‘Flipped classroom and online lab help improve learning process’

While the Covid-19 pandemic has been and still is challenging for every sector, it is worth mentioning that it drastically created a need for major changes in teaching-learning strategies. Nowadays, innovation in education at school is more than just a buzzword. It is fast becoming a way of learning and teaching for both students as well as teachers. Innovation in education encourages the students and teachers to research, explore and use all the tools to uncover something new. The biggest challenge for any teacher is to capture each student’s attention, and convey ideas effectively enough to create a lasting impression.

The students of all ages need to learn through innovative learning techniques as they help them synthesise information and bring joy to their educational experience.

To create an innovative, open, creative and trustworthy place for the students to grow, take risks and make them feel comfortable in their own patterns of learning, there are a few innovative techniques and ideas to create a more innovative and engaging classroom.

Flipped Classroom
The flipped classroom inverts the traditional learning experience. The lectures are shared outside of class time for individual review as homework and classroom time is reserved for the students to complete assignments and activities. It helps the teachers to prioritize active learning during class time by assigning students lecture materials and presentations to be viewed at home or outside class. Through the process of active learning in the classroom combined with the flexibility and personalized nature of the internet, the flipped classroom truly shines as a sustainable way forward for education.

Virtual Labs
In the times of the pandemic when it is not possible to make the students learn scientific experiments in real brick and mortar laboratories of school, Online labs is the practical approach! The online lab is based on the idea that lab experiments can be taught using internet, more efficiently and less expensively. The experiments can be accessed anytime and anywhere, overcoming the constraints on time felt when having access to the physical lab for only a short period of time.

The science experiments cover all the aspects including performing the experiment as per procedure, taking readings, observations, tables, graphs and conclusions of the experiments.

Reciprocal Teaching
Reciprocal teaching is a strategy to teach reading where the teacher and the students share responsibility for interpreting the material. Reciprocal teaching is a research-based strategy with a growing body of studies cementing its foundation. The students and the teacher go through four steps of summarising, question generating, clarifying and predicting. Reciprocal teaching helps the students develop interpersonal communication skills since they have to interact with other students and the teacher. This teaching strategy involves the students helping and teaching other students.

Experiential Learning
Infusing real-world experiences into instructions makes teaching fresh and enriches classroom learning. Relating and demonstrating through real-life situations sparks the interest of the learners and makes them more involved. Some lessons are best learnt, when they are experienced. At home the students may use the easily available objects, surroundings as guided by the respective teacher to learn by doing. Without taking much effort, they learn and remember what is being taught to them.

Bite-Sized Learning
Bite-sized learning modules are small, self-contained information nuggets. They typically range in duration from 1 to 15 minutes and are usually focused on one or two tightly defined learning objectives. It helps the learners adopt a fluid learning schedule by choosing the topics they want to tackle at their own pace. Offering learners this flexibility can help to keep them engaged and support different learning preferences.

Joyful Learning
Creating an inviting classroom where students feel happy and comfortable helps to lower feelings of stress and increase positive attitude about learning. Teachers have the power to create a welcoming, supportive and interesting place for the students to learn. If facilitators want the students to be charged with enthusiasm, to see school and learning as joyful, they need to rethink how and what they teach. Learners should enjoy learning the way they enjoy games. When teachers provide joyful learning environment and experiences for students, they can improve engagement, motivation and learning outcomes.

Gamification
Gamification is a strategy that uses various activities and rewards to promote the student engagement. Deep rooted in the motivational framework of experiential learning, gamification is a contemporary educational approach that systematically leverages the various elements and characteristics of gaming culture. It helps students become active and motivated learners. Games promote situated learning, or in other words, learning that occurs in groups of practice during immersive experiences. The structural elements of games are also especially suited to serve this current generation of learners.

Priya Handa, vice-principal, Bosco Public School, Paschim Vihar. The views expressed are personal.