching has been around since the 1990s, and video and its related formats have been used in the classroom since the 1950s.

Is all the hype warranted? Is flipped learning really making a difference in the lives of real students in real schools?

Because we are some of the pioneers of the flipped classroom movement, you might think we would shout a resounding "Yes!" to these questions. But in fact, we believe that the flipped classroom is not the answer. Instead, flipped learning is a gateway that leads toward some of the most powerful - but often the most difficult to implement - learning and teaching strategies out there.
What flipped learning is - and isn't
The common description of a flipped classroom is having students watch instructional videos at home and do the typical homework - worksheets, problem sets, back-of-chapter exercises - in class. We refer to this model as "Flipped Class 101." 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.

The danger of settling in at Flipped Class 101 is that it doesn't fundamentally change anything. A lecture, whether it takes place in person or on video, is still a lecture. Boring lectures are bad, but boring lectures on video can be even worse. And if all you do is worksheets in class, then nothing has changed.

Flipped learning is not about making videos. It's about maximizing class time for deeper student engagement.

Educators have only a fixed amount of time with students and need to use it effectively. If whole-group direct instruction is not the best use of face-to-face class time, what is?

Each educator will answer this question in his or her own way. Flipped learning will look very different in an elementary language arts classroom, for instance, than it would in a high school woodworking or math class. The possibilities are endless.

But there are some common characteristics of all successful flipped classrooms.

1. Relationship building

Too often educational reformers and curriculum specialists put the bulk of their efforts into fixing the curriculum or helping students prepare for tests. However, research has shown that students who have positive relationships with their teachers do better on standardized tests and have higher grades. So what if we used some of the time we now spend on preparing students for standardized tests to connect meaningfully with them instead?

We believe that good teaching is built on solid relationships. We should spend more time and resources training teachers how to relate to each student and how to be mentors and coaches instead of just content experts who have studied all of the latest learning strategies.

Many of us can trace our interest in becoming educators to an individual teacher who made a significant impact on our lives. Relationships matter. They can even influence the long-term career choices of students. We need to rethink education in the context of seeing each learner as an individual who needs specific nurturing and guidance. Thus the adage: "I don't care what you know until I know that you care."

2. Personalized learning

When we first flipped our class, we provided only one way for students to learn our content - from our videos. But one day we had a student who asked us if it was OK if he just read the book and skipped the videos. We quickly realized we needed to provide more than one way for students to access content.

In an ideal flipped learning environment, students have choices about how they learn. Some students access the content by watching videos, others read the textbook and others use interactive simulations to learn content.

According to the ISTE Standards for Teachers 2c and 2d, educators need to start personalizing learning activities to students' diverse learning styles, working strategies and abilities, and they need to give students a variety of formative and summative assessments. Not only do students need more than one way to access or learn content, but they also need multiple ways to demonstrate that they have mastered it.

To that end, we took flipped learning a step further and began to allow students to choose how they would be assessed. Instead of allowing them only to take our standard exam, we let students do projects and design video games to demonstrate mastery of specific content. This resulted in differentiation for every student, and personalized learning and assessments that met the needs of each child.

3. Passion-based learning

For students to deeply understand content, they need to care about it. That means we need to create an atmosphere where they can thoroughly explore the areas they are curious about.

Before we flipped our classroom, we spent the majority of our in-class time helping students remember and understand activities. Little time was left for application, analysis, evaluation and creation. But once we began flipping, we were able to use class time to help students go deeper with the content as well as higher up the levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. By shifting lower cognitive tasks from the group to the individual, flipped learning gives educators the opportunity to find ways to engage students and allow them the flexibility to explore things they find interesting.

A growing subculture of flipped learning teachers are using extra time in class for their students to explore their passions. This has become an adaptation of the " genius hour." Teachers devote 10-20 percent of their class time to letting kids discover their passions. Students are still held accountable for what they learn, but the content they are learning during this time is up to them.

The level of freedom you give them can vary. For example, if you are using the genius hour approach in a sixth grade social studies class, you may require your students to focus on some historical or cultural question but leave the door open for them to work on something interesting to them, such as making a documentary film, learning to prepare foods from a different culture or exploring the art of another country.

States and districts are looking for ways to deepen student learning with tools and approaches - including flipped learning. In addition, college-and-career readiness standards, such as the Common Core, require students to not only remember and understand content, but also to apply it, analyze it and work with it in unique situations.

4. Project-based learning

Since flipped learning puts an emphasis on maximizing class time, many have decided to take learning further by exploring project-based learning (PBL). PBL engages students by allowing them to solve real-world problems. This engagement and immersion helps them get to deeper understanding.

As John Larmer describes in his article " Debunking Five Myths about Project-Based Learning," one of the main concerns that prevents teachers from adopting PBL is the fear that they will have to sacrifice content. However, many teachers who combine flipped learning with PBL find that using video as an instructional resource lets them maintain the delivery of content while creating time to engage students in hands-on projects. Some teachers have even abandoned the content delivery as a pre-teaching tool and use video only within the context of each project to intervene with instruction as students need it.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Infographic: 4 learning strategies for flipped learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This is an updated version of an article that appeared on June 9, 2015. Chances are, you've heard of the flipped classroom. In fact, you could be tired of hearing about it by now or dismiss it as a fad. "What's the big deal?" you might ask.

# data[].attributes.headline
Flipping the Classroom for Students With Learning Disabilities

# data[].attributes.subject
Flipping the Classroom for Students With Learning Disabilities

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.scilearn.com/blog/flipping-the-classroom-for-students-with-learning-disabilties

# data[].attributes.body
http://www.teachthought.com/learning/blended-flipped-learning/10-pros-cons-flipped-classroom/

# data[].attributes.headline
Can Students with Special Needs benefit from the Flipped Classroom Model?

# data[].attributes.subject
Can Students with Special Needs benefit from the Flipped Classroom Model?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Many of you have probably read about flipped classrooms -a new instructional model that brings traditional homework into the classroom and students watch the lecture at home the night before. This allows teachers to spend more one-on-one time with students. With its one-on-one intensity, the flipped classroom could be a boon for special education students, but not without some adaptations first.

Earlier this week we spoke with Pittsburgh's Aaron Sams, coauthor of " Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day." He explained that, although flipped classrooms are an innovative approach to teaching, they are still only the beginning.

"What we're finding these days is that a lot of teachers are using the flipped classroom model as just an entry point, but no one really stops there. If kids want to work ahead, they've got all the instructional content they need. And teachers' time can be freed up to help the students who struggle," said Sams.

"We call this evolved version a 'flipped mastery model' based on work by Benjamin Bloom. He believed that most students can reach mastery if given enough time. With digital video, content delivery is much less of an issue, and we are able to just meet kids where they are."

While Sams and his colleagues continue pushing the model forward, other experts and educators are investigating more surprising benefits of this innovative way of teaching, such as its effect on special education classrooms.

"What's different now is that, as technology pervades all aspects of the classroom, special education teachers need to make a decision about whether they're going to stay on track with specialized assistive technologies or adopt some of the mainstream ones that general education students are using," explained writer Dian Schaffhauser in a recent post for THE Journal: Transforming Education through Technology. "The latter approach appears to be winning right now. In many situations the mobile devices, apps, cloud-based computing, and flipped classroom approaches that are finding wide acceptance in general education are also finding a home among the tools used by special ed experts to help their students succeed."

Schaffhauser explained how "mainstream technology" used in general education classes has different benefits in a special education classroom. "The most effective approach for flipping the classroom for special ed students isn't, in fact, all that different from doing it for general ed students," she said. The flipped model serves special education students particularly well, educators have noted, because students can watch the content repeatedly until they get it, which is helpful to those who need extra time to learn new concepts. But the benefits can extend beyond that.

Schaffhauser also spoke with Andrea Prupas, the head of inov8 Educational Consulting, whose firm specifically addresses special education and technology.

Prupas pointed out that instead of using these new tools to "do things differently," special education teachers need to use the same technology applied in general education classrooms to "do different things." According to Prupas, a "truly flipped approach" starts by looking at students' specific needs.

"We argue that the benefit is really for the collaborative and active learning aspects in the classroom," Prupas said. "The teacher is more of a facilitator." For example, if a student with autism needs to work on social skills specifically, a flipped model allows the teacher to focus on those skills in the classroom by setting up activities that are team-oriented and collaborative. In that case, the instructional videos might show social skills such as taking a phone call or performing a transaction in a store. Then, in class the students would work on the skills together.

Although the jury is still out on whether flipped classrooms are more effective than other forms of teaching, intuitively, it would seem that those students who are most likely to fall behind or who need the most time on a topic would benefit from having more time with the teacher. Time will tell.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Can Special Education Students Benefit From Flipped Classrooms?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Many of you have probably read about flipped classrooms -a new instructional model that brings traditional homework into the classroom and students watch the lecture at home the night before. This allows teachers to spend more one-on-one time with students.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

# data[].attributes.body
http://www.economist.com/node/21529062

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Cite this guide: Brame, C. (2013). Flipping the classroom. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved [todaysdate] from http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/flipping-the-classroom/.

"Flipping the classroom" has become something of a buzzword in the last several years, driven in part by high profile publications in The New York Times (Fitzpatrick, 2012); The Chronicle of Higher Education (Berrett, 2012); and (Mazur, 2009); In essence, "flipping the classroom" means that students gain first exposure to new material outside of class, usually via reading or lecture videos, and then use class time to do the harder work of assimilating that knowledge, perhaps through problem-solving, discussion, or debates.

In terms of Bloom's revised taxonomy (2001), this means that students are doing the lower levels of cognitive work (gaining knowledge and comprehension) outside of class, and focusing on the higher forms of cognitive work (application, analysis, synthesis, and/or evaluation) in class, where they have the support of their peers and instructor. This model contrasts from the traditional model in which "first exposure" occurs via lecture in class, with students assimilating knowledge through homework; thus the term "flipped classroom."

What is it?

Flipped Classroom

The flipped classroom approach has been used for years in some disciplines, notably within the humanities. Barbara Walvoord and Virginia Johnson Anderson promoted the use of this approach in their book Effective Grading (1998). They propose a model in which students gain first-exposure learning prior to class and focus on the processing part of learning (synthesizing, analyzing, problem-solving, etc.) in class.

To ensure that students do the preparation necessary for productive class time, Walvoord and Anderson propose an assignment-based model in which students produce work (writing, problems, etc.) prior to class. The students receive productive feedback through the processing activities that occur during class, reducing the need for the instructor to provide extensive written feedback on the students' work. Walvoord and Anderson describe examples of how this approach has been implemented in history, physics, and biology classes, suggesting its broad applicability.

Inverted Classroom

Maureen Lage, Glenn Platt, and Michael Treglia described a similar approach as the inverted classroom, and reported its application in an introductory economics course in 2000. Lage, Platt, and Treglia initiated their experiment in response to the observation that the traditional lecture format is incompatible with some learning styles. ¹ To make their course more compatible with their students' varied learning styles, they designed an inverted classroom in which they provided students with a variety of tools to gain first exposure to material outside of class: textbook readings, lecture videos, Powerpoint presentations with voice-over, and printable Powerpoint slides.

To help ensure student preparation for class, students were expected to complete worksheets that were periodically but randomly collected and graded. Class time was then spent on activities that encouraged students to process and apply economics principles, ranging from mini-lectures in response to student questions to economic experiments to small group discussions of application problems. Both student and instructor response to the approach was positive, with instructors noting that students appeared more motivated than when the course was taught in a traditional format.

Peer Instruction

Eric Mazur and Catherine Crouch describe a modified form of the flipped classroom that they term peer instruction (2001). Like the approaches described by Walvoord and Anderson and Lage, Platt, and Treglia, the peer instruction (PI) model requires that students gain first exposure prior to class, and uses assignments (in this case, quizzes) to help ensure that students come to class prepared. Class time is structured around alternating mini-lectures and conceptual questions. Importantly, the conceptual questions are not posed informally and answered by student volunteers as in traditional lectures; instead, all students must answer the conceptual question, often via "clickers", or handheld personal response systems, that allow students to answer anonymously and that allow the instructor to see (and display) the class data immediately. If a large fraction of the class (usually between 30 and 65%) answers incorrectly, then students reconsider the question in small groups while instructors circulate to promote productive discussions. After discussion, students answer the conceptual question again. The instructor provides feedback, explaining the correct answer and following up with related questions if appropriate. The cycle is then repeated with another topic, with each cycle typically taking 13-15 minutes.

Does it work?

Mazur and colleagues have published results suggesting that the PI method results in significant learning gains when compared to traditional instruction (2001). In 1998, Richard Hake gathered data on 2084 students in 14 introductory physics courses taught by traditional methods (defined by the instructor as relying primarily on passive student lectures and algorithmic problem exams), allowing him to define an average gain for students in such courses using pre/post-test data. Hake then compared these results to those seen with interactive engagement methods, defined as "heads-on (always) and hands-on (usually) activities which yield immediate feedback through discussion with peers and/or instructors" (Hake p. 65) for 4458 students in 48 courses. He found that students taught with interactive engagement methods exhibited learning gains almost two standard deviations higher than those observed in the traditional courses (0.48 +/- 0.14 vs. 0.23 +/- 0.04). Assessment of classes taught by the PI method provides evidence of even greater learning gains, with students in PI courses exhibiting learning gains ranging from 0.49 to 0.74 over eight years of assessment at Harvard University (Crouch and Mazur, 2001). Interestingly, two introductory physics classes taught by traditional methods during the assessment period at Harvard show much lower learning gains (0.25 in a calculus-based course in 1990 and 0.40 in an algebra-based course in 1999).

Carl Wieman and colleagues have also published evidence that flipping the classroom can produce significant learning gains (Deslauriers et al., 2011). Wieman and colleagues compared two sections of a large-enrollment physics class. The classes were both taught via interactive lecture methods for the majority of the semester and showed no significant differences prior to the experiment. During the twelfth week of the semester, one section was "flipped," with first exposure to new material occurring prior to class via reading assignments and quizzes, and class time devoted to small group discussion of clicker questions and questions that required written responses. Although class discussion was supported by targeted instructor feedback, no formal lecture was included in the experimental group. The control section was encouraged to read the same assignments prior to class and answered most of the same clicker questions for summative assessment but were not intentionally engaged in active learning exercises during class. During the experiment, student engagement increased in the experimental section (from 45 +/- 5% to 85 +/- 5% as assessed by four trained observers) but did not change in the control section. At the end of the experimental week, students completed a multiple choice test, resulting in an average score of 41 +/- 1% in the control classroom and 74 +/- 1% in the "flipped" classroom, with an effect size of 2.5 standard deviations. Although the authors did not address retention of the gains over time, this dramatic increase in student learning supports the use of the flipped classroom model.

Theoretical basis

How People Learn, the seminal work from John Bransford, Ann Brown, and Rodney Cocking, reports three key findings about the science of learning, two of which help explain the success of the flipped classroom. Bransford and colleagues assert that

"To develop competence in an area of inquiry, students must: a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge, b) understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application" (p. 16).

By providing an opportunity for students to use their new factual knowledge while they have access to immediate feedback from peers and the instructor, the flipped classroom helps students learn to correct misconceptions and organize their new knowledge such that it is more accessible for future use. Furthermore, the immediate feedback that occurs in the flipped classroom also helps students recognize and think about their own growing understanding, thereby supporting Bransford and colleagues' third major conclusion:

"A 'metacognitive' approach to instruction can help students learn to take control of their own learning by defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in achieving them" (p. 18).

Although students' thinking about their own learning is not an inherent part of the flipped classroom, the higher cognitive functions associated with class activities, accompanied by the ongoing peer/instructor interaction that typically accompanies them, can readily lead to the metacognition associated with deep learning.

What are the key elements of the flipped classroom?

1. Provide an opportunity for students to gain first exposure prior to class.

The mechanism used for first exposure can vary, from simple textbook readings to lecture videos to podcasts or screencasts. For example, Grand Valley State University math professor Robert Talbert provides screencasts on class topics on his YouTube channel, while Vanderbilt computer science professor Doug Fisher provides his students video lectures prior to class (see an example here). These videos can be created by the instructor or found online from YouTube, the Khan Academy, MIT's OpenCourseWare, Coursera, or other similar sources. The pre-class exposure doesn't have to be high-tech, however; in the Deslauriers, Schelew, and Wieman study described above, students simply completed pre-class reading assignments.

2. Provide an incentive for students to prepare for class.

In all the examples cited above, students completed a task associated with their preparation....and that task was associated with points. The assignment can vary; the examples above used tasks that ranged from online quizzes to worksheets to short writing assignments, but in each case the task provided an incentive for students to come to class prepared by speaking the common language of undergraduates: points. In many cases, grading for completion rather than effort can be sufficient, particularly if class activities will provide students with the kind of feedback that grading for accuracy usually provides.

3. Provide a mechanism to assess student understanding.

The pre-class assignments that students complete as evidence of their preparation can also help both the instructor and the student assess understanding. Pre-class online quizzes can allow the instructor to practice Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT; Novak et al., 1999), which basically means that the instructor tailors class activities to focus on the elements with which students are struggling. If automatically graded, the quizzes can also help students pinpoint areas where they need help. Pre-class worksheets can also help focus student attention on areas with which they're struggling, and can be a departure point for class activities, while pre-class writing assignments help students clarify their thinking about a subject, thereby producing richer in-class discussions. Importantly, much of the feedback students need is provided in class, reducing the need for instructors to provide extensive commentary outside of class (Walvoord and Anderson, 1998). In addition, many of the activities used during class time (e.g., clicker questions or debates) can serve as informal checks of student understanding.

4. Provide in-class activities that focus on higher level cognitive activities.

If the students gained basic knowledge outside of class, then they need to spend class time to promote deeper learning. Again, the activity will depend on the learning goals of the class and the culture of the discipline. For example, Lage, Platt, and Treglia described experiments students did in class to illustrate economic principles (2000), while Mazur and colleagues focused on student discussion of conceptual "clicker" questions and quantitative problems focused on physical principles (2001). In other contexts, students may spend time in class engaged in debates, data analysis, or synthesis activities. The key is that students are using class time to deepen their understanding and increase their skills at using their new knowledge.

Where can I learn more?

CFT Director Derek Bruff has a good blog post on flipping the classroom with some great embedded references. Find it here: http://derekbruff.org/?p=901.

References

Berrett D (2012). How 'flipping' the classroom can improve the traditional lecture. The Chronicle of Higher Education, Feb. 19, 2012.

Anderson LW and Krathwohl D (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: a revision of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives. New York: Longman.

Bransford JD, Brown AL, and Cocking RR (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

Crouch CH and Mazur E (2001). Peer instruction: Ten years of experience and results. American Journal of Physics 69: 970-977.

DesLauriers L, Schelew E, and Wieman C (2011). Improved learning in a large-enrollment physics class. Science 332: 862-864.

Fitzpatrick M (2012). Classroom lectures go digital. The New York Times, June 24, 2012.

Hake R (1998). Interactive-engagement versus traditional methods: A six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data for introductory physics courses. American Journal of Physics 66: 64-74.

Lage MJ, Platt GJ, and Treglia M (2000). Inverting the classroom: A gateway to creating an inclusive learning environment. The Journal of Economic Education 31: 30-43.

Mazur E (2009). Farewell, Lecture? Science 323: 50-51.

Novak G, Patterson ET, Gavrin AD, and Christian W (1999). Just-in-Time Teaching: Blending Active Learning with Web Technology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Pashler H, McDaniel M, Rohrer D, and Bjork R (2008). Learning styles: Concepts and evidence. Psychological Science in the Public Interest 9: 103-119.

Walvoord BE, and Anderson VJ (1998). Effective grading: A tool for learning and assessment. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Footnote:
¹ Although there is widespread belief that matching students' preferred "learning styles" to instructional formats promotes learning, a 2008 review by Pashler and colleagues finds no evidence that this strategy promotes learning.
Cite this guide:
Brame, C., (2013). Flipping the classroom. Retrieved [todaysdate] from http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/flipping-the-classroom/.
Brame, C., (2013). Flipping the classroom. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved [todaysdate] from http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/flipping-the-classroom/.

This teaching guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
by Cynthia J. Brame Print Version Cite this guide: Brame, C. (2013). Flipping the classroom. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved [todaysdate] from http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/flipping-the-classroom/. "Flipping the classroom" has become something of a buzzword in the last several years, driven in part by high profile publications in The New York Times (Fitzpatrick, 2012); The Chronicle...

# data[].attributes.body
http://www.economist.com/node/21529062

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
As interest in flipped learning continues to grow, so does its adoption among the educational rank and file. By moving entry-level information outside the classroom -- typically (but not exclusively) through self-paced, scored videos -- teachers can reframe learning so that students spend more instructional time engaged in deeper discussions, hands-on applications and project-based learning. With a focus on more direct contact between teachers and students, greater application of basic concepts, and increased collaboration between learners, flipped learning provides yet another outlet for 21st century teaching.

No doubt, making this kind of change can be intimidating. Before teachers flip out, here are four tips to make the transition smoother -- and more impactful.

1. Start with Lesson Goals, Then Build Out

Making a dazzling video without first determining its instructional value is like putting the cart before the horse. It's counterproductive. A more sensible approach: identify the lesson's core objectives, from simplest to deepest, tracing the path of knowledge that students will follow. Lower-order targets (the what) should be sorted out for video delivery, while higher-order objectives (the how and why) should be tagged for deeper exploration. Next, teachers must answer some fundamental questions about the learning process:

1. Once students understand the entry-level information, what will they be able to do with it?

2. What kinds of activities will reinforce these concepts?

3. Will students add value to basic ideas by simulating them through experiments, deepening them through inquiry-based discussion, or broadening them through project-based learning?

4. How will teachers facilitate and monitor classroom collaboration?

5. How will students demonstrate their burgeoning knowledge in these learning laboratories?

Teachers who successfully deliver flipped learning always begin with the end in mind.

2. Use Rich Imagery and Direct Language

Teaching with a visual medium like video is both exhilarating and challenging. Trying to compress introductory information into a five-minute video leaves little room for verbal waste or unimaginative imagery. Once you've identified the core objectives that you want students to achieve, sketch a virtual collage of images, diagrams, or charts that add impact to your presentation. It's not a bad idea to write a script for your narrative, either, and to include cues that will help you seamlessly transition from one shot to the next. Avoid flowery language and long-winded monologues. The inviolable rule of video making: Be direct, be powerful, and be gone.

3. Make Videos That Reveal What Students Know

Creating videos is easier than ever with the emergence of free and easy-to-use screencasting platforms like Screenr and Screencast-o-Matic. (For savvier video makers who don't mind a price tag, consider Camtasia or Screenflow.) The more perplexing question is what to do with them post-production. Hosting videos on a YouTube channel or a personal website or blog is relatively easy to do, but doesn't provide much insight into how your students fared during the video (or if they even bothered to watch it). One compelling hosting solution is eduCanon, an interactive video environment which allows teachers to create real-time questions that students must answer as they learn. It also features a question-by-question breakdown of student performance and exportable score reports. Microsoft recently announced a similar initiative called Office Mix, which transforms PowerPoint presentations (version 2013) into interactive videos complete with quizzes and labs. (A fully interactive version for tablets is coming soon.) If teachers can gain insight into what their students know before class starts, they can strategically assign them to specific learning hubs (based on readiness) during "live" instruction, reinforcing the focus on differentiation and investigation.

4. Bring Parents on Board

If the concept of an inverted classroom seems strange to teachers, it's even more foreign to parents. A successful rollout must involve meaningful outreach to parents about the goals, rationale, and logistics of flipping. They are your active partners in educating children, and now that you're ceding some control over learning, you'll need their support more than ever. Onboarding could address misconceptions about flipped learning, provide resources for further study on the topic, illustrate the practice with a sample video demo, and provide examples of live classroom applications. (Great resources are available through the Flipped Learning Network.) Distribute this onboarding packet to parents before the school year begins, with a request that they review it before back-to-school night. They'll have a chance to process the information at their own pace -- modeling the same style of learning that their children will follow. In the spirit of learning by doing, "flip" this traditional evening by letting parents deepen their appreciation of flipped learning through live activities or discussions. Conclude with a whole-group discussion about the expectations and execution of a flipped approach. They'll appreciate your candor and transparency, and you'll win much-needed allies.

The payoff from flipped learning is significant. Teachers will recapture instructional time that can be used to deepen learning. Student engagement will likely rise due to more personalized contact with information. And a richer culture of collaboration will emerge among students who learn to work together. Flipped learning means that teachers do less talking and more listening. Their students will flip for that.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As interest in flipped learning continues to grow, so does its adoption among the educational rank and file. By moving entry-level information outside the classroom -- typically (but not exclusively) through self-paced, scored videos -- teachers can reframe learning so that students spend more instructional time engaged in deeper discussions, hands-on applications and project-based learning.

# data[].attributes.body
true flip: students watch videos at home
in class flip: students move through learning stations
reverse flip: capture direct instruction for review and practice
recycled flip: enhance existing presentations with video

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
I Flip, You Flip, We All Flip: Setting Up a Flipped Classroom

# data[].attributes.body
http://www.edutopia.org/blogs/tag/flipped-classroom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Flipped Mastery allows students to demonstrate mastery of all concepts and progress at their individual pace.
Our students will master all standards in Algebra, Geometry, Algebra 2, Pre-Calc, and Calculus.

Sound a little confusing? Abnormal? Just plain weird?
For more information, check out the schematic and welcome video below.
Where would you like to go?

*AP® is a trademark registered and owned by the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse this site.
This process was conceived through many hours of collaboration and hard work. We would all like to thank Aaron Sams for planting this seed on a bus in Washington DC in December 2010.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Math Videos and Practice for the flipped-mastery math classroom and teachers using a flipped learning classroom. All subjects are taught by four teachers who each have over 70 combined years of experience in high school math instruction.

# data[].attributes.body
Flipped classroomo

# data[].attributes.body
"The Flipped Classroom" article

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Four years ago, in the shadow of Colorado's Pike's Peak, veteran Woodland Park High School chemistry teachers Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams stumbled onto an idea. Struggling to find the time to reteach lessons for absent students, they plunked down $50, bought software that allowed them to record and annotate lessons, and posted them online. Absent students appreciated the opportunity to see what they missed. But, surprisingly, so did students who hadn't missed class. They, too, used the online material, mostly to review and reinforce classroom lessons. And, soon, Bergmann and Sams realized they had the opportunity to radically rethink how they used class time.

It's called "the flipped classroom." While there is no one model, the core idea is to flip the common instructional approach: With teacher-created videos and interactive lessons, instruction that used to occur in class is now accessed at home, in advance of class. Class becomes the place to work through problems, advance concepts, and engage in collaborative learning. Most importantly, all aspects of instruction can be rethought to best maximize the scarcest learning resource-time.

Flipped classroom teachers almost universally agree that it's not the instructional videos on their own, but how they are integrated into an overall approach, that makes the difference. In his classes, Bergmann says, students can't just "watch the video and be done with it." He checks their notes and requires each student to come to class with a question. And, while he says it takes a little while for students to get used to the system, as the year progresses he sees them asking better questions and thinking more deeply about the content. After flipping his classroom, Bergmann says he can more easily query individual students, probe for misconceptions around scientific concepts, and clear up incorrect notions.

Counterintuitively, Bergmann says the most important benefits of the video lessons are profoundly human: "I now have time to work individually with students. I talk to every student in every classroom every day." Traditional classroom interactions are also flipped. Typically, the most outgoing and engaged students ask questions, while struggling students may act out. Bergmann notes that he now spends more time with struggling students, who no longer give up on homework, but work through challenging problems in class. Advanced students have more freedom to learn independently. And, while high-school students still occasionally lapse on homework assignments, Bergmann credits the new arrangement with fostering better relationships, greater student engagement, and higher levels of motivation.

Once Bergmann's and Sams's lessons were posted online, it wasn't long before other students and teachers across the country were using the lessons, and making their own. Across the country in Washington, D.C., Andrea Smith, a 6th-grade math teacher at E. L. Haynes, a high-performing public charter school, shares Bergmann's enthusiasm, but focuses on a different aspect of the flipped classroom. Smith, who has taught for more than a decade in both D.C.'s public charter and traditional district schools, immediately saw the benefit for students, but says she was most captivated by the opportunity to elevate teaching practice and the profession as a whole. As Smith explains, crafting a great four- to six-minute video lesson poses a tremendous instructional challenge: how to explain a concept in a clear, concise, bite-sized chunk. Creating her own videos forces her to pay attention to the details and nuances of instruction-the pace, the examples used, the visual representation, and the development of aligned assessment practices. In a video lesson on dividing fractions, for example, Smith is careful not to just teach the procedure-multiply by the inverse-but also to represent the important underlying conceptual ideas. Like Bergmann, she makes it clear that the videos are just one component of instruction. She's keen on the equivalent of a motion picture's "director's cut," where a video creator might explain the reasoning behind the examples chosen and how she would extend those activities into class time.

"Flipping" is rapidly moving into the mainstream. Bergmann and Sams have completed a book, are in high demand across the country at educator conferences, and even host their own "Flipped Class Conference" to train teachers. The chief academic officer at Smith's school, Eric Westendorf, is taking the tools he has piloted at the school and building them into a platform for teachers everywhere to create and share videos. Most notable, though, is the emergence of the Khan Academy, an online repository of thousands of instructional videos that has been touted by Bill Gates and featured prominently in the national media.

Given education's long history of fascination with new instructional approaches that are later abandoned, there's a real danger that flipping, a seemingly simple idea that is profound in practice, may be reduced into the latest educational fad. And, in today's highly polarized political environment, it also runs the risk of being falsely pigeonholed into one of education's many false dichotomies, such as the age-old pedagogical debate between content knowledge and skills acquisition.

But the ideas behind flipping are not brand new. For over a decade, led by the National Center for Academic Transformation (NCAT), dozens of colleges have successfully experimented with similar ideas across math, science, English, and many other disciplines. NCAT's increasingly impressive body of practice shows that thoughtful course redesigns lead to improved learning. Carol Twigg, NCAT's president and CEO, says there is no magic: course redesign is "a hard job." She's not assuming students love homework. But redesign offers an opportunity to reengage students and improve their motivation, while setting proper expectations and monitoring to "push school to the top of the list." And while many course redesigns focus on incorporating more project-based learning opportunities, Twigg's experience leads her to quickly dismiss pedagogical extremes: "If you don't have basic math skills, you can't do an interesting physics project."

There is also some danger that the flipped classroom could be seen as another front in a false battle between teachers and technology. Yet Bergmann and Sams emphasize that the "only magic bullet is the recruiting, training, and supporting of quality teachers." And while Khan Academy's prominence engenders fear of standardization and deprofessionalization among some critics, Bergmann, Sams, and Smith see instructional videos as powerful tools for teachers to create content, share resources, and improve practice. Smith admits that if such tools were available when she first started out, she "would have run to this every week when planning."

It seems almost certain that instructional videos, interactive simulations, and yet-to-be-dreamed-up online tools will continue to multiply. But who will control these tools and whether they will fulfill their potential remains to be seen. As Scott McLeod, one of the nation's leading thinkers on educational technology and the director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education, observes, the "reason Sal Khan is so visible right now is that nobody did this instead. It would have been great if the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics had been doing this, but someone from the outside had to fill the vacuum." His guidance to educators: "Start making!"
Bill Tucker is managing director of Education Sector. For more on this topic, please read "The Transformational Potential of Flipped Classrooms," by Michael Horn, from the Summer 2013 issue of Education Next.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Four years ago, in the shadow of Colorado's Pike's Peak, veteran Woodland Park High School chemistry teachers Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams stumbled onto an idea. Struggling to find the time to reteach lessons for absent students, they plunked down $50, bought software that allowed them to record and annotate lessons, and posted them online.

# data[].attributes.body
Flipped Classrooms can improve STEM

# data[].attributes.body
Where the lecture and homework concept of the traditional classroom are reversed.

# data[].attributes.body
Pros vs Cons...Is it something or something we have already been doing, just not with technology as a focal point?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
At its core, "flipped instruction" refers to moving aspects of teaching out of the classroom and into the homework space. With the advent of new technologies, specifically the ability to record digitally annotated and narrated screencasts, instructional videos have become a common medium in the flipped classroom. Although not limited to videos, a flipped classroom most often harnesses different forms of instructional video published online for students.

Despite recent buzz, catalyzed primarily by Salman Khan's TED talk, flipped instruction is by no means a new methodology. In the early 19th century, General Sylvanus Thayer created a system at West Point where engineering students, given a set of materials, were responsible for obtaining core content prior to coming to class. The classroom space was then used for critical thinking and group problem solving.

The Pros

Advocates of the flipped classroom point to its potential as a time-shifting tool. Jac de Haan, author of the blog Technology with Intention articulates this well:

". . . the focus of flipped teaching is different from other examples in that the technology itself is simply a tool for flexible communication that allows educators to differentiate instruction to meet individual student needs and spend more time in the classroom focused on collaboration and higher-order thinking."

And Cons

Critics of the flipped classroom argue that online instruction puts students that lack Internet access at a disadvantage. Moreover, whether delivered in class or via instructional videos, lecture is still a poor mode of information transfer. This argument is outlined very well in Harvard Physics professor Eric Mazur's talk Confessions of a Converted Lecturer.

Flipped Classroom in Perspective

Personally, I feel the current flipped classroom hype is blown way out of proportion. The flipped classroom is a simple concept that needs no title. Good teaching, regardless of discipline, should always limit passive transfer of knowledge in class, and promote learning environments built on the tenants of inquiry, collaboration and critical thinking. We, as educators, must strive to guide students through perplexing situations, and more importantly, work with one another to develop the pedagogical skills to do so. Keeping this in mind, good teaching comes in many forms, and the flipped-classroom mentality can be one of many solutions for educators.

As an instructor of Advanced Placement (AP) Chemistry, I find myself torn in two directions. The science teacher in me is deeply committed to the process of inquiry, and arming my students with the skills needed to construct and test their own ideas. The AP teacher in me fears sending my students off to their examination in May having covered only a portion of all the content required. Given this tension, I have found merging aspects of inquiry learning and video-based instruction helps me address both needs. My blog at CyclesOfLearning.com has a more detailed explanation of how I use this method in my AP Chemistry class. Here's a blog post by Jackie Gerstein that clearly places flipped instruction in the context of an inquiry learning cycle.

Reflection

If, like me, you are interested in using aspects of the flipped classroom to address an issue in your practice, I encourage you to reflect on the following steps first:

Step 1: Identify your current or desired teaching style.

Step 2: Ask yourself this question: Given my style, do I currently use class time to teach any low level, procedural, algorithmic concepts?

Step 3: If yes, begin by creating opportunities for students to obtain this information outside of the classroom. ( More info on creating annotated and narrated instructional videos).

Step 4: Include a system that encourages reflection and synthesis of homework-based instruction (Click here and here for ways to make instructional videos more interactive and reflective).

Hopefully the above steps are a helpful. As we are all aware, teaching can be a very powerful, and often very personal act, where the right way is as diverse as the students we are blessed to work with. Parker Palmer reflects on this notion:

"Good teaching cannot be reduced to one technique; good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher."

On this note, I would like to share a personal story that I feel provides a metaphor for why the flipped classroom is a technique that works well for me. On May 25th of this year I underwent a fairly complicated open-heart surgery to correct an aneurysm of my thoracic aorta that was found randomly at a routine check up. The surgery went well, and five months later, minus a long scar down the center of my chest, I rarely think of the physical struggle that was the summer of 2011.

Throughout the process, I was very impressed with the confidence and knowledge my thoracic surgeon embodied. Then one day, it hit me: My surgeon had a teacher! He learned to how to perform my surgery in school! An instructor taught him how to do something, something very, very important, in a very effective way! As a teacher myself, I have a hunch my surgeon didn't learn how to repair my aorta by passively taking in information through a textbook or lecture. Rather, I'm certain his confidence and skill was cultivated through hours of inquiry, trial and error, with strong mentors by his side the whole way. In short, I'm sure he learned by doing, not observing.

We must strive to be facilitators, mentors and guides for our students, as if what we are preparing them for, much like my surgeon, will one day change lives. Any teaching methodology that amplifies this role is a step in the right direction.

Are you using various elements of flipped instruction in your practice? If so, how are you using it to foster student inquiry?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Should You Flip Your Classroom? | Edutopia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
At its core, "flipped instruction" refers to moving aspects of teaching out of the classroom and into the homework space. With the advent of new technologies, specifically the ability to record digitally annotated and narrated screencasts, instructional videos have become a common medium in the flipped classroom.

# data[].attributes.headline
7 Things You Should Know About Flipped Classrooms

# data[].attributes.subject
7 Things You Should Know About Flipped Classrooms

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
TED-Ed celebrates the ideas of teachers and students around the world. Discover hundreds of animated lessons, create customized lessons, and share your big ideas.