The second misconception I want to highlight in this series is the idea that flipped learning is all about the videos.  When the press covers flipped learning it seems to gravitate towards the use of video as a replacement for lecture.  This kind of thinking grossly oversimplifies the process and opens up flipped learning to legitimate criticism.  

You see….The key to flipped learning is NOT the videos.  The KEY is what those videos allow you to do IN CLASS.  Instead of direct instruction occurring with one teacher talking at 30 students, the direct instruction takes place one-on-one via the videos.  This then frees of class time for much more valuable interactions.  These interactions are teacher-student, student-student, and student-content.  

So what should you do with your class time?  What valuable learning should occur during class time now that direct instruction has been off-loaded to the private space?  I don’t think there is any one right answer here, but many good answers.  Much of how you answer this question depends upon what you are teaching, what age group you are teaching, and the uniqueness of each teacher.  Some possible answers include:  mastery learning, inquiry learning, project based learning (PBL), challenge based learning (CBL), universal design for learning (UDL), etc.  Each these teaching philosophies have a great amount of research behind them and can really open up new and deeper worlds for students.  

So hear me:  Flipped Learning is NOT about the videos.  It is about the quality learning that will take place during your face-to-face time with your students.