Pro and Con Flipped Classroom PRO: PRO:

The cost of flipped classrooms comes in planning time for teachers. They have to effectively turn those lectures and chapters into something digestible and mostly understandable at home. Teachers film themselves delivering the information to free up class time for review activities. That process can take time. The benefit is that once it is done, teachers can use the same content they’ve created in the near future, if not for longer. Administrators at Whitman and elsewhere in MCPS should do what they can to free up teacher planning time to allow them to actually move what they cover into a permanent digital format.

While certain inequalities, like students’ access to the internet, are exacerbated by this model, the benefits of a generally more accessible classroom structure far outweigh potential issues.

Flipped classrooms are a catalyst — an opportunity, even — for teachers to enhance student comprehension and engage them in class, as long as they balance it with in-class structure and guidance. Students should treat the in-person class as a time to enrich and extend their learning, building on what they’ve previously learned from videos and readings.

The flipped classroom structure should be a priority for every educator dedicated to the success of their students, and likewise for every student dedicated to their own learning.