What is a flipped classroom? The model explained in detail

The flipped classroom is a structured education model that, in the traditional version, makes students take in information passively rather than actively in the learning process. It is very familiar in schools today, especially teacher-centered classrooms.

So specifically, what is a Flipped Classroom? What are the pros and cons of the flipped classroom? What is the real state of Flip Classroom adoption? Let's find out together. MONA Media take a closer look in the content below.

Flipped classroom ?

Before getting into what a flipped classroom is, we need to understand the difference from flipped learning and the traditional way of teaching.

Over the traditional way of teaching, where teachers prepare the lecture and students do homework before class. New material is taught in class, and any spare time goes to in-class practice. Lecturing and listening therefore take up most of a lesson, leaving only about 10% of the time for practice in class.

So the solution that "Flipped Learning" offers is to reverse this process. In a Flipped Classroom, students watch the teacher's lecture first to grasp the content and direction of the lesson. In class, they discuss and dig deeper into the topic with the teacher.

→ Explore more: What is a virtual classroom?

Structure of the flipped classroom model

The Flipped Classroom model is usually divided into 2 stages:

Stage 1: Learning and researching new knowledge

This stage of the flipped classroom takes place entirely at home and both lecturers and learners have their own tasks. Specifically:

• Teacher: Researches the knowledge and information, sets the lesson's goals and prepares the lecture. The teacher then records a lecture video and delivers it to students through online platforms.
• Student: Watches, studies and notes down the main points and any questions about the materials and lecture videos the teacher provides. Students can also do low-level exercises on their own and consult other sources to reinforce what they learned and prepare for the coming class.

Stage 2: Going deeper into the knowledge

This stage of the flipped classroom teaching method takes place in the classroom, driving effective interaction between lecturers and students. In detail, lecturer and student activities in this stage go as follows:

• Teacher: The subject teacher organizes discussions in varied formats, poses questions and answers students' questions in detail. The teacher also wraps up the key points of the lesson and adds more in-depth knowledge.
• Student: Students raise their own questions about what they researched and compiled at home. They join discussions, give individual or group presentations, or take part in the teacher's knowledge-reinforcing games.

Advantages of the Flipped Classroom

Teaching with the flipped classroom model has several notable advantages, including:

Students get more control

Of course, in a student-centered classroom, this is the condition for students to develop their innate abilities and to control their own learning better. By assigning short lessons to take home, students can:

• Freely manage their work and study at their own pace.
• Pause or rewind lessons they have read, note down questions that need answers, and use the points they care about as material for discussion with the teacher and classmates.

This gives students time to explore certain concepts without falling behind the pace of the whole class, and to get timely support from classmates and teachers.

The result of applying the flipped classroom method is that not only do students' grades improve, but their classroom behavior improves significantly too.

Encourages student-centered learning

The flipped classroom is characterized by spending more time letting students master skills through projects and discussion.

Its strength is that it encourages students to teach and learn from each other the concepts, led by the teacher. By taking charge of their own learning, they own the knowledge they gain rather than memorizing it by rote, which builds confidence in what they have learned.

It is also worth adding that teachers themselves can spot problems in how students think or apply a concept, or interact with them directly to offer suitable guidance.

Easier access to lessons

As long as you have access to technology, you can easily reach the lesson content without worrying about missing classes the way you might with traditional methods.

Thanks to lecture videos available and integrated in the system, e-learning website design students who miss class for unavoidable reasons such as illness, sports, outings or other emergencies can catch up quickly. This also gives teachers more flexibility in taking attendance.

Lets parents see what happens in class

Unlike classes taught the traditional way, in Flipped Classroom lets you parents can access and watch their child's lecture videos whenever they like. This helps parents support their children's learning better and gives them a deeper view of the quality of teaching at the school their child attends.

Makes learning more effective

Done right, in a Flipped Learning classroom, children will have more time to enjoy learning, play, or practice more.

Most of us today were educated the traditional way, so none of this is unfamiliar: everyone went through school buried in homework. In fact, one study observing students in grades 9 to 12 found that students spend up to 38 hours a week on homework. That is an enormous workload, overloading students and also pressuring teachers, who keep assigning and setting work.

With a flipped classroom lesson plan, online lectures run only 10 minutes, giving both students and teachers more time for other interests such as friends, family and hobbies.

A flexible learning environment

Students and university students can choose when, where and how to learn to suit their level.

Likewise, teachers can adjust class time flexibly so it works well. Interactions become more positive and are not confined to dry lessons, building a better bond with students.

Lesson content is built with intent

Students can pause on the key parts of a lessonand the parts they do not yet understand to see the bigger picture, avoiding rambling and uneven time use, and skimming over what they already know.

Because students watch the lecture and instructions at home first, they come to class knowing what to ask, discuss and dig into. Time that demands intense focus is shortened, keeping learners' minds clearer.

It also saves energy and time. A single PowerPoint or video, designed and recorded once and shared with others, can replace all the remedial and extra tutoring for students who have not kept up.

Disadvantages of the Flipped Classroom model

Still, alongside the advantages listed above, many people are skeptical about the new Flip Classroom teaching and learning model . Specifically, the model's disadvantages are:

The model is hard to apply without access to technology

Not everyone is tech-savvy, and students who cannot keep up with the technology will fall behind their classmates.

This is one of the most prominent issues: students needing a computer and the internet to watch online lectures is a prerequisite for the Flipped Classroom method. But it causes difficulties and inequities for low-income students with limited access to resources.

Too dependent on preparation and trust

There is also concern that whether a flipped classroom works depends heavily on students' cooperation. Unfortunately, nothing guarantees that students will not be reluctant to go along with this learning model.

Letting students choose when and where to study is both an advantage and potentially a major drawback. If students do not watch the lecture at home on their own, they will not keep up with classmates in class.

Teacher preparation and effort

Running a flipped classroom may look like it cuts the time spent standing at the front and delivering knowledge the traditional way, but it can quietly increase teachers' workload. It demands very careful integration for the class to be sustained and to grow.

On top of that, tasks such as recording, editing and uploading lectures take time and skills that not every teacher has.

Teachers also need to introduce in-class activities for their subject within the video in a way that motivates students to participate and prepare beforehand. That is a lot of pressure, needing a lot of time to adapt and no small effort.

Not truly effective for "learning to take tests"

The flipped classroom and not "teaching to the test" is a reality we have to admit. It does not follow a teaching model aimed at improving and raising test scores. Yet in Vietnam's current education process, teachers and students still must spend time preparing for exams, which disrupts the flipped classroom workflow.

Lots of screen time, easy to get distracted

Some people believe that if every teacher converted their class to a flipped classroom model, students would be forced to spend hours at the computer watching lectures. It can be argued that this hurts students' learning, and the concern is well founded:

• Students easily fall into overusing electronic devices, leading to distraction in class and risks such as losing information (to viruses or theft), and so on.
• Learning online also makes it easy to lose focus to social media notifications while studying.
• Many students gradually lose creativity by relying on what is already on the vast internet, leading to plagiarism.

Traditional classroom vs. flipped classroom

The concepts of the flipped and traditional teaching models differ as follows:

• The flipped classroom is a new teaching method in which students receive knowledge before class through materials such as videos, readings or online exercises. In class, students then join activities such as discussions, projects or problem solving under the teacher's guidance.
• The traditional classroom is the traditional teaching method, in which teachers present knowledge in class and students do homework at home.

DETAILED COMPARISON OF FLIPPED AND TRADITIONAL CLASSROOMS

→ Read more: Comparing online and traditional training

How flipped classrooms are being adopted in Vietnam

Teaching with the Flipped Classroom model is a new education trend adopted in many countries with positive results. In Vietnam, the Flip Classroom method has also been piloted by a number of schools and teachers in recent years.

Opportunities

The flipped classroom method can bring Vietnamese education many opportunities, such as:

• Raising the quality of education, fitting the demands of the Industry 4.0 era and helping students develop needed skills such as critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and communication.
• Making use of available resources, such as supporting platforms for online teaching, open courses or free materials online, helping teachers and students save time and money.
• Meeting students' diverse needs, letting them learn at a level and pace that suits them and tap into their own interests and abilities.

The challenge

Organizing a Flipped Classroom also poses several challenges for Vietnamese education, such as:

• Lack of agreement and support from regulators, schools and parents on adopting the flipped classroom, as well as a lack of related policies and legal regulations.
• Lack of preparation and training for teachers in designing and organizing flipped classes, and a lack of channels for teachers to exchange and share experience.
• Lack of commitment and responsibility from students in self-study and in joining the Flipped Classroom, as well as a lack of attention and encouragement from parents.

A solution for the flipped classroom: MONA LMS

A defining feature of the flipped classroom is that students watch online lectures or study materials before class, while class time goes to active learning such as discussion, problem solving and group projects.

And MONA LMS is an effective solution for teaching and learning in the Flipped Classroom model. It is training center management software with integrated smart features, an essential management tool for teaching and managing students.

Using MONA LMS software will help you solve many of the most common difficulties in the flipped classroom model:

• The software is designed with an extremely simple and intuitive interfacethat is user-friendly. The design team put great care into the experience so users can get started and get familiar quickly and easily.
• The software is built lean and runs smoothly on a range of common devices
• Helps lecturers create digital lessonsin many formats such as video, interactive games, infographics, and more.
• A smart system for organizing, storing and managing makes running a school or a class far less difficult and bulky with paperwork.
• Create learning activities that are active in class, such as group discussions, group projects, presenting learning products, and more.
• Create online tests and assignments to check students' knowledge before and after learning.
• Interact and communicate with students through channels such as messages, email, forums, and more.
• Assess and give feedback to students on their learning process and results.

If you want to learn the details of the MONA LMS system's features, you can CONTACT directly with MONA Media through:

• Hotline: 1900 636 648
• Email: info@themona.global
• Address: 1073/23 Cach Mang Thang 8 Street, Tan Son Nhat Ward, Ho Chi Minh City

FAQ

1. What are the characteristics of a flipped classroom?

The flipped classroom Flipped Learning has the following characteristics:

• Class time is spent practicing and applying knowledge, not delivering it.
• Students play an active role in learning, not a passive one.
• Teachers act as guides and supporters, not as the source of knowledge.
• Students are encouraged to work in groups and interact with each other, not alone.

2. Why use the flipped classroom model?

The Flipped classroom method brings these benefits:

• It builds students' initiative and confidence in learning.
• It creates a positive, friendly learning environment that encourages interaction and cooperation among class members.
• It makes knowledge transfer more effective, helping students understand and remember lessons longer.
• It gives flexibility in scheduling time and place for learning, to suit each person's needs and abilities.

The flipped classroom has the main goal of strengthening learning and student achievement by reversing the traditional classroom model. It also gives students more time to understand rather than just listen to lectures. It is a learning style with many potential advantages.

Although many limitations remain, the flipped classroom model is still a highly effective, intuitive approach for improving student achievement and driving initiative in learning. If its weaknesses can be overcome, MONA Media we believe that the Flipped Classroom method will be a great way to build 21st-century skills.