For my final paper for this class I will be writing about flipped learning in the foreign language learning environment. Flipped learning is the idea that students learn the concepts on their own outside of class so that class time can be used for skill application. Usually instructors assign their own video lectures or already made ones for homework. Students may have to answer comprehension questions to show they've done the work outside of class. Then class time is free to put the new concepts to use.
I went to a workshop on flipped learning last spring led by my former AP biology teacher who has now flipped her classes and is having a lot of success with it. I would like to know how this would go in the foreign language classroom. From the brief and less-than-adequate description I gave above, do you have any initial feelings about how this would work for language learning? Advantages? Disadvantages?
Audrey, I did a workshop conceding this topic for high school teachers at the NHAWLT conference in October. If you have interested in knowing more about it, I can share my PP with you. I do believe it can be quite effective if you use it correctly and find appropriate resources. Students need to be held accountable for this type of learning. Otherwise, it would not work. The idea of flipping is not to flip 'everything' because you cannot really flip certain things. Sometimes teachers would need to spend time teaching certain grammar points. For 401 and 402, I would use 'Sr. Jordon' YouTube videos as part of flipped learning. I think students will enjoy those short video clips.
ReplyDeleteI definitely have very mixed feelings about this. You have to have very motivated students to make this idea work. This is especially true for foreign language. I've had a few classes that did this and I did not enjoy it. I prefer a traditional classroom, but I know that is not the case for everyone. It definitely depends on the student. I could definitely see this working for upper level students since they would be more likely to be able to figure out the patterns of grammar on their own than lower level students. I would like to see this in action.
ReplyDeleteLina, I agree that you cannot flip everything, and that is an important part. In a way, I think we run our Spanish 401 classes "almost" flipped. The students are expected to come to class having done the reading that explains the grammar topics. We haven't really committed to flipping, though, because 1) Not everyone does the reading because we don't check up on them; 2) If they do, they might not really be thinking about it; 3) readings are probably less effective than videos that are typical in flipped classrooms; 4) we're still doing full lessons to teach the concepts in class. Thank you for the video suggestion, and I would definitely like to see your workshop presentation.
ReplyDeleteKevin, I agree that this idea could go south very easily. I think teachers have to put a lot of thought into flipping their classrooms and make some radical moves to implement the technique. What classes did you have (and not enjoy) that were flipped (i.e. what subject)? I know this is being implemented in high school classes but I think it would be easier with college-level courses (primarily because of motivation level & access to technology/Internet). I have never been in a class like this and would like to see how I like it.
I think that this concept is great; no, you can't flip everything, some grammar points are hard to learn/understand on your own—but, that doesn't mean you can't read about them before class and come in with questions/for clarifications the next day. this provides more time for practicing and producing the concepts, and makes students accountable for the memorization/vocabulary that a teacher can't really help them with.
ReplyDeleteAudrey: I would talk to Emilie Talpin (French) about this concept. She has been doing some flipped activities in her lower level French classes and I hear she has had some real success with it. There are a few Apps for iPad she uses to produce short videos that introduce grammar points I believe. I think it's an interesting idea.
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