Design Tips for Flipping the Virtual Classroom

Over the past decade, the growingappeal of web conferencing for delivering training and education can beattributed to many factors, including reduced costs, convenience, global reach,and recorded events for on-demand access. However, as is often the case, new deliverymedia are initially used to perform “old jobs.”

Most virtual classroomsare attempts to replicate live classroom lectures. Unfortunately, attendeesoften multi-task and frequently disengage. Decades of research in educational psychologyhave shown lectures to be one of the least effective instructional approachesfor learning. Why then do we continue to use them for virtual classrooms?

One potential approach forimproving attention and engagement (and therefore, learning) has emerged fromhigher education. This blended instruction model is often referred to as the flippedclassroom. The flipped classroom “flips” traditional instruction by converting lecturematerial into self-paced tutorials for access outside the classroom, often usingvideo and multimedia. This reserves the live classroom for more in-depthlearning activities, active engagement, and interaction with experts and peers(Figure 1).

Figure 1: In theflipped classroom model, traditional lecture material becomes self-pacedtutorials, and the virtual classroom time is used for engagement andinteraction

The flipped “virtual” classroom

Elements of the “flippedclassroom” bring together a tight integration between in-class and out-of-classlearning activities that you can also apply to virtual classrooms. The flippedstrategy in a virtual classroom is twofold. The first component requiresdesigning pre-work that must be completed prior to the live classroom with theintention of priming and preparing the learner. The second element is thesynchronous classroom itself, and its purpose is to leverage higher levels of interactivelearning. The key differentiator here is active learning.

Explore ways to replacelectures by shifting the content to other delivery mediums. For example, designself-study pre-work using mixed modalities of text, images, audio, video, andquizzing with immediate and corrective feedback. You can then use the livevirtual class to help learners apply pre-work concepts, observe worked examples,and engage in discussion via chat. Following are some general principles tokeep in mind when designing a virtual flipped classroom.

Principles for designing required pre-work

1. Introducefoundational content to aid formation of mental models.

   Leveragethe opportunity to introduce foundational content in the pre-work. This helpslearners build structural mental frameworks. Focus on essential key conceptsand overarching structure. Length should be brief, and encourage learners tocomplete the learning at their own pace. The complexity and depth of thematerial will best determine scope and length. William Horton’s three types oflearning activities (Absorb, Do, and Connect) provide a useful framework here. Youwould focus activities related to self-paced learning more heavily on “Absorb”type learning activities.

2. Apply the personalization principle to establish the perceptionof instructor presence.

   Createand design instruction to give the perception of the instructor being present. Includescattered images or video of the instructor, as this creates the perception ofconnection to the expert while learning is taking place. Well written textusing an informal conversational tone can be just as effective, easier toproduce, and simpler to make changes to later. Do not feel compelled to usevideo and/or audio unless they’re necessary.

Principles for designing the synchronous classroom

1. Facilitatehigher levels of learning through application, synthesis, and feedback.

   Theclassroom experience should not look and feel like a lecture where learners arepassive. Avoid redundancy by not reviewing concepts learned in pre-work. Instead,leverage live-class time for higher levels of learning such as analysis andevaluation. Referencing Horton’s learning activities, you can apply “Do andConnect” type activities here. Engage in group problem-solving activities thatbuild upon concepts covered in the pre-work. Ask deep, thought-provokingquestions throughout and encourage participant responses in the chat queue. Someof the greatest learning comes from the learner-instructor interaction whereinterfacing with the expert adds value.

2. Maintain a conversationalfeel and informal tone throughout virtual classroom.

   Instructorsshould use natural, conversational deliveries. If you script and read virtualinstruction verbatim attendees quickly disengage. Given the faceless medium, learnerspay more focused attention when words are conversational. You may also use webcamson the front-end to establish presence and place, but then you can turn themoff to focus and direct attention to other visual points of focus.

As professional educators and trainers serious abouteffective teaching and learning, the virtual classroom is ripe with opportunityfor improvement. Given the tools, online technologies, and affordances at ourdisposal today, we have little excuse for not creating active learning andengagement. The flipped virtual classroom is one potential alternative to re-designingthe virtual classroom, and ideally, aiding learning.