Inverted classroom technology: the art of practical use

The inverted classroom is a model of learning in which the traditional presentation of new material and the organization of homework

Inverted classroom technology: the art of practical use
Inverted classroom technology: the art of practical use

The inverted classroom is a model of learning in which the traditional presentation of new material and the organization of homework are presented in reverse. It has radically changed the approach to teaching and acquiring knowledge! The main idea is to turn the lessons over: the analysis of the theory is at home, and the "homework" is in the classroom. Learning at home is done with the help of gadgets (mobile devices, computer) in the format of audio / video, presentations, webinars or interactive tests. While in the classroom, students update and consolidate the acquired knowledge: perform practical tasks and ask the teacher questions that will better understand the topic. As you can see, the introduction of the "inverted class" format requires a high level of self-discipline of students. Only then will this system succeed!

At the stage of organizing the "inverted" lesson you should find answers to the following questions:

  • For what purpose did you decide to use this form of education?
  • What problems may arise during the implementation of "inverted learning"? How can you solve them quickly?
  • What are the stages of an effective "inverted" lesson? What activities will help students consolidate the material developed at home?
  • Will students be able to expand their knowledge (through practical experiments, discussions) or use them to create their own project?
  • How can students work together in class?

These simple life hacks will help to organize "inverted learning" competently:

  1. Prepare for your students a selection of media materials that will help you better master the theory. Small self-test tasks will show children what information to read again. Creating interactive texts, videos or images is great for this.
  2. Make a list of interesting topics to work on in the first month of the "inverted class" in advance. This is necessary in order to form students' motivation to learn according to the new rules.
  3. Involve students in planning and preparing for the inverted class format. Find out what they think about the innovations that are expected.
  4. Invite the children to email keynote notes after watching the video lectures. This will make sure that the students have really worked out the theory.
  5. Use gamification in the classroom. Webquests, quizzes and smart online games - all this will make your lesson unusual and unforgettable. In addition, thanks to this, children will remember the educational material better and for a long time.
  6. Do your students not have internet access at home? This is not a problem. They can download all the files needed to study the theory to the phone / electronic media in the computer room.

There is no specific step-by-step instruction for "inverted learning". And yet, it gives teachers space to generate their own interesting ideas. With practice, your box will accumulate strategies and methods that can be adapted to any class. However, keep in mind that this technology is not designed to use the same methods and techniques for years. It is important to update them systematically!

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We have selected for you practical techniques for using the technology of "inverted class". Get inspired by them and implement your own interesting ideas!

Crowdsourcing

The students' task is to work out the theory and record examples of its implementation on the phone. These can be experiments in chemistry, physics or biology, film adaptation of a poem, creation of short stories in the format of stop motion or timelapse. Since children love to shoot videos for YouTube or TikTok, they will definitely like this format of consolidation of what they have learned!

Virtual tours

Invite students to view thematic exhibitions in virtual museums before studying the theory. In this way, children will be more enthusiastic about reading the text in the textbook or watching video lectures. We advise you to use selection of free web services:

Problematic issues

How to actualize the importance of elaboration of theoretical material? You may want to ask children to think about solving problems (one or two) after learning the theory. And in class, all the ideas can be voiced during a short discussion.

Questions should be topical or just interesting. For example: What will happen to the Earth and other planets if the Sun disappears? Why shrew weighs 2 g and eats 4 g of food a day, and a tiger weighing about 200 kg enough 10 kg of meat per day? What can a home barometer be made of? Why does a match cast a shadow and a light on it not? Why does the root of a plant grow downwards and the stem grow upwards? Create! Such questions will help to involve each student in the development of theory.

Critic generators

This exercise is similar to the previous one, but somewhat transformed: adapted to organize group work. The teacher asks students a problematic question related to the topic of the lesson. The class is divided into two teams: generators and critics. The task of the first group is to come up with as many solutions as possible (sometimes there may even be options fantastic!). The task of critics is to choose the most successful of the proposed ideas. Each team must justify their opinions.

Next, the teacher should direct the work of students so that they can, based on experience and knowledge, choose one / several option (s) that will help to solve the problem relatively quickly and efficiently.

TED-Ed

TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a video lecture: from science to the global problems of mankind. As a rule, the speeches last about 20 minutes: this is enough for the listeners to concentrate on the essence of the report without being distracted. What are the benefits of TED conferences?

Find a lecture on the site that will help students better understand the theoretical part of the study material.

Children will learn the art of public speaking.

Viewing lectures in the original language is a great opportunity to improve your English language skills.

Young marketers

As you work in the classroom, invite the children to form teams and create advertisements for the theory they have developed. What will it be like? Decide for students. For example, a short video in the form of stop motion or storytelling. Or a articaler with information about how a person will need knowledge on a particular topic in real life. The benefit of this exercise is not only that children will delve into the study of the topic, but also in the development of creative abilities!

Prediction tree

After students have worked on the theoretical material at home, invite them to form groups and draw œPrediction Tree diagrams. Essence: trunk - topic, branches - hypotheses (the number of branches is unlimited), leaves - substantiation of assumptions, arguments in favor of a particular opinion. This exercise can be adapted to any discipline!

Generalization of knowledge

Invite students to brainstorm. To do this, they should take turns saying one or two short sentences about the concept or key points from the material studied. Thoughts should not be repeated! It's best if students don't just duplicate theoretical information, but also speak their own insights on the topic. After everyone has expressed their opinion or theses on the theory, the class should applaud the successfully studied topic. This exercise motivates students not to stop there!

As you can see, the "inverted classroom" gives educators many opportunities to diversify traditional classes. You only need to think about a quality strategy to change the format of training!