Flipping the Classroom

Tammy Phillips

The concept of a flipped classroom focuses on students viewing pre-recorded lectures at

home, allowing more time for in-class work, student engagement, and time for the
students to ask questions about what they have viewed prior to the class.
To date, there is no scientific research base to indicate exactly how well flipped
classrooms. Advocates claim that this practice promotes better student-teacher
interaction. This in turn gives the teacher more opportunities to provide real-time
feedback to the students. Putting pre-recorded lectures online also allows the students to
pace their learning, according to their own needs.
On the opposite side, if a student is not disciplined or driven enough to watch the
assigned videos prior to attending the class, they will not understand the material or be
able to participate in the classroom activities for that material. Another downside to this
process is that it requires the student to have readily available access to a computer, while
away from school. In this day and age its easy to assume that this is an easy task,
however, not all students have computers at home or the ability to get to one easily. This
could create barriers beyond the student or parents control.
This leads me into the next topic of
Digital Divide
The digital divide is defined as the gap between people who have access to computer
technology and people who dont. Even though a record number of Americans have
access to go online, there are still many more that do not have this luxury. There are many
reasons that may contribute to this gap, including the socioeconomic status of the
students family. While many schools have taken steps to make sure the students have
online access at school, it cannot always be carried into their homes. Specialized
programs cannot only help provide access to computers and internet to these families;
they also must provide ongoing and progressive training to increase the students
computer skills. In todays electronic world, the students that are not able to access
computers and learn computer skills will sadly be left behind in the learning aspect.

Learning even basic computer skills and being able to apply them can greatly increase a
students ability to advance in the educational world, while also preparing them for a job
in this always changing world.

References
Goodwin, Bryan, and Kirsten Miller. "Membership." Educational Leadership:Technology-Rich
Learning:Evidence on Flipped Classrooms Is Still Coming In. Technology Rich Learning, 1
Mar. 2013. Web. 05 Mar. 2016.
Carlin, Sherril Steele-. "Caught in the Digital Divide | Digital Divide in Education." Education
World:. Education World, 13 Jan. 2000. Web. 05 Mar. 2016.

Meyer, Leila. "THE News Update." Digital Divide: Access Is Not Enough. Tech Literacy, 10
July 2013. Web. 05 Mar. 2016.