Flipping classrooms has become an educational phenomenon, it’s being trialled in lots of ways. In the US, research shows it’s raising achievement quite significantly. In a nutshell, it reverses the traditional learning model; the student absorbs the information at home and applies it in the lesson. Until now, it’s taken the form of a teacher in a video file or a set of worksheets on a VLE/Moodle.
We’ve started to see some exciting innovations (mainly in sixth form colleges) using authoring software, like Nimble Author.
Courses contain the information, often on in the form of PDFs loaded onto the course as well as hyperlinks to useful websites and video files on YouTube and Vimeo. Students complete simple quizzes to ensure they’re on the right lines, and larger assessments act as evidence of completion (which can have pass marks to guide).
Using the Nimble LMS (Learning Management System) teachers can check on each student’s progress (or set it up via their Moodle).
The point is simple – it shows how traditional learning models can change with this form of technology. It’s worth trialling with a group or two to evaluate the impact.
Phil Parker, Learning Development Consultant, Nimble Elearning