The flipped classroom model is currently making serious waves in the ed-tech industry. Here’s what “flipped classroom” means, and why learners love them. 

What is a “flipped classroom”? 

Long story short, "flipped classroom" is a strategy where learners are introduced to new materials before class (outside of the classroom). Class time is then used for practice and problem-solving: to reinforce information learners have already seen.

The traditional classroom: “sit down and listen up!”  

To make this a bit clearer, let’s start with describing an “unflipped” classroom. Perhaps this picture is familiar to you.

200 students are perched on folding chairs in a high-ceilinged auditorium. All of them are silent. Some of them are at the edge of their chairs, eagerly taking notes. Some of them are yawning, desperately looking into their empty coffee cups.

All of them are facing the front of the auditorium where a young professor is talking through a chart, showing pillars of different heights and colours.

Every so often, a student raises a hand and asks a question. Sometimes, the professor answers right away. Sometimes, she encourages the student to remember the question because the answer will be coming up shortly.

As the lecture progresses, some students are getting droopy-eyed. Some start to look out the window.

Two minutes before the end of the lecture, the professor shares a reading list and a set of questions for the students to complete at home.

Now, we can make a number of observations in this familiar picture:

• Students are spending their time together passively and in silence.

• The flow of the presentation is interrupted by students asking individual questions.

• Some students are clearly not following every bit of the presentation.

• Some students have made a mental departure out the window.

Another way: prepare, then participate 

How might we resolve some of these issues in the “traditional” strategy of instruction? Say we switched the position of the teacher and the student, and painted this picture instead.

Liza has been given a set of resources by her professor, on the topic of first language acquisition in children. 

They include a video introduction by her teacher, some reading pieces and a quiz. There is also a list of additional resources she can explore if there are bits of the material that she finds  particularly challenging or super  interesting.

Liza is not a morning person, so she decides to take her materials to the library after lunch on Wednesday, when she will be able to focus better.

She also has a brief look at one of the suggested extra articles about language development in children with autism, because she thought that sounded interesting.

She shows up to class with her fellow students on  Friday. Her professor has arranged  discussion groups so that the students can debate what they learnt in preparation for the class. At the end of the session, they conduct a workshop to design a new experiment to further research how children acquire their first language.

They spend the time in the company of their professor and fellow students, putting new knowledge into practice. They are applying what they have learnt in collaborative exercises, like problem-solving, in groups. They can bring questions to class and discuss them with peers and professors alike.

In other words, the “flipped classroom” approach maximises time spent on interactive and practical application of new information in the classroom, by moving the time students spend on learning new information outside the classroom.

History of the flipped classroom 

Alison King’s article From Sage on the Stage to Guide on the Side, from 1993, challenged the idea that the instructor’s main role was to lecture. Instead it was proposed that the instructor’s primary function was to guide learners through materials and help them overcome challenges in understanding and using information. 

The actual term “flipped classroom” is first associated with high school chemistry teachers Jonathan Bergman and Aaron Sams’ book from 2012, Flip your classroom: Reach every student in every class every day. They started providing learners with videos of their lectures so that they could watch them in their own time outside the classroom. 

Chatterbox says: it’s a flipping game-changer   

So, that’s the theory! The “flipped classroom” model can be more effective than traditional approaches to learning, and also far less of a snooze-a-thon for learners. 

At Chatterbox, we provide English, French, Arabic and Spanish language training to professionals. Our learners are busy adults, studying around dozens of other competing priorities. 

Here’s why we chose a “flipped classroom” model to engage them, and inspire a joy of learning. And, a little note on how we avoid the main hiccups that can occur when you rebel from the traditional classroom set-up. 

3 reasons flipped classrooms are highly effective for learners 

#1 There’s more opportunities for active learning

First of all, what do we mean by “active learning”? Active learning happens during any kind of study activity  that requires learners to engage with materials beyond passively reading and/or watching the content. We’re talking  discussions, quizzes, workshops and the like. 

It is often pointed out that with the flipped classroom approach more time is set aside for active learning in the classroom. This is certainly true! 

But at Chatterbox, we also think the flipped classroom model  increases the opportunity for active learning outside the classroom.

For example, there are lots of quizzes in in Chatterbox’s self-study materials. This ensures that learners have engaged actively with the new materials even before they bring their new knowledge into sessions with their coach. This makes them better equipped to get maximum value from their coach sessions.

The benefits of quizzing for efficiency of long-term learning was once and for all empirically evidenced by Roediger and Karpicke in their 2006 paper, Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention.

#2 There’s greater flexibility for learners

Not all humans are wired the same. Some of us like to sleep in. Some of us jump out of bed at 5 am.

Also, not all of us have the same amount of time to dedicate to learning on any given day. Some of us might have a set weekly schedule that doesn’t change. Some of us might have meetings and other commitments appear and disappear from our calendars unpredictably. 

Chatterbox’s flipped classroom approach means that learners who can’t necessarily rely on always having an hour to study on Tuesdays and Thursdays can find other times to study. This is due to two main features of our learning experience.

Firstly, learners don’t have to commit to showing up to class every week to be introduced to new materials. They can do it when it happens to fit their calendar any given week. 

Secondly, Chatterbox’s learning materials are broken down into bite-sized chunks - 15 minute online study modules. This way,  learners can more easily complete a chunk or two when it happens to fit between other commitments.

#3 There’s greater opportunity for personalisation

Personalisation opportunities with the flipped classroom approach take many forms. We consider these three the main ones. Firstly, perhaps you remember problems like these from school or uni:

• “Oh, what did my teacher just say?”

• “Sorry, can we go back to the previous slide for just a second? I missed something.”

• “I can’t read what it says on that slide. The writing is too small and I am too far away.“

With the flipped classroom approach, learners don’t consume new information in a live lecture. They read it or watch it in their own time. This means that they can re-read, replay, rewind, pause and zoom as they require. They don’t have to follow the pace of anyone but themselves.

Secondly, learners can bring individual questions to class to discuss them with their instructor. The aim of the flipped classroom is to get as much value as possible out of the time that is set aside with the instructor and fellow learners.  The coach can tailor sessions to fit each learner’s particular interests or points of confusion. 

Finally, at Chatterbox we are providing a rich content selection. For most lessons, there’s some optional material. You can choose to do modules which catch your eye, and ignore ones which don’t. No matter what the learner has decided to focus on that week, our one-to-one coach sessions are constructed to  be adapted for maximum benefit.

Disadvantages of the flipped classroom 

#1 Some learners might not feel intimidated by having to find time to learn on their own

It’s a realistic fear: even with the best intentions, students often forget to do their homework. In fact, this is one of the main reasons schools still usually opt for the traditional classroom method. 

This might be true for some learners. However, at Chatterbox, our learners are professionals who have chosen to learn a language. With this mindset, “having to” study ahead of class is a fulfilling self-development activity. To help our busy learners find the time to study, Chatterbox’s content is broken down into 5 to 15-minute bite-sized chunks of “microlearning”. This helps learners find time to be able to complete their learning materials.

In addition, our coach sessions are designed such that even if a learner has not been able to complete all the materials before the session, the coach can adapt the interaction so that the learner will get maximum value from the session anyway.

#2 Learners might develop misconceptions as they go through new materials on their own

If you get confused during a traditional classroom experience, there’s always the option to stick your hand in the air and ask a question. There might not be time for your teacher to answer you - but the option is there. With flipped classrooms, there’s a slight danger that you could misunderstand a piece of information, and without help on standby, commit that misunderstanding to memory. 

At Chatterbox, we have reduced this risk by addressing common misconceptions in our learning content. Our content is written by Language Specialists who are able to anticipate which mistakes learners are likely to make. We have written the materials to address those common mistakes and misconceptions head on.

#3 Learners might feel overwhelmed by information and resources

If a lesson in a traditional classroom model is difficult, then you’ll at least be struggling alongside your peers. You’ll all be rolling your eyes and complaining together. Grappling with difficult information in a flipped classroom structure can be more intimidating - and even a little overwhelming. 

To mitigate this, we serve our Chatterbox learning content in bite-sized, manageable chunks. This allows us to offer our learners a great richness of learning content and resources without overwhelming them. We label particular chunks of content as “suggested” or “supporting”. This signals to learners that it is there for them to explore or leave as they see fit for their personal needs.

Why Chatterbox uses the flipped classroom 

To sum up, we believe that the flipped classroom has particular pedagogical advantages, especially for the type of learner we typically serve at Chatterbox.

• The flipped classroom approach maximises learner value and learning efficiency by providing great opportunities for active learning, in both self-study and coach sessions.

• The flipped classroom approach allows more flexibility for our learners who are juggling busy professional lives next to learning a language.

• The flipped classroom approach provides more time for actually practising speaking the language with the coach.

In essence, the flipped classroom approach is the instructional strategy that really makes the language learning magic come alive for our learners.

Conclusion

As we’ve seen, the flipped classroom model won’t work for every type of learner. It relies on students being self-motivated enough to prepare ahead of time, and energetic enough to participate in class. 

However, for mature and enthusiastic students, flipping the classroom can be an absolute game-changer. It empowers them to study on their own schedule, and frees up classroom time for activities that inspire a joy of learning – instead of a good nap.