Don’t Flip Out! – Part 2

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After devouring Berghmann and Sams’ epic regaling their journeys in flipped learning, I was keen to learn more about what had worked for teachers in different curriculum areas and at different levels of schooling. I’m P-12 trained, so I needed breadth of practical suggestions as well as plenty of pedagogically sound depth to back up my choice to flip my classroom. Once again, my Kindle came to the rescue! Amazon pointed me towards ‘Flipping 2.0’, edited by Jason Bretzmann, as the ‘next step’ in my reading.

In his foreword, Bretzmann refers to going beyond watching videos for homework and doing homework in class as the ‘2.0’ of classroom flipping. Interesting, I thought. Parallels between this and Web 2.0? As it turns out, yes! In Flipping 2.0 there is emphasis on the quality and increased accuracy/sophistication of output by students after a change in teacher input, much as the Web 2.0 movement emphasised creation and dissemination of information rather than simply the absorption of information curated by others.

Various education practitioners collaborate in this anthology of recommended practices. Some suggestions are more practically usable in different contexts than others, but there is a relatively even spread across all curriculum areas and from both highly experienced and dynamic graduate teachers – making it widely accessible, useful and sufficiently empirically based for many.

The book is more heavily weighted towards being of assistance to secondary teachers than those in the primary sector. However, this could be seen as a bonus in making it more viable for teachers to extend their brightest students at their own pace, with practical tips for how to further their subject-specific learning beyond the scope of the primary curriculum. Interestingly, the book also includes a section on flipping the classroom as a part-time teacher which may also be of interest to those working in tutoring, private education providers or governess positions.

This book was, to me, a really logical follow-on to my first foray into literature regarding flipped classrooms. Have you read it? Do you agree? I’d love to hear! Leave a comment below.

Bretzmann, Jason (2013). Flipping 2.0. Bretzmann Group LCC. Pennsylvania: USA.