Sharing Practice – Flipped learning

This week Chris Mackintosh and Milly Blundell have generously agreed to share their experiences of delivering a module using a flipped learning methodology. This is a pedagogical approach in which individual or didactic learning takes place before class, allowing face to face sessions to be used to apply that learning in a more active, creative and supportive environment.

To help facilitate this approach Milly and Chris shared a short Panopto video each week alongside other videos, tests and reading materials on Blackboard. Students then had to complete a series of tasks related to these materials in their own time in preparation for that week’s face to face session.

Chris M kindly shares his experience of developing and delivering this type of approach below:

“I undertook a module redesign this academic year, given student engagement was limited and I wanted to freshen up a sometimes slightly ‘dry’ area of our teaching. I also had read some content Chris had sent through from the TEL team on Open University ‘future horizons’ and thought that traditional seminars/lectures can be very tired and formulaic.

Myself and Milly Blundell then decided to gear up the module around zero traditional 1 hour lectures and instead to do blended pre-session learning for two hours and the results have been outstanding, especially given it is our first attempt. Students loved the ability to return to the lecture, the difference of only a 15-20 minute Panopto (online clip) and how they actually said they are so, so bored of a diet of Power Point.

We saw great engagement with the pre-interactive sessions. But, did decide to keep these session small in size so we had a ‘genuine’ seminar of 18 not up to 35 ‘room capacity. Students were asked after week 4 to evaluate and we got several key themes – they’d like the format ‘mixing up’, pre-session work on their own time beats lectures, short punchy Panoptos work, they even said they don’t massively watch the slides, but re-listen and re-listen again to the commentary as it helps explain.

Overall, I am planning to use this more and more in my future practice and I see it as genuinely innovative. It was also time friendly, it just needs investment of enthusiasm in Chris and Ruth to help train you up over the summer to plan for September. Don’t let the doubters and naysayers put you off – I consider it the future, and handing the focus and drive towards the student has to be the way to go.“

I have to admit that having interviewed a number of the students on this module myself, and speaking to Chris M and Milly regularly during their development and delivery of this module, this approach did feel genuinely progressive and exciting. With students expressing pleasure that they can engage at their own pace in their own preferred, optimum, learning environments. Indeed, I was impressed and perhaps even surprised with how well the students engaged with the materials and tasks outside of the classroom.

Other potential benefits of employing a flipped learning approach  have been identified by JISC below:

  • Provides flexible access to learning resources 24/7
  • Gives teachers more time helping students
  • Builds stronger student/teacher relationships
  • Offers a way for teachers to share information with other colleagues
  • Supports differentiation
  • Creates a collaborative learning environment in the classroom
  • Models effective use of VLE (Blackboard)

JISC – http://bit.ly/1ppLkLf

If you want to learn more about flipped learning approaches get in touch with Chris M, Milly or the TEL team.

Cc – image attribution – Flip by Bonnie Dean – https://flic.kr/p/9WL3xK

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