"Flipping" Your Class

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Have you heard about the "flip?" And I'm not talking about Flip cameras, although those are nice too. I'm talking about a new phenomenon known as flipped or reverse instruction. The idea is that instead of spending class time on lecture and direct instruction and assigning homework for practice, you do the reverse. You post your lectures online by video or screencast or GoogleDocs or whatever. The students get their direct instruction during their homework time. Then you are free to use classtime for practicing or applying the concepts. Students who might ordinarily get stumped on a math problem at home and give up now can go through it with your help.

It's an idea that's gaining momentum, especially due to the Khan Academy. In math and science in particular, practically any topic you want to teach is available in 12 minute videos for free on the Khan Academy web site. So it's easy to flip your class.

But really any class can be flipped. It may not be something you would do every day. But perhaps for certain topics or once in a while. Or for a snow day.

If you're interested, here are some articles to tell you more about flipping.

Flip Teaching

Advancing the Flip - Developments in Reverse Instruction

Flip Your Classroom


And please, join in the conversation! What do you think about the flip?