The flipped classroom is popular in distance learning

More and more teachers are interested in the flipped classroom. This teaching practice makes it possible to transmit more theoretical knowledge to students by means of video capsules and to devote more class time to the realization of concrete projects. A way of doing things that lends itself well to distance education.

"With the flipped class, the teacher becomes more of a guide who accompanies his students so that they can apply the concepts learned", summarizes Karine Lépine, mathematics teacher at the Collège Nouvelles Frontières in Gatineau. She has been practicing reverse class for 7 years and would not go back.

Literally, the inverted classroom means that the teacher reverses the traditional model: "the transmission of knowledge, normally relegated to lectures, is done in the form of videos listened to outside school, while homework, practice learners, are done in class in the presence of the teacher. The logic behind this inversion is to maximize class time to support learners when they need it most, that is, when they are carrying out educational activities and they have contextualized questions ”, according to the definition of CADRE21, which offers self-study on the flipped classroom.

“The biggest advantage of this practice is that the student can watch each capsule at their own pace, press pause, go back, listen again as needed. He becomes more autonomous in his learning. This way of doing things is facilitating for many students ”, indicates Vincent Lemieux, principal at the Sittelles elementary school in Saint-Georges, which offers feedback to the learners of the CADRE21 training.

In the current context, it should also be mentioned that the flipped classroom lends itself very well to distance education, especially for students who are in hybrid mode. In this dynamic, the days when they are at home, they receive some explanations from the teacher, then watch the capsules. On the days of school attendance, they take action with practical exercises, teamwork, etc. The teacher then offers a more personalized support to each one.

The best practices of the flipped classroom

Ms. Lépine and Mr. Lemieux would like to remind teachers who wish to experience the inverted classroom that they is not necessary to be an expert videographer. The capsules are intended for students above all, the objective being that they are effective for teaching theoretical notions and not that they are perfect.

They also agree that recording capsules takes time, especially at the beginning, but saves time later. Indeed, some capsules can be used with several groups or for several years without necessarily needing to be updated.

A few tips

• Be yourself, don't try to adopt a style that is not your own.
• Divide the concepts to be explained into coherent blocks (one idea per video).
• Record screen, voice and annotations.
• Be concise in explanations, with language suitable for age groups.
• Prefer capsules that do not last more than 8 minutes.
• Use the software that is found by default on most computers (Windows Movie Maker, Keynote, iMovie, etc.).
• Upload the videos to a YouTube channel (video not listed) for easy access by students.
• Ask students for feedback on whether the capsules are useful or popular enough, for example.

In addition

• Thematic guide by Carrefour education
• The inverted classroom: why and how?, Center for University Teaching, University of Montreal.
• Distance Education: Does Video Quality Matter?, École branchée

To go further, our virtual live training Creation, capture and publication of educational video will be held on March 15 from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

You can also review these past trainings:

• How to capture what's happening on screen to make an instructional video
• Create and have videos and presentations created: an overview of Clips, Adobe Spark and Explain Everything

Dimension (s) of digital competence related to this article
9- Adopt a perspective of personal and professional development with digital technology in a position of empowerment

To see the Framework.