I think we would all agree that it'd be great if we could provide a learning environment in which students can learn at their own pace (self-paced learning). We also would probably agree that we'd all want to be able to provide individualized instruction and assistance to students who need more help or desire to go deeper (individualized instruction). But, how can we make these things happen, given the financial and physical constraints we are currently bound by?

Currently, we tend to introduce new material in class. The teacher presents material to all students at the same time. However, some difficulties arise with this method, for example:

• some students may think the teacher goes too slowly so they get bored, tune out and perhaps get disruptive
• some students may think the teacher goes too quickly, but may not feel comfortable speaking up or asking the teacher to repeat
• some students may not like dealing with distractions from other students in the classroom
• some students may dominate conversations and make others tune out
• some students may not deal well with taking notes and listening at the same time, losing important information.

After that, we typically assign practice work for students to complete at home (homework). Issues can also arise here because:

• some students may not be able to complete the homework, as they didn't get the information in class
• some students may have a simple question that keeps them from completing the homework
• some students may want to interact with someone else on the assignment, but logistics may prevent them from doing so 
• some students may be dependent on parents who, for whatever reason, just cannot help their child.

So, What if We Can FLIP the Classroom?

What if you – the teacher – can assign your students "homework" to watch the best lecture content outside of the classroom (e.g. at home, in the library or in a school lab; on a laptop, video console, tablet or other handheld device)? What if the students can watch, listen, pause, rewind and re-watch that content as often as they like without affecting you or your other students?

If the above is possible, then your students can do the practice or deeper application of the initial concept in class with you, the teacher, where they can have individualized assistance when you are available or collaborate with other students for projects.

There are a variety of advocates for such a teaching strategy, but one of the more well-known is Salman Khan, creator of the Khan Academy. Taking the Khan Academy as an example, the following TED video and articles describe its strategy more deeply and make interesting food for thought:

• Salman Khan's TED Talk video
• An Education Free-for-All
• 3 Keys to a Flipped Classroom

Think how such a strategy may enable you to maximize your time with your students to explore topics at a higher level and allow you to use your ActivClassroom technology more for student collaboration and discussion and less for teacher presentation from the front of the room.

Here is another interesting video that has a different viewpoint on how videos could/should be used for teaching, again using the example of the Khan Academy:

• Khan Academy and the Effectiveness of Science Videos

And here's more of a techie perspective from another blog about the Khan Academy:

• When Tech Comes First: The Khan Academy as Leading Pedagogical Change

After reviewing this information can you see how switching the role of classwork and homework may impact you and your classroom, and how you and your students use the technology that you currently have, whether interactive whiteboards, learner response systems or other technology?

Do you think we will see such ideas being widely adopted, leading to less presenting of topics and more discussion and collaboration? If you've tried to FLIP the classroom, what were the results and do you have ideas to share with others on how they can make such a strategy work?

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