Technology Enhanced Language Teaching Portfolio: Flipped and Blended learning

What's the flipped classroom?

Flipping your classroom means reversing the traditional classroom method by exposing your learners to the lesson content before the face-to-face period. This entails either recording the lesson in the form of a video lecture or downloading relevant online materials that are related the lesson you intend to teach. Sharing these recordings, videos, or written materials will enable your learners to watch them at home while completing homework, and to come to class with questions if any. The teacher will then use class time to check understanding and consolidate the received knowledge with more communicative activities such as problem solving, role-playing or any task-based activity.

The origin of the Flipped classroom approach

In 2007, Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams, two Chemistry teachers at Woodland Park High School in Colorado came up with the innovative idea of recording their lectures in the form of PowerPoint presentations using a screen capture software. The recorded videos served as catch-up lectures for students who missed classes due to the inordinate distance they had to cover every day. As YouTube was in its early years and posting online video was the new trend, Bergmann and Sams started sharing their Chemistry video lectures online. However, even regular students watched the videos, to better understand lessons, and to review for exams. The teachers argued: ‘because our videos were posted online, students and teachers from all over the world began thanking us for them. Students just like ours who had struggled with chemistry found our videos and started using them to learn’ (Bergmann and Sams, 2012: 4).

Despite the growing popularity of their online-recorded lectures, they started flipping their classroom when they realized that their students were becoming autonomous learners. They decided to record all their lectures for students to watch at home, and use class time for project and inquiry-based learning. The Flipped classroom, flipped model, or flipped teaching method was born.

The benefits of the flipped method

There is a noticeable amount of literature that underscores the advantages of using the flipped model. Bergmann and Sams suggest that the primary reason for flipping the class is that ‘it speaks the language of today’s students, because they grew up with Internet access, YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, and a host of other digital resources’ (2012: 20), even though the digital divide is yet to be filled in under-resourced areas. Consequently flipping benefits twenty-first century learners to a large extent.

Danker believes that the Flipped Classroom promotes:

‘Personalized learning because students can pause, re-wind and re- watch the online video at their own pace - one of the major, evidence-based advantages of the use of video is that learners have control over the media with the ability to review parts that are misunderstood.’ (Danker, 2015: 175).

The ability to pace themselves, ‘to pause, rewind their teacher’ (Bergmann and Sams, 2015: 24), and take notes is a significant element that is not feasible in the traditional classroom. Besides, flipping creates a flexible learning environment that is suitable for students with all learning styles.

Most advocates of the flipped technique agree that it fosters learner-centeredness. As F2F time is exclusively dedicated to self-directed learning through problem solving, critical thinking and inquiry-based tasks, learners take the ownership of the learning process. ‘The flipped model puts the responsibility for learning more on the shoulders of the students while giving them greater impetus to experiment’ (Danker, 2015: 174). Wallace et al further argue that ‘the flipped classroom transforms students from passive participants to cognitive apprentices who are expected to take ownership of their learning, become active members of the community of learners within the course, and practice thinking like an expert (2014: 160-161). In this light, flipping fosters what Prensky calls the partnering pedagogy which puts the onus completely on the students, (alone or in groups) to search, make hypotheses, find answers, and create presentations, which are then reviewed by the teacher and the class (2005: 7).

Finally, flipped classroom benefits foreign language classes because teaching grammar, vocabulary, reading, speaking, listening, and writing becomes more flexible, first with the online lectures, and second through interactive activities. According to Bergmann and Sams, ‘in foreign language classes, teachers are recording grammar lessons and conversation starters so as to create time in class to use the language more practically’ (2012: 48).

Useful tips for a successful flip

• Always double check the video before sharing it with learners: (appropriateness- language grading – content – length )

• Involve learners to foster a sense of ownership.

• Choose accessible and user-friendly materials: Ready-made or self-made materials.

• Encourage sharing to avoid frustrations.

• Engage learners at home with a task to make sure they will view the materials. Ask them to write down questions if they have any.

• Use incentives (Bonuses) for learners to buy in.

Some limitations

Case studies, or action research papers conducted in various contexts (Danker 2015, Hoffman 2014) reveal that implementing the flipped learning method is not void of challenges. These limitations are mostly related to teachers’ inability to adapt and contextualize the new approach appropriately to meet their learners’ needs.

The main challenge in flipping is to take teachers and learners on a new track that requires understanding the reasons and the real purpose of embracing this method. Shifting from teacher-centered methods to flipped teaching implies preparing teachers to design or choose ready-made materials because using poor quality videos might not lead to the desired outcomes.

Because of English language teachers’ previous training, experiences and backgrounds, it might be difficult for them to adhere to the paradigm shift from a teacher-centered knowledge transmission approach to a more interactive one. It is reasonable to mention that it will be unrealistic and pedagogically very difficult to create a learner-centered environment in a classroom of more than 100 young learners. Direct instruction methods are predominant in many EFL classrooms due to a fear of losing control when learning is handed over to an uncontainable number of students. This paradigm shift might be a long and overwhelming process that requires much effort on the part of the instructor to cease being ‘the sage on the stage’ and become ‘the guide on the side’, as classroom time is for learners to take ownership of their learning. Steed (2012) suggests starting small and moving away from lectures to more active-learning methods one lesson at a time (Cited in Phillips and Trainor, 2014: 521).

Tips

If you are flipping your classroom for the first time, it is important to start with short video recordings from YouTube about topical themes such as global warming, pollution, deforestation, social media ... While sharing these videos, it's crucial to make sure that your learners will have an easy access. Use your class time for interactive activities and try to play the role of a facilitator.

Recorded Presentation on the Flipped Classroom

Part 1

Part 2

References

Bergmann, J., & Sams, A. (2012). Flip your classroom: Reach every student in every class every day. International Society for Technology in Education.

Bergmann, J., & Sams, A. (2012). Before you flip, consider this. Phi Delta Kappan, 94(2), 25-25.

Danker, B. (2015). Using flipped classroom approach to explore deep learning in large classrooms. IAFOR Journal of Education, 3(1), 171-186.

Prensky, M. (2010). Teaching digital natives: Partnering for real learning. Corwin Press.

Wallace, M. L., Walker, J. D., Braseby, A. M., & Sweet, M. S. (2014). Now, what happens during class? Using team-based learning to optimize the role of expertise within the flipped classroom. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 25(3&4), 253-273.

Phillips, C. R., & Trainor, J. E. (2014). Millennial students and the flipped classroom. Journal of Business and Educational Leadership, 5(1), 102.

What's blended learning?

Blended or hybrid Learning is a key concept in Technology-enhanced language learning (TELL). It facilitates asynchronous instructions through online platforms known as Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs). In blended learning, an important percentage of the course content is delivered online while in-person sessions are used to implement hands-on interactive activities. The online content is meant to promote autonomous and self-paced learning through lecture-based instructions, reading materials, and discussions, which prepare students to share and interact with their peers during in-class periods. In hybrid learning, ‘the professor, instead of being the « sage on the stage » functions as a « guide on the side, » facilitating learning in a less directive way’, (King, 2013 : 30). Osguthorpe and Graham (2003) suggested six reasons to blend: pedagogical richness; access to knowledge; social interaction; personal agency (i.e. learner control and choice); cost effectiveness; and ease of revision (Tomlinson and whittaker, 2013: 13-14). By taking control of their own learning through instructive devices that facilitate access to knowledge, learners are more likely to build confidence and motivation. Blended learning, thus, promotes a sense of ownership as learners can access courses anytime. It can take various forms depending on the available technologies in the context in question and on teachers' ability to personalize the blend.

Why should we implement blended Learning?

There are diverse motives that account for the application of blended instruction based on various pedagogical underpinnings. One of the widely agreed benefits of BL is the combination of in-person and online-based teaching, two complementary methods that promote extended instruction. According to Staker & Horn, 2012, the teaching and learning activities happen both in the classroom and in the online sessions, which are regarded as an extension of the face-to-face teaching interaction. They further argue that the materials the students learn with in the online sessions supplement the materials they use in the classroom. Similarly, Sujana et al, 2020 highlight that “for the online sessions, teachers typically give the students additional materials and exercises related to the topics being discussed in face-to-face classroom and send the materials through online platforms” (p.83). There are several learning management systems that can be used to host the online component of a blended approach.

Here is a YouTube tutorial