Educators today believe that traditional classroom teaching approaches, in which students are passive, and the teacher has complete control, are now inadequate. As a result, different teaching approaches are required to react to the demands of learners with varied expectations. The millennium generation has more access to technology, information, and digital media than prior generations. Due to that, they have a lower tolerance for lecturing-based techniques in a traditional classroom setting. They are highly likely to appreciate the encouragement from teachers with the usage of technology, which will make them think deeply, critically and logically.
The “Flipped Classroom Model,” which has recently gained popularity, is one of the models that will help to cater to students’ needs. Flipped classroom model is a type of “blended learning” and inquiry-based learning that will help students study in a flexible and efficient study method. The efficient utilisation of out-of-class time is demonstrated in this model. It shifts from teacher-centred to student-centred learning techniques, with various methodologies and models employed together. Teachers will introduce the lecture contents for students at home, and since students require instruction and guidance in the classroom, homework and discussions will be followed up during class hours. With the help of today’s rapid technological advances, flipped classroom model allows students to access content on their own through tablets, smartphones or other media players, take an active role, and follow their own interests. Some of the famous forms of flipped classrooms are audio podcasts, TEDtalk, Youtube, Duolingo and Khan Academy. According to their needs, teachers and students only need to choose what kind of flipped classroom works best for them!
As for me, I identify myself as a visual learner. As a student, I personally think I work and study best by reading texts accompanied by pictures. While reading texts help to keep my brain awake, pictures help me to understand and remember the concepts better. When I write down notes, I usually will be able to picture and visualise what I wrote, which helps me a lot. Sometimes, if reading texts are still not sufficient for me, I will look up some educational videos related to what I am learning at the moment. In my opinion, educational videos are better if they are rich in colours, imagery and narrated explanations.
With that being said, one of my personal favourite forms of flipped classrooms is Khan Academy! Khan Academy, a non-profitable organisation, was founded by Salman Khan back in 2008. Khan academy’s sole objective and mission are to provide everyone with a free but world-class education. Before discussing Khan Academy further, I will explain a few simple steps for users to use this online resource. First, users can sign up for Khan Academy as learners, teachers, or parents. It is to be noted here that parents need to approve their children’s accounts through email and follow the following steps after that. After that, users need to enter their date of birth and choose their preferred usernames and passwords.
Next, users can personalise their profiles according to their grades and preferred learning subjects if they sign up as students. After the process has been completed, the users can fully utilise all the available functions offered in Khan Academy. The users, especially students, can also choose to not sign up for this online resource. Instead, they can easily enter the class code or browse this application. One of the benefits of signing up is that students can keep track of what they are learning. They can also collect points and badges as well as coach others! Is not this academy fantastic?
One of the obvious reasons I love Khan Academy is that its online resources cover various topics. This academy offers a wide range of subjects such as Mathematics, Finance, Economics, Business, History, Arts and Humanities, and Language. Lessons in Khan Academy are available from second grade up until college. Considering that Khan Academy is constantly growing, new subjects and educational videos are released regularly. Next, I love that this academy costs students no dime to access all the videos. It is available for free for everyone! With Khan Academy, everyone can truly excel in their studies! It is truly a shame that I only discovered this academy last year.
Furthermore, with Khan Academy, I realised that I have the freedom to learn and study the materials at my own speed. I can simply fast forward, rewind, replay videos, pause, and figure out a problem without having to consider the pace of other students or the teacher. As a student, sometimes I found myself quite late grasping the information stated by the lecturers, making me have difficulty with a particular subject. I also cannot fully concentrate and move on to the following lesson because the whole concept of the current lesson is too overwhelming for me. This is a personal opinion of mine; even though in this global pandemic, lectures and lessons are conducted online, and the lecturers will usually record the lessons, there are times where errors will happen while recording the lesson. It is not anyone’s fault, neither the lecturer nor the students, as sometimes technology can be pretty hard to handle with. In that situation, students cannot re-watch the recorded lectures; hence, Khan Academy can be a big help!
As I took Linguistics in language teaching last semester and Structure of English this semester, I need to be very good at grammar to get an A grade. Nevertheless, even though I have been studying English starting from kindergarten until college, I still made many mistakes. Hence, I personally use Khan Academy to study back all aspects of Grammar such as sentences and clauses, verb types and functions in the sentences. I love how Khan Academy’s instructors use a very simple way to explain the study materials clearly. Moreover, the instructors’ style in writing the text and diagrams on a sort of blackboard caught my attention. The texts are also written in multiple colours, making them colourful and interesting! The layout and concept are very simple and not too extravagant, so it helps me focus more. There is also a subtitle and transcript given for each lesson, making it easy for me to read the transcript first, to grasp the concept before watching the entire video. The video lessons, hands down, are very clear, engaging and fully explain the important part of each topic.
Sometimes educational video lessons are too long, so it drifts away from the focus of each student, including me. That is not the case for Khan Academy because the lessons are conducted and prepared in small chunks. After I watch the videos, I love how the information sort of goes straight to my brain, and it stays longer than usual. I also do not feel burdened to study as the lessons are only 4 minutes long, and I can adjust the playback speed according to my liking. I can slow it down or speed it up, whichever way I love it!
Lastly, to ensure students fully understand the lesson, the instructors also prepare a short and simple quiz. I always try to get every question right after listening and watching the video!
As much as I found Khan Academy to be very beneficial, I would love them to improve the availability of the subjects. Not all subjects can be found here, so I can only watch the lessons they offer there. As a flipped classroom model, Khan Academy has so much to offer, and many students can benefit from it. I hope the developer reach out to many people and scout more professional instructors in the future!
In conclusion, as a pedagogical approach, the flipped classroom is truly amazing as it can transform traditional classrooms into a more dynamic and interactive learning environment. Students can now apply the concepts learnt at home and engage creatively in the classrooms, with the presence of their lecturers. Time will no longer be wasted, and the learning process can be conducted better. The traditional classroom is less relevant nowadays, and flipped classrooms have become both educators' and students' new best friends!
Disclaimer: The photos were taken from Google and Khan Academy websites.
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