Flipped learning: what it is and how it is applied

New digital technologies have dissolved many boundaries, both in terms of time and space. This new fluid environment in which we are immersed also has an impact on education. Flipped learning tends to turn this model into an opportunity for both teachers and students. By taking advantage of the potential of new digital devices, lessons are divided into different stages, both inside and outside the classroom. But let us take a closer look at what flipped learning is.

Innovating in education, particularly at university level, is one of the strategic priorities for addressing complex and rapid social transformations. In particular, the aim is to prepare students not only theoretically, but also to help them develop interpersonal skills that will later be essential in the workplace. These include, for example, independent decision-making, teamwork and flexibility.

These are innate qualities that can nevertheless be trained and developed, and this is precisely one of the objectives of the best Master's programs and Bachelor's Degrees, where practical experience and the creation of situations similar to those students will face once they enter the workplace are becoming increasingly central to the educational program.

Supporters of flipped learning believe that the rapid transformation brought about by the expansion of the Internet has created an increasingly significant disconnect between much of the education system and the real needs of society, the demands of the business world, and the abilities and expectations of students and their families.

What is flipped learning?

Today, students' interests increasingly emerge and develop outside the classroom. The digital revolution has enabled the widespread distribution of multimedia content, making it possible to access educational materials anytime and anywhere. Since knowledge is no longer confined within educational institutions, supporters of this methodology believe it is unproductive to repeat in face-to-face classes what is already available at home.

On the other hand, the ‘knowledge society’ cannot be limited to the development of intellectual and cultural resources, but must also respond to the needs of the labor market. This also involves profoundly transforming the way education is delivered. In fact, when we ask what flipped learning is, the answer lies precisely here: it is an attempt to adapt students' skills to the needs of the workplace in order to support their integration into local or global professional environments.

With this objective in mind, the flipped classroom, or flipped learning, is becoming increasingly common. It is a methodological approach that reverses the traditional learning cycle, which consists of classroom lectures, individual study at home and tests in class. Instead, flipped learning is a teaching methodology designed to make classroom time more productive and better suited to the needs of society in the information age.

Flipped learning therefore proposes reversing the two traditional stages: the lesson and individual study. The method takes advantage of the fact that students' basic cognitive skills, such as listening and memorizing, can primarily be activated independently at home through videos and podcasts or by reading texts provided by teachers or shared by other educators.

In the classroom, however, higher-level cognitive skills such as understanding, applying, evaluating and creating can be activated because students are not alone. Together with their classmates and with the teacher by their side, they try to apply what they have learned to solve practical problems proposed by the teacher. The role of the teacher also changes: their task becomes guiding students through the active processing of information and the development of complex tasks.

This reversal of stages, and to some extent of roles compared with traditional education, allows students to develop in terms of personal maturity. Through this methodology, they develop adaptive behaviors while also improving their ability to manage emotions during periods of greater psychological stress.

Types of flipped learning

There are several types of flipped learning:

• Traditional Flipped: this is the most widely used method. Students watch a lesson video and study at home, then complete activities or tests in class alongside their classmates under the guidance of the teacher.
• Flipped Mastery: this is a direct evolution of the traditional method. Students work individually, review the lesson at home and use classroom time to complete exercises in the presence of the teacher, who assesses their progress. Once at least 80% of students have achieved a positive assessment, the class can move on to the next objective. Otherwise, the topic must be revisited and additional reinforcement provided.
• Peer Instruction: students study the basic materials provided by the teacher outside the classroom, and the concepts they have learned are then discussed in class. During this discussion, the teacher moderates and assesses students' understanding. Students can also help one another, allowing those who have understood the concepts earlier or more thoroughly to share their knowledge with their classmates. 
• Problem-Based Learning: this involves students exploring a problem and discussing possible solutions. They may work individually or in teams, knowing that their strategies will later be discussed in class. The teacher moderates the process while assessing the progress made by the students.

How can flipped learning be applied?

The main stages of a flipped learning project can be divided into:

• Preparatory Stage: the teacher identifies or creates from scratch the multimedia resources related to the topic being covered, shares them with students and assigns the tasks to be completed.
• Operational Stage: students focus on individual study, which also involves preparing work to present in class and demonstrating what and how much they have learned. Ideally, each student should be able to choose the tool through which they demonstrate their level of learning, such as a video, concept map, slide presentation, etc.
• Final Stage: the teacher evaluates the students' work and identifies which concepts have been better understood and which need to be reviewed or explored in greater depth. The main objective should always be to encourage students to internalize the concepts and make the learning process effective.