Flip Teaching Entrance Slip

I had the chance to hear and experience flip teaching during one of the school visits to Burnaby South.  This was the first time I had ever heard about it and my initial reaction contained a lot of mixed feelings.  I think I had these mixed feelings just because it was such an extreme change, basically going from one end of the spectrum to the other.  After being exposed to it a bit more my current opinion is all for flip teaching.  There are simply too many benefits with very little cons.  The biggest argument that swayed my opinion was the fact that students can go at their own pace and are able to pause and repeat lectures.  This would have been helpful for me because I remember times when the teacher covered the material way to fast for my ability.  Also I remember times when the teacher was way to slow!  Flip teaching allows for students to get ahead easier as well.  There are of course many other benefits that the TED talk explains pretty clearly so I wont go into detail about those.

I think people against flip teaching would ask or argue as to how you deal with students who don't watch the videos?  Or what do you do if a student has no access to the internet?

For students who don't watch the video you can set them aside with a laptop and get them to watch the video within the first 10-15 mins of class, or you can get the "stronger" students to peer tutor the ones who didn't watch the video.  Of course you would have to lay down some ground rules so that it doesn't happen frequently.

If a student has no access to internet you can put the videos on a usb, dvd, dropbox.  Or set up a buddy system.

Does flip teaching actually work?  It sounds great on paper, but does it translate to a practical setting? I would have to assume so as the stats and numbers are already there to back it up.  But I think only time will tell the efficacy of flip teaching.

With online courses, technology, and schools like the Khan academy becoming more prevalent I think our roles as teachers almost become more of a coach/mentor type role.  Unless we are making the videos ourselves then the "lecture" aspect of teaching still remains, it's just not in the classroom itself.  Basically we would become more of a coach because the students will have already learned the skills or materials, they will already have the knowledge, but now you have to guide, encourage, and aid them in applying these skills.

Also, the game-like implementation in the Khan academy with the mind-map and the point/badge system is clearly a great motivational tool as almost every child or young adult enjoys video games.

It's interesting, exciting, and a little bit scary to think that one day we may have a "global, one world classroom."