Flipping Your Class Without Flipping Your Lid

Julia Dodd | April 12, 2012 | 304 views

The flipped classroom model uses digital media to allow students access to instructional materials outside of the classroom. Students may use this information in a variety of ways:

- To review lessons presented in class
- To prepare for class discussions and lab activities
- To make up work missed due to illness or early dismissal
- To prepare for tests and exams

Screen-capture software allows teachers to assemble a digital lesson from several sources: 

- A computer screen
- A presentation file
- An audio file
- A video file

Initially, becoming familiar with this software can be time-consuming. However, the basics of screen-capture can be learned quickly; then teachers (or teams of teachers) can begin implementing flipped-lessons – perhaps one per week – while becoming more proficient and learning what works best for their students. Gradually a library of lessons can be accumulated.

To help more teachers become familiar with the digital media used in the flipped model, a two-day workshop will be offered on campus in early summer for interested teachers.  

Effective teachers always encourage students to become active learners, not just passive learners absorbing facts. Online videos provide another strategy for engaging students in their own learning and provide a realistic model of how learning continues after students “walk across the stage” at Commencement and into the rest of the 21st Century and beyond.