The Debate Over a

Flipped Classroom
Isabelle Brosseau
Abstract: An increasing number of
educators are promoting the use of
online video tutorials. This method has
come to be called a flipped classroom. It
is a new approach to learning that
moves away from general teaching
techniques and incorporates more
technology with learning than a regular
class environment would include. Some
people believe that it could be very
beneficial, while others believe that
traditional teaching method should
remain. There are both pros and cons to
a flipped classroom.

Key

Words:

curriculum,
Interaction

Flipped
Classroom,
Productivity,
Face-to-face,

Introduction:

The
advances
in
technology over the past couple decades
have opened new avenues for teaching
and learning. For example, some schools
have incorporated a new technique, called
a
flipped
classroom
into
their
curriculum. The term flipping comes from
the idea of swapping homework for class
work (Ash,6). The flipped classroom is a
student-centered learning approach that
utilizes technology. It is used to describe
almost any class structure that provides
prerecorded online video lectures that are
then followed by in-class work, projects, or
assessments (Reyna, 2013). There is a
debate as to whether a flipped classroom
is more effective than a more traditional
class setting. There are both positive and
negative outcomes that could result from
a flipped classroom. Some believe that a
flipped classroom has the potential to be
more efficient because it allows students
to advance at their own pace. Others feel
that a flipped classroom has little impact
on learning and that it promotes les faceto-face interaction that could result in a
decline in the social skills of adolescents.
The transition to a flipped classroom was
inspired by the work of Salman Khan, who

created a variety of free online tutoring

videos and posted them on YouTube. That
website was known as Khan Academy.
Kahn Academy is a non-profit organization
for education that was created in 2006. It
allows for anyone, with access to the
internet, to obtain a free education. (Ash,
2012).

Main Text
The main advantage of a learning
design including this technique is that the
students will have the flexibility to learn
the information at their own pace (Reyna,
2013). Giving the students a chance to
learn at their own pace allows them to
have more control.
For instance, if
someone does not understand the video
after viewing it once, they have the
accessibility to rewind and re-watch the
video clip to have a better understanding.
They are able to watch the videos as many
times as necessary until they understand
the concept. Not all students learn in the
same way or in the same speed. A flipped
classroom can be beneficial to students
who learn at a variety of speeds. Those
who are able to comprehend the video by
watching it once opened up more free
time. For example, the students could use
that free time to work on their other
school work. Due to the fact that the video
lectures are online, there is not a set time
that the students would have to watch the
video(s). They would be given total
freedom to complete the online lecture
anytime before the next in class lesson in
their own time. Those who were absent
during the school week could continue to
stay caught up with the rest of the class
by watching the online lesson and
completing the in class assignments. A
flipped classroom not only has advantages
for the students, but for the teachers who
teach the flipped classroom as well.
Instead of having a lesson plan to teach to
a class repeatedly throughout the day,
they
would
only
have
to
record
themselves giving the lecture only once.
Like the students, a flipped classroom
allows for more productivity for the
teachers during class time. For example,
they could use the class time that they
would normally spend teaching, to correct
homework, tests, or assessments. They

would also have the entire class time to

answer questions that the students might
have concerning the previous online video
lesson. That would reduce the amount of
time that a teacher would have to spend
answering questions after class, or before
and after school hours, because the
students would be more likely to have had
their questions during the time spent in
the classroom. Allowing teachers to be
more productive would decrease the
amount of time it takes for students to get
their assessments corrected and handed
back by their teachers.
Most educators
explain how there are a multitude of ways
to flip a classroom. Some teachers allow
students to watch the videos in class,
while other teachers assign a video for
homework (Ash, 2012).
On the flip side of the debate,
though there are many advantages to a
flipped
classroom,
there
are
also
disadvantages. For example, a flipped
classroom relies on trust.
Unless the
teacher assigns an assessment upon
completion of viewing videos, there is not
much of an incentive for the students to
watch and take notes during the lectures.
A teacher at Sacred Heart Cathedral
Preparatory named Ramsey Musallam
explains his concerns of the tactics of a
flipped classroom. He explains Everyone
initially thought that [flipping} was an
innovative way [to teach] because we are
so rooted in this idea that students do not
like homework. However, when you step
back a little bit, what you are looking at is
simply a time-shifting tool that is
grounded in the same didactic, lecturebased philosophy. It is really a better
version of a bad thing (Ash,2012,6).
Expanding on what was mentioned earlier
in the first paragraph, it is inconvenient
that a student is not able to pose a
question to the teacher as they are
learning the lesson. Instead, they would
have to wait until their next in-class time
to receive their answer from the teacher. It
has been proven that students would
rather use face-to-face help seeking
sources more than technology mediated
sources. In addition, higher performing
students prefer face-to-face sources while
lower
performing
students
prefer
technological online mediated sources

(Reeves and Sperling, 2015). Due to the

fact that todays society has become
increasingly technology oriented, it is of
vital importance for students to retain or
continue to develop their social skills. This
learning style promotes more time spent
in front of a screen and less time using
actual face-to-face communication. Lack
of face-to-face interactions between
students may explain the negative
perceptions formed by interaction with
partners for circumstances, like group
projects that require a partner or a group
of multiple people. It has been found that
lack of social interaction, may hinder
relationship building (High and Caplan,
2009 and Walther, 2006). Unlike the
majority of the students of this generation,
most teachers today are not as familiar or
proficient with technology. For instance,
filming and uploading videos might be
rather difficult for them if they are not
tech savvy. A flipped classroom could also
be inefficient if students are not allowed
the necessary amount of time in class to
complete their in-class work. If they were
not given enough time in class to
complete their assignments, a double-up
work load would result later that night. Not
only would they have to finish their
assignment they did not complete in class,
they would also have to watch their lesson
video for the next days assignment. To
add to that point, some students have also
felt that some of the video sessions were
too long. They believe that the videos
sometimes took up more time than if they
were to learn the lesson in a regular class
setting (Adamas-Rappaport, 2015). There
is also a flaw in this learning technique
when it comes to internet accessibility.
Those who are not able to gain access to
the internet would not be able to complete
the online portion of the class. The only
fair outcome would be if the school or
community provided the students with
internet access or a device for them to use
to compete the out of class assignments.

Conclusion
To reiterate the main points of this
debate, there are both pros and cons to
the use of a flipped classroom. Some say
that is allows students to reach their full
potential and thrive at a faster pace.

Others claim that it prevents students

from practicing social skills resulting from
the lack of face-to-face communication. To
flip or not to flip, that is the question.

References
Ash, K. (2012). Educators View
'Flipped' Model With a More Critical Eye.
Education Week, 32(2), S6-S7.
Lundy, B., & Drouin, M. (2016).
From social anxiety to interpersonal
connectedness:
Relationship
building
within face-to-face, phone and instant
messaging
mediums.
Computers
in
Human Behavior, 54, 271.
Nematollahi, S., St John, P., &
AdamasRappaport, W. (2015). Lessons
learned with a flipped classroom. Medical
Education, 49(11), 1143.
Reeves, Philip M., & Sperling,
Rayne A. (2015). A Comparison of
Technologically Mediated and Face-to-Face

Help-Seeking Sources. British Journal of

Educational Psychology, 85(4), 570-584.
Reyna, Jorge. "ACTIVE LEARNING
AND THE FLIPPED CLASSROOM." Training
& Development 42.5 (2015): 30-31. Web.

What is "digital media literacy"?

How should we be integrating
technology into our schools?
Curriculum?
How much of the news and
current events should we bring
into the classroom? What are
the advantages to doing so?
Disadvantages?
That focuses on everyday
situations