The first well-documented flipped classroom rang into session only back in 2007, when a pair of chemistry teachers began looking for a way to provide lecture materials for students who had to miss class. Using simple screen recording software to capture their PowerPoint slides, the two then uploaded the recordings to YouTube for every student in the class to review.
Every great idea has its “eureka” moment — this was it for the flipped classroom.
Right away the two teachers noticed the tenor of the classroom had shifted. Students came to class prepared with a better understanding of the day’s material. Right away, class time began to shift away from passive lecturing and toward increased student interaction and greater discussion of the details of the lesson and how the subject related to other lessons.
In short order a new pedagogy was born — and its adoption throughout the world of education has been nothing short of astonishing.
The Flipped Classroom is becoming commonplace
Just eight years after the first example of a flipped classroom, the 2015 NMC Horizon Report has named the flipped classroom as one of the most important developments in educational technology for higher education, and lists the technology supporting the concept on a “one year or less” time to adoption horizon.
Why so soon? Because, as the report notes, for most academic institutions, the flipped classroom is already here. The report cites the Center for Digital Education’s survey of higher education instructors, which found:
- 29% of faculty were using the flipped classroom, and
- another 27% of faculty reported planned to utilise the flipped classroom within a year.
In other words, already nearly one in three educators are flipping their classes. And by this time next year, more than half of all teachers will have flipped a course. No other technology strategy meant to provide students with a personalized learning experience comes close.
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