During this week we had the pleasure of interviewing Alicia and Raul Santiago Díez, founders and coordinators www.theflippedclassroom.es, referents in Spain and the platform with more visibility on the “flipped classroom” innovative methodology .

How would you describe the teacher’s role in the flipped classroom model?

“The role of the teacher in this model is no longer the sage who transmits knowledge to students which they are just learning from it, and perhaps a textbook, to become the guide of a much more active process by the student.”

To do this, it is closer to the student, improving teacher-student, working more by demand, resolving issues that arise in time and can be different for each student. As a facilitator of learning, each student seeks to develop its full potential.

What are the pros and cons of the flipped classroom model?

“The pros of the model are the teacher-student learning opportunities are multiplied,  heading to a path with more significant knowledge, self-confidence that generates a model that gives prominence to who should have the student, which endorses learning, which seeks to develop its maximum, which stimulates him.”

As for the cons, we could talk about the difficulties they may have in the implementation, either by not putting it realistically putting the pro-change media, or on the other hand for meeting professionals, families or “resistant” students to change either by not wanting to leave the comfort zone as fear of the unknown. Sometimes we see reluctance in using technological media for thinking that “distracts” the student.

Have they changed the students’ attitudes toward homework?

With this model, the duties are presented as something closer, adapted, flexible way to learn from our students, who are watching a video as something natural to learn (when we have a little difficulty at home, as a problem of DIY or with the computer, we tend to look for a tutorial which explain us how to fix it). The duties are therefore simpler, and the attitude of students changes to these duties. The activities of higher level of complexity are performed in class with the teacher closer to lend them a hand if necessary.

What role keeps video in the flipped classroom?

The video is presented with the theoretical part of a theme, so that allows, in a short space of time, that students learn the concepts that will allow progress on this issue with greater cognitive complexity activities. The videos should be short and contain what the teacher considers essential for students to build their learning on this information.

“The main advantage is that students understand or assimilate faster, abd they can begin the second phase before, and those who need more time, they can watch the video as many times as they need it, winning the latter in self-confidence and avoiding the first class of repetitions that lead to boredom and lack of motivation.”

What are the main benefits of the flipped classroom? Do you have any anecdote?

The main benefits of the flipped classroom model are the possibility of self-management of the learning process by students, the changing role of the teacher, who is closer to the student as someone who is there to help, not to demand or “cover” a content,a vision that often have students teacher in the traditional model.

When the teacher ceases to be the one who “serves” knowledge tray to find that their students try to do their looking the way everyone does better, families end up finding a change in the way their children see this matter and congratulate the teacher not by the number of learned concepts, but by the desire to learn that they have detected in their children, how they face this matter. That would be the story of the previous course. This fills me with pride because we are turning the school into a learning space that does not end there, but leaves the student wanting to do more, know more.

Does the students learn more effectively with this model? Can you describe how?

Apprenticeships are more complete, interesting, multidisciplinary, adapted to their learning preferences, therefore more useful. This model prepares our best students for a changing future career, giving to them more skills.

How would you rate the level of interactivity in the classroom while the flipped classroom model is used?

The level of interactivity is much higher, students do not have to listen twelve times what they already know, but go to the point in what brings them something new, interesting and different approaches. Keep in mind that, also thanks to a more collaborative way of working, students enrich and make very interesting contributions to other colleagues. We have seen very shy students radically change their attitude to the rest that possibility to show what they do best, growing in self-confidence.

What advice would you give to a teacher who wants to start flipping?

To begin realistically, seeing how it goes each type of activity resulting learning to tolerate some controlled disorder and some noise, which it goes around by class non-stop, observe and add or delete what does not work. That offers various activities to reach the target, so that everyone is able to learn from the way that best suits its characteristics.

ABOUT FLIPPEDCLASSROOM.ES PLATFORM

¿Together with other publishers, you have created the http://www.theflippedclassroom.es website, which provides a lot of information on this innovative educational model. What is your goal and the project and what feedback has received it so far?

“Right now we are participating in the project about 50 people from the editorial side, trainers and collaborators-editors. We also include a group of researchers from the University of La Rioja, the Francisco Vitoria University of Madrid and Complutense among others.”

The project around www.theflippedclassroom.es is based on three fundamental pillars: divulgation, training and research. The first is the main objective of the page, with nearly 900 entries in these 3 years. The training is conducted in collaboration with entities such as the University of La Rioja or the company GrupoMT and BIAS project. For example, we have organized 15 courses simultaneously in 15 cities throughout Spain. Research is very important to validate and justify the improvement in learning part. We already have more than 25 publications and research articles on this subject.

As this model is consolidated in our country, we are increasingly having experiences that enrich the page. The interesting thing is that many of our readers become editors, so they are really interesting contributions that address wide range of issues.

What are your next steps?

Of course further deepen the model FC: working on different lines of research, divulgation and training. We are also developing a new portal on Digital Competition including a digital level diagnostic skills of teachers and training itineraries ad hoc.