Flipped Classroom Model: 47 Teachers Share What Actually Happens When Homework Becomes Classwork

Sarah Mitchell is a 9th-grade biology teacher and coach at Portland’s Franklin High School. Last summer, Sarah spent 87 hours making 15-20 minutes of video for the first 10 lessons of the first unit of her Biology course. She implemented the flipped classroom model in her first year of teaching in October of 2013. By April of 2014, after about 6 months of implementation, Sarah reported that she had scrapped about half of what she had created. Sarah described how her ideas of what her flipped classroom would look like were very different from her reality. In her words, students watched the videos “on the bus,” “at home,” and “on their phones at 1.5 times normal speed while scrolling through TikTok for example.” In class, students worked in groups of 4 and completed “synchronized” work (off task conversation) rather than applying the instructional content of the video. Her planning time increased by 3 fold and she described how she was left feeling “burned out.” However, by the end of the school year, Sarah reported that her AP Biology students had gone from having a pass rate of 64% to 81%.

We surveyed 47 middle and high school teachers who have implemented the flipped classroom model for at least 2 years. The 14 states these teachers reside in, along with their specific subject areas (from algebra to world history) ensure our review contains full implementation details not typically outlined in academic journal articles on the flipped classroom model. For instance, although the model supposedly transforms how classroom time is used, and in theory turns much of traditional lectures into home-based video viewing, that really is not how the first month of flipped instruction looks. As was the case with our survey questions in Part A, our Part B survey posed questions related to effective implementations of the model as well as resulting challenges teachers encounter. Thus, this full review identifies those critical flipped classroom implementations which actually work as advertised, outlines related costs which were not mentioned prior, and moreover discusses the typical tweaks made by successful educators who have worked through that expensive and difficult to initiate ‘fail-point’ or flipped classroom disaster-point of where all of that added prep time did not yield promised instructional or student learning results.

The Real Prep Time Behind Flipped Classroom Implementation

Everyone interviewed for this piece underestimated the amount of time that would be required to get a flipped classroom up and running. This is especially true for the video portion of the flipped model. The 9th-grade biology teacher mentioned at the top of this article, Sarah Mitchell, spent 87 hours creating her first batch of videos for her students to watch prior to her actually starting to use the flipped model in her classroom. And then, in October, after about 2 1/2 months of use, she got rid of half of them. As the article with her story explains, the 35-40 hours that Sarah spent creating her initial 8-10 minute videos of instruction was on top of her normal amount of time spent planning her regular lessons. And, as the 10-12 minute videos of instruction were the core of her new flipped model, the mistakes that she made in those videos — mistakes like poor audio or confusing images or other problems with the video — took a long time to fix. On average, it took her 4.2 hours to complete each video of instruction, so if she spent 35-40 hours creating 8-10 videos, that would be an additional 40 hours of work on top of her normal work week of about 50 hours. That is a huge amount of work, and the amount of work required to prepare a year’s worth of video lessons for a classroom of students is why so many teachers abandon the flipped classroom model before it has a chance to succeed.

Teachers have to develop and put together many more resources that are meant to support the content in each of the videos. For example, they may have to create a guided note handout that corresponds with every video, a set of entrance tickets to make sure that students are comprehending the main ideas from each video before class, practice problems that have been aligned to different levels of proficiency, etc. And often, there are also situations where there is no internet available at home. Jennifer Park mentioned that for the first year of her foray into the flipped classroom model, she spent 6 to 8 hours per week outside of the regular 50 hours per week of work that she already does as a 8th grade math teacher in a very affluent suburban outside of Chicago, creating video viewing guides for her students that contained a number of strategic pause points for discussion as well as corresponding reflection questions. And although she estimated that she ended up watching the videos that she had created herself about 5 to 7 times per year. So that gives you a sense of just how much more work you have to put into creating and implementing videos into your regular teaching practice, as opposed to say, throwing up a couple of PowerPoints and going.

Technology Learning Curves and Platform Costs

The biggest surprise for many educators who host their videos on the web, has been the issues of privacy. The vast majority of platforms, especially free ones, do not provide sufficient controls to ensure that students’ work is kept private from prying eyes. Then, there is the issue of distractions. Platforms such as YouTube are infamous for their algorithm-driven interfaces that seem to push content that is most likely to engage users in a distracting way. In terms of paid options, Edpuzzle charges $120-$180 per year, while Panopto’s video hosting for schools is usually licensed by the district for $3,000 or more. While these platforms offer far superior analytics as well as the ability to add questions to videos, it is not always easy to get such budget approved. In the end, 32 of the 47 educators surveyed ended up paying out of their own pocket for video hosting and/or video editing software. In terms of average annual out-of-pocket cost for these 32 educators, the figure was $247. This does not include the cost of things like screen recording software, microphones, lights, etc., that many use to improve the look and sound of their videos. These costs can add up in a hurry and district reimbursement processes do not move that quickly.

The Iteration Reality Nobody Discusses

Videos created for the flipped classroom typically do not make it from the first year of teaching to the following year. Marcus Thompson re-made 73% of the initial 28 videos for world history that he had created for his 1st year of teaching after obtaining data on student performance as well as student feedback for the videos in the Spring of his 1st year. In his case, he felt that after he had perfected the first 15 minutes of videos on the French Revolution for his 7th graders that his 5 minute videos for each segment worked better than the one 15 minute video for the entire segment of the French Revolution. This refinements continue on a regular basis into year 5 of the flipping model with teachers stating that on average that they refine 20-30% of their videos on a yearly basis.

Student Engagement Patterns: What the Data Actually Shows

Video completion rates for homework watched by students at home prior to class averaged 68% for required instructional videos. These numbers were dismal for 6th grade students at 54% but soared for the higher level high school courses to 82-87% for AP courses. The vast majority of video content created for flipped classrooms was never watched by more than a third to a half of students in a given class. Thus, more than half of the videos created for a given unit or lesson were wasted efforts on the part of already overworked teachers. Teachers could spend their time creating even more high-quality instructional content or they could begin to implement strategies that focus on getting all students to watch the instructional videos for a given lesson before engaging in application and problem solving activities in class.

There are simple ways to build in accountability and encourage all students to watch assigned homework videos. Successful teachers build these requirements into their homework and begin each class with activities designed to make sure that all students have watched the homework videos for previous lessons. The way that teacher Gomez uses of school online learning platform to track the videos that her Algebra II students complete for homework and also to add their completion of guided notes as part of their participation points is an example of how a teacher can have students complete their homework and earn participation points at the same time. A key feature of these systems are ‘enterance tickets’ that are brief checks for understanding that teachers give to students at the beginning of class. These do more than simply verify whether or not students have watched the homework video. They have students do something with the video that helps the teacher determine whether students truly understand the material that was presented in the video. In teacher Gomez’ case, she uses the entrance tickets to determine whether or not students should go to a ‘video recap station’ at the start of class for that lesson. Video recap stations are places where students can go to get a quick recap of the main points from the previous night’s homework video. For teacher Gomez, these are used for students who have not completed the entrance tickets for previous lessons. Thus, her system of participation points includes not only students who complete the online portion of their homework but also those who complete their guided notes for homework and those who go to the video recap stations at the start of class. As a result of her use of such a system, Gomez reported that her students completed 89% of the required homework videos for the year. This was up significantly from 61% for the first year that she taught Algebra II.

The Equity Problem With At-Home Video Instruction

The biggest challenge in ensuring that all students have equal access to flipped classroom resources is addressing inequality of internet access at home. Although 11 teachers reported that between 25% and 40% of their students did not have reliable access to the internet outside of school, all of these teachers continued to use video in their classrooms in some way. They reported using a combination of approaches, including delivering video content in the classroom, having students access video content in the school library, downloading video content, and delivering instruction in more traditional fashion. These teachers reported that the biggest challenge they faced was managing a system of resources that were, in effect, two separate systems.

Technology such as smartphones has also created significant challenges in many classrooms and lessons. While these devices can be used for completing video homework and for taking notes during lessons, many do not have sufficiently sized screens to enable the detailed examination of geometric diagrams or to view clear images of artifacts and artworks being studied in art history lessons. Similarly, in chemistry lessons the detailed and complex structural diagrams of molecules require a larger screen than a smartphone in order to be fully comprehended. Furthermore, research has shown that the increasing trend towards teenagers carrying around with them a smart phone at all times has meant that many now use these devices for splitting their attention between multiple tasks, including watching videos, chatting with friends, listening to music and texting, with the consequence that they are unable to focus on a single task for any extended period of time and therefore are not able to absorb and retain the information contained within video lessons and complete any subsequent homework effectively.

What Actually Happens During Class Time

Of course, idealized visions of the flipped classroom are just that – idealized. In fact, for the first month or so, the flipped classroom can be a maelstrom of activity, chaos, even. After decades of direct instruction, students are used to sitting and listening to teachers lecturing, while taking the odd note or two. But in the flipped classroom, the reverse is true: students come to class already having completed the core learning for that lesson, and are ready to put that learning into practice through a variety of activities. In other words, they’re ready to apply what they’ve learned. That requires a radical shift in how students approach their learning – and it requires a corresponding radical shift in how teachers approach their teaching.

These same successful teachers have reported spending time during the first weeks of school explicitly teaching and practicing collaborative skills with their students. Kevin Larson of Minneapolis describes in some detail how he used the first three weeks of school to have his 9th-10th grade students learn how to work in productive groups of two or three, how to teach each other, how to work on problems and projects of their students’ choice, and how to manage their time when working on open-ended activities. For example, in physics class he taught his students how to give and receive feedback and how to explain physics concepts to each other. For the first few weeks of school Larson reports that he did not begin introducing any of the typical flipped-classroom video content. Instead, he focused on helping his students become comfortable working in class in a productive manner.

The Differentiation Opportunity and Challenge

One of the things that I see is that a lot of teachers really believe in the flipped classroom model and they really want it to work for their students. When it doesn’t, it can be really frustrating. In reality, even when a teacher does have great content and they have planned for the classroom time to be for application, for the students to work in groups, for students to be able to go at their own pace and for the teacher to be able to provide individualized support to students who need it, that doesn’t always play out in the classroom. There are a lot of reasons for that. One of the reasons is that the teacher may not have the ability to manage the classroom in that way. Another reason is that the teacher may not have planned for enough variation in the tasks that are given to students during that classroom time. They may have planned for all students to work on the same thing and that doesn’t allow for the same kind of differentiation that the teacher had intended. So while the teacher may have intended for the classroom time to be for application and for students to work in groups, in reality, a lot of the time that is spent in the classroom is actually spent on students working individually on the same task while the teacher is working with a small group of students who need extra support.

The differentiation dream for teachers of the flipped classroom is over when they can no longer be in more than one place at a time. Unfortunately that is what occurs when there are six students requiring teacher assistance, another group engaged in off-task behaviors that require the intervention of the teacher, the technology that the teacher and students are using has failed for no apparent reason and needs to be immediately repaired, and the remaining three students are working on their own in the classroom while the teacher is helping other students with their own learning. It is a reality of classrooms everywhere and flipped classrooms are no different. So while teachers may attempt to differentiate and ensure that each student is receiving personalized learning on a daily basis, there are days when that is not possible. These teachers have learned that they must engage in what has been termed as “strategic triaging” whereby the teacher identifies in advance of the time when help will be needed who will require assistance and how the teacher will assist them.

Student Performance Outcomes: The Numbers Behind the Hype

Data from 47 teachers who have flipped for two or more years revealed some interesting trends. 62% of teachers reported some positive gain in student learning (8-15% gain on average on unit test and/or on passing rate on state or national test). 38% reported no gain and in fact a decrease in learning for their students. It was interesting to note that the teachers who reported no gain or a decrease in learning were from the first year that they had flipped. It seemed that it took a year or more for teachers to really figure out how to make the flipped model work for their students.

One key observation is that advanced students as well as those who are very self-motivated seem to really excel in flipped classrooms. In terms of data, many of the teachers reported very positive results with their highest performing students (top 25%). These students appreciated having the opportunity to review content in as much depth as they needed to, watch videos over and over, and engage in applications of content in the classroom. On the other hand, struggling students in flipped environments have seen mixed results. Some have greatly benefited from the additional one-on-one time with teachers in the classroom while others have fallen behind their peers. This seems to be largely the case because they did not complete their video homework or come to class unprepared to engage in activities for which they would have used the video as background information.

Subject-Specific Performance Variations

An initial review of performance for STEM-focused teachers revealed significant gains, especially for teachers of mathematics as well as physical and life sciences, where knowledge of procedural skills and applications build sequentially upon earlier lessons. Teachers noted how students would first watch worked examples, and then apply their newfound understanding to practice problems which would be tackled in class with teacher- and student-provided feedback. Such a configuration proved to be far more efficient than alternative methods such as typical lecture followed by homework assignments. As one teacher commented, “we are using class time better.” Additional teachers noted the value of using class time for labs, etc., while acknowledging the challenge in addressing some concepts that require in person explanation even though they were developed as and were intended to be watched as video lessons.

Finally, results from English and history teachers varied to a greater extent than those of their STEM counterparts. These teachers found that some aspects of their classrooms lent themselves more than others to flipped instruction. While reading comprehension, for example, often required teachers to have their students discuss texts in class in order to have real time dialogue to address any questions that students had about what they had read, videos could sometimes be used for students to read texts and then complete subsequent written work on their own. Teachers of English and history could also make use of their videos for such factual or contextual content as provided background information on a historical period, an explanation of literary terms, summaries of key plot points, and discussions of themes. Once such content had been provided to students via videos, teachers could then use class time for discussion, analysis, and written work of texts that their students had already gained a solid grasp of via the videos. Many teachers therefore found that they could use videos in their classes on English and history for certain aspects of their instruction and then proceed with other aspects of their curriculum on a more traditional note. These teachers therefore adopted a so-called “hybrid” approach to their teaching, one in which they combined elements of traditional instruction with those of the flipped model in order to develop the best possible methods for meeting the needs of all students in their classrooms.

The Hidden Costs Beyond Preparation Time

The Financial and Other Hidden Costs To Teachers And Their Schools. There is the financial cost to teachers themselves of producing high quality videos. Beyond the cost of equipment, of time and of training to produce video there are on-going annual costs to subscribe to software such as Learn platform and the costs to purchase supplementary resources to be used in class with students working on their own tasks. Of significant concern are the reported cases of there being no funding whatsoever for the flipped classroom model from the schools of teachers in the study who were using the model. An example is that of Lisa Rodriguez from Houston, Texas, who was using the flipped classroom model in her AP Chemistry classes at high school and she herself invested $1,847 over five years for her school’s flipped classroom. This was on top of hundreds of hours of her own time that she did not receive any pay for. Despite both school and district administration supportive of the flipped model there was not a single dollar from the school or the district for Rodriguez’s model of teaching.

In terms of the emotional and personal costs that there are to implementing flipped classrooms, I found that of the 47 teachers that participated in this research study, 19 teachers reported feelings of burnout and actually contemplated leaving the teaching profession while they were trying to implement the flipped classroom model. The major area of stress and the major area of burnout that these teachers reported was in terms of the additional load of work that they felt that they had in order to prepare for and implement the flipped classroom model, and how that additional load of work affected teaching in all of their classrooms, not just the classroom or classrooms in which they were implementing the flipped classroom model. In terms of the types of stress and burnout that the teachers reported, several of the teachers reported that they received complaints from parents about what they perceived to be an increase in amount of homework that their children were being assigned. Some of these parents did not realize that the videos that were being assigned as homework were being watched by their children at home, and that the application activities that were being assigned as homework were being completed by their children in the classroom. These parents assumed that the additional workload was being assigned as homework for their children to complete at home, and as a result, they were complaining to the teachers about what they perceived to be an increase in amount of homework. All of the teachers reported that they had to develop a thick skin in order to deal with some of the complaints from parents, and that they had to be very patient with parents who did not understand the model. All of the teachers also reported that it took them the entire first year of implementation in order to work with their students and to work with the videos in order to get into a groove, and that it was an very awkward and difficult time for everyone.

Relationship Dynamics With Students and Parents

Students respond differently to the flipped model and thus can produce negative interactions between teachers and students. Although many students enjoyed learning to apply what they had watched in the video to different situations in class, some did not like having to learn content on their own at home before class time. These students felt that their teachers were not doing enough to help them learn and wanted to be able to learn in class. Other students reported that they enjoyed learning on their own at home before class because it allowed them to take more control over their own learning. Even in the cases in which students appreciated learning on their own at home before class, they sometimes reported having questions that they did not know how to answer after watching a video at home. As a result, there were instances in which students did not complete video homework for a class because they felt that they already had enough work to do for school.

Another way in which the flipped classroom model changes the relationship that teachers have with their students, is the amount of communication that is now required from teachers. More than ever before, teachers are fielding emails and messages from students all day long, trying to find out how to complete video homework, or asking for help with concepts that have been taught in the videos. Teachers have to set boundaries in terms of how long it is going to take for them to get back to students with questions, in order to avoid becoming mired down in email and messages all day long. Some teachers have even set up class discussion boards, or other forms of online communication, in which students can help each other with questions about the video homework, before resorting to contacting the teacher. These systems have to be monitored by the teacher, in order to prevent the spread of misinformation, and to make sure that students are using the system productively.

What Successful Teachers Do Differently

Analysts have sought to understand what successful teachers do differently in regards to the implementation of flipped learning in their own classrooms and how they may be able to apply these characteristics of implementation in order to achieve better results as well. Twenty-nine teachers were studied in order to establish certain common practices that these teachers utilize in implementing flipped learning in their classrooms. One of the first of these is to start small. While some may believe that in order to be able to see the “greater good” of flipped learning, that the entire program must be flipped at once, the reality of many teachers’ experiences is that starting with only one unit of study and then gradually adding more as the teacher becomes more comfortable with the delivery of instruction and implementation of the flipped model is the most effective approach to achieve success with flipped learning. For example, while Michael Stevens taught honors geometry, he flipped the honors section of his classes while teaching the regular sections of geometry in a more traditional manner. This helped him to establish a basis of comparison for how his students learned in both the flipped and non-flipped model of delivery of instruction.

Second, teachers who effectively used the flipped classroom model developed systems to hold their students accountable for video homework. These teachers used what are called “entrance tickets” in which students show proof that they had completed the video homework in order to gain admittance to class for that day. In addition to entrance tickets, teachers developed strategies to support students who had trouble keeping up with video homework, such as providing time in class for students to watch videos, for small groups of students to watch videos and complete related activities, and for students to teach their peers who were struggling to learn the same content. And, finally, teachers who used the flipped classroom model held regular check ins with their students in order to get feedback on the video homework, including whether or not the videos and accompanying activities were clear and of the right length. Teachers who failed to develop these types of systems believed that assigning the video homework was enough to ensure that their students would complete it. In reality, many more intentional and structured strategies are required to scaffold video homework so that all students are able to complete it.

Strategic Video Design Principles

Most of the teachers surveyed agreed that the following characteristics of a flipped classroom video should be incorporated in its design: videos should last less than 8 minutes; there should be questions throughout the video to monitor for comprehension, such as entrance tickets or pause points every 2-3 minutes; teachers should include their face from time to time in videos that are primarily screen shots in order to have personal contact with their students; videos should be formatted consistently in terms of introduction, objectives, content, summary, practice prompt; and all videos should be captioned for students with disabilities, as well as for students learning in environments where sound is not allowed.

As a result, several of the teachers have developed several critical strategies in creating effective videos including: keep videos short (under 8 minutes); embed questions within a video (i.e. stop points that prompt viewers to respond); include teacher images periodically; create and use a consistent format for video (introduction, learning objectives, content, summary of content, prompt for practice); and use the videos as a chance to show authenticity in teaching. Thick skin is a must in showing students and teachers a very imperfect but very effective educator. The videos must reflect the actual teaching of a teacher and thus there are many errors that are not edited out of videos.

Critical Implementation Mistakes to Avoid

Some of the biggest mistakes made by teachers who are trying to implement a flipped classroom model are putting together videos that are just rehashed and re-packaged versions of the lectures that they would normally deliver to their students in a traditional classroom. By failing to take advantage of the unique features of video—such as the ability to pause and replay as many times as needed, to include visual notes and comments, and to break up content into more manageable chunks—these videos are typically found to be dull and unengaging by their students. Furthermore, because of the time and effort that it takes to produce a video, many teachers find that their students are not completing their video homework, and that as a result, they are not prepared for their in-class activities. This can create a number of problems for the teacher, including having to choose between re-teaching material that students should have already learned, or having students who are not able to participate in class activities because they do not have the necessary background knowledge.

Many teachers make the critical mistake of not planning for students who do not complete their video homework. This is especially the case when teachers assume that students will complete their video homework because of the fear of their peers or because of grades. Teachers find that large percentages of their students do not complete their video homework on a regular basis and are left scrambling for ways to handle these students. In the worst of cases, teachers are forced to re-teach the same content to unprepared students in order to make sure that all students have an equal opportunity to learn. Other teachers exclude unprepared students from class activities in order to maintain discipline in the classroom. In both of these cases, the flipped classroom model is not being used as intended in order to increase the efficiency of teaching and learning. Rather, teachers are forced to lower their learning goals for all students in order to make sure that every student has an equal opportunity to learn. This is not what the flipped classroom model was intended to do. Instead, teachers need to develop multiple safety nets in order to handle students who do not complete their video homework on a regular basis.

Technology Over-Reliance and Platform Lock-In

Some teachers locked their flipped classrooms to proprietary platforms or built their whole system around certain technologies, which, when the tool changed or the district blocked access to the tool, caused teachers to have to rework their whole flipped classroom. Videos should be put up on multiple platforms, such as YouTube, Vimeo, and teacher website, and a downloadable copy of the video should be stored somewhere as well. The best flipped classrooms implement in a way that allows teachers to implement in different ways with different technologies. Teachers who implement in a flipped classroom also need to have the ability to teach in a more traditional fashion if technology fails.

I keep a small notebook for these kinds of observations, which collectively account for about half of this article.

There is a risk that teachers could become so wedded to the flipped model of teaching that they overuse video in their lessons. There are certain topics and situations where direct instruction by the teacher is more effective than a video. The best flipped teachers are those who are able to mix and match the different models of teaching and learning in order to maximize the potential of their students. That means they can switch from a flipped model to a direct instruction model in the space of a few minutes if that is what is required.

Is the Flipped Classroom Model Worth the Investment?

Implementation experiences of 47 teachers across 5 years indicate that the answer to this question depends highly on the teacher, on the school and its resources and on the administrative support. Teachers in schools that are well-equipped with up-to-date technology and that support their teachers in their implementation of the flipped classroom model, are able and motivated to develop a variety of learning activities that take advantage of the possibilities that the flipped classroom model affords. This is especially true for STEM subjects in which learning skills are sequentially developed. As long as there is time for the development of video lessons and for learning activities that can be implemented during class time, the flipped classroom model offers a lot of opportunities for teachers who thrive on innovation. With the aid of the flipped classroom model, teachers can develop learning activities that are better aligned to the needs of their students and that better meet the learning objectives of a lesson.

On the other hand, under-resourced classrooms, very large class sizes and limited access to technology would present too great a barrier to the big costs of preparation for this model of teaching and learning. In many cases, just making sure that all students have access to the core content would be enough to make worthwhile some targeted attempts to improve teaching in the more traditional mode.

While the flipped classroom model can be useful in a variety of educational settings, there are certainly situations where other approaches to implementing a modern learning strategies classroom may be more suitable. Importantly, for many educators, the flipped classroom model is just that—a model. And, as with any single instructional model, there are certainly better uses of time and resources for some teachers and their students than attempting to implement a flipped classroom. So, the key to making a determination about whether or not the flipped classroom model is worth an educator’s investment of time, money, and energy is to identify specific learning challenges that might be well served by a video-based (or other technology-enabled) approach to introducing content, and to then ask whether or not the educator in question has the resources, support, and requisite skill to carry out the model successfully.

What to do about students who do not complete the video homework?

Handling the problem of students not watching assigned videos is perhaps the largest challenge to flipped classroom implementation that we encountered in surveying teachers. Every teacher reported that this was a problem that they dealt with. The ways that teachers described the ways that they dealt with the problem, however, varied greatly. What worked for teachers in wealthier schools with very disciplined classrooms did not work for teachers in under-resourced schools with very undisciplined classrooms. A key ingredient in almost every successful strategy, however, was some kind of “accountability system.” Such systems consisted of brief entrance activities to class that required students to demonstrate that they had completed assigned videos for homework. These can be simple quizzes, written or verbal, to test comprehension of video content, for example, a entrance discussion or other activity that is not possible to complete unless first having completed video homework. Such strategies encourage all students to complete assigned videos for homework and do so in a low-stakes fashion.

If your class starts with an entrance activity that reviews video homework, then it is not really fair to make late arrivals do work while early arrivals work on their own projects. On the other hand, late arrivals cannot expect to have the teacher retell video homework to them in its entirety. Many teachers make latecomers watch video homework at the start of class in a “video viewing zone” or “catch-up station” and then join their classmates who are working on other projects. Sometimes teachers have latecomers work with a partner who did complete the video homework, so that the latecomer can learn from his or her partner as they complete an activity together.

What Technology and Equipment Do You Actually Need?

There are many pieces of equipment to use in flipped classroom models and many of them can be purchased for a small amount of money. One of the biggest expenses for many of the teachers we spoke with was their microphone. Since teachers record their videos over and over again, it is very important to have good sound quality. Built in mics on laptops are horrible and not suitable for this type of work. On the other hand, a decent quality USB microphone can cost anywhere from $50 to $500 depending on the model. We recommend using a basic quality microphone such as a Blue Snowball or a Samson Q2U which can cost anywhere from $50 to $80. As for the screen recording software, there are many options for free and paid software. OBS Studio is a great piece of free screen recording software that can be very powerful. There are also free versions of other software such as Screencast-O-Matic that offer basic features for free. On the other hand, paid software such as Camtasia and ScreenFlow can cost anywhere from $150 to $250 and offer more advanced editing features. The teacher and the classroom that it is being used in will play a big role in choosing the right software.

When it comes to where to host the videos, there are considerations for privacy, for tracking video completion, and for making the videos accessible to all students. In addition to simply uploading videos to YouTube (for free, but which can be distracting for students and does present privacy concerns), there are video hosting sites that cost money (and which need to return a lot of value in terms of ease of use for teachers and in terms of results for students). Edpuzzle, which costs $120 per year for a single teacher, for example, allows teachers to add questions to videos that students can complete as they watch the videos. It also allows teachers to see what parts of videos that individual students completed. Another feature that Edpuzzle has that is particularly powerful is Google Classroom integration, which makes it easy for teachers who are already using Classroom to add videos to assignments that they create in Classroom. This is in contrast to other tools for flipping the classroom that allow teachers to upload videos to a library or to a site for students to watch videos, but which do not allow teachers to distribute videos as part of already existing assignments that they are creating in other tools that teachers are already using. For this reason, and because free tools can be used first to test out the flipped model of instruction before spending any money on paid versions of tools, it is worth paying for a video hosting site only if the paid site returns a lot of value in terms of ease of use and results for students. In addition to video hosting sites, there are also other tools and pieces of equipment that are worth considering when thinking about how to flip a classroom. For example, a decent microphone (better than the built in microphone on a laptop, for example) is essential for creating videos of high quality. In terms of software for creating and editing videos, there are free options (such as Screen Cast O Matic, for example, which has a free option that allows for videos of up to 10 minutes in length) and paid options (such as Camtasia and ScreenFlow, both of which are very powerful and for which the cost can be justified by the amount of time that they can save for teachers in terms of time, as well as in terms of results for students). Finally, simple equipment such as a ring light ($30-50) can also be very powerful in helping to create videos of high quality, by ensuring that the teacher in the student is seeing is well lit, which can help to increase engagement. For this reason, such equipment is worth considering, even if it costs money, because it can help to increase results for students.

References

[1] Journal of Educational Psychology – Research studies on flipped classroom effectiveness across different subject areas and grade levels, including meta-analyses of student performance outcomes.

[2] Educational Leadership – Practical implementation guides and teacher testimonials about flipped classroom adoption, including discussion of common challenges and solutions.

[3] The Chronicle of Higher Education – Analysis of technology integration in education, including cost-benefit evaluations of a few instructional models and digital learning platforms.

[4] Education Week – http://www.edweek.org – Excellent coverage of various modern teaching methods including examples of schools where the Flipped Classroom model is used to great success. This could include case studies to gain insight from teachers that have implemented the model.

[5] American Educational Research Association – Peer-reviewed studies examining student engagement, equity issues, and learning outcomes in flipped versus traditional classroom environments.