Google Hangout Live for Flipping Your Classroom! Part 1

The purpose of this blog post is to explain how Google Hangout can be used to ‘flip’ your classroom. But first we should start by learning what a Flipped Classroom is, and how Google Hangout allows teachers to ‘flip’ their classrooms. 

Here are two YouTube clips on flipped classrooms featuring the two teachers who made this classroom model popular: Flipped Classroom, Flipped/Mastery Classroom.

The image above illustrates how the traditional classroom consists of teacher-centered lessons that require teachers to lecture about academic content and assign readings and questions for homework. The flipped classroom is drastically different because the academic content is learned at home through online videos. When students come to class the next day, they get to work on assignments, projects, and lab activities concerning learned content, while being facilitated by the teacher. There is also a flipped-mastery classroom model that is based on the idea of teachers assisting students in mastering learning objectives. This model also provides students with online video to watch at home, as well as hands-on learning experiences during class. 

According to Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams’s Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day, there are numerous reasons why teachers should be flipping their classroom.

The flipped classroom model allows: 

1. students to learn in an environment where they are native to. Students today use the Internet, social media websites, and other digital resources in a daily basis. 


2. all types of students to benefit. Without the lecture portion of the class, teachers have more time to provide one-on-one help to struggling students. Special needs students can watch the videos over and over again, as well as pause and rewind them to gain complete understanding of concepts.


3. students to pause and rewind lessons.


4. more student-student and student-teacher interactions. 


5. teachers to differentiate instruction because they have more time to accommodate each students’ needs. 


6. some classroom management problems to disappear. Class clowns don’t have an audience to entertain. The students are less bored and distracted during class, especially because of the hands-on learning experiences and group activities.


7. parents to benefit. Parents are able to see what goes on in the classroom, as well as learn themselves the academic content. 


8. students to still learn even when the teacher is absent. 


9. the classroom to move to a flipped-mastery model. 

The flipped-mastery classroom model allows: 

1. students to be responsible of their own learning. In a flipped-mastery classroom, students are required to be engaged in their learning through exploration, research, and investigation. In a traditional classroom, students are “given” information through lectures or assigned readings.


2. teachers to personalize and differentiate the classroom. Every classroom contains students who vary in level. The flipped-mastery classroom allows each student to learn at his or her own pace. Additionally, with more class time, teachers can find meaningful and individualized ways for each student to meet learning objectives.


3. learning to be the main focus of the classroom.


4. instant feedback to be given to students. Because the assignments are done in class, teachers have the ability to find out what students don’t understand and find any misconceptions they might have. Through the use of informal formative assessments, teachers can provide immediate feedback to clear up these misconceptions and misunderstandings.


5. remedial teaching to occur. In traditional classrooms, teachers need to move on to the next lesson, even when some students have not mastered a concept. In a flipped-mastery classroom, the students go at their own pace which allows them to relearn concepts that they find difficult. The classroom period becomes a time when teachers provide immediate feedback to students who are falling behind, which allows them to catch up to the majority of the class.


6. students to learn content in multiple methods. The flipped-mastery classroom includes, videos, assignments, and labs, but also textbooks and the freedom for students to find information through the Internet. If a student does not learn well through videos, then he or she has other options in this model.


7. students to demonstrate their learning in different ways. 


8. teachers to become facilitators in learning and not the focus.


9. students to appreciate learning, instead of simply “working” the school system. Students often get caught up in only caring about the grade they will receive. This model requires students to LEARN and not memorize content. This may initially frustrate your students. 


10. all students to be involved in the classroom. In a traditional setting, it is the teacher who seems to be the most involved and active participant in the classroom. The flipped-mastery classroom model provides more time for all students to participate in discussions, group work, or labs.