Some time ago my colleague Hans Kövi wrote about ‘Flipping the classroom‘. I see many similarities between Flipping the classroom and blended learning. In this blog post I compare these two phenomena.
Class dismissed
In corporate training, blended learning has become pretty common. We offer components through e-learning, after which students train and apply skills during an offline event. The idea behind ‘Flipping the classroom’ is the same, but aimed at pupils in an educational setting. Video and other forms of online instruction replace the knowledge transfer in the classroom (Kennisnet – flipping the classroom).
Blended learning
‘Flipping the classroom’ is very similar to what we call blended learning. Blended learning combines the strength of online learning with a classroom session in which students actively (role play, assignments, cases, discussions, etc.) work with the subject. This is interesting for businesses because it reduces non-productive hours compared to a traditional, 100% classroom training program; the student often does the online knowledge part at home. See the video below to illustrate:
Training more efficiently
The time saved when ‘Flipping the classroom’ offers schools the possibility to engage more actively with the pupils during class. Teachers have more time for individual attention, personal development and activating didactics. In my opinion, this is a very positive development for education.
With the introduction of blended learning in many commercial training programs, businesses have already taken the step towards flipping the classroom. In both education and business, flipping the classroom leads to more efficient training. As for corporate training, this results in less non-productive hours and in education there is more room for the really important aspects of teaching.
