Technology Tools for a Flipped Classroom

By 1M/1M Premium Member and Co-Founder of Omninox Jake Yap

The idea behind a flipped classroom has become more popular amongst teachers as of late, which can most likely be attributed to the rise of technology in and out of the classroom. Tools such as computers, smartphones, and tablets are typical items in a student and teacher’s arsenal in more recent times. These technological tools allow for the necessary instructional strategy required for a flipped classroom, which include teaching content at home and activities and discussions (often regarded as homework) being conducted in the class. Learning at home can include reading the required textbook lesson or watching online lectures, which would not have been possible if it was not for the advancement in technology.

In order to make a flipped classroom more efficient, tools in the form of software and hardware should be utilized. There are so many tools available for use, but it is up to the teacher to know what tools there are, what they do, and how to effectively implement them in the classroom. Below is a list of some tools available that can benefit a flipped classroom.

Open Yale Courses

Let me begin by saying, this website is free…you heard me right, FREE! Now who doesn’t like free stuff? Same idea behind Khan academy with the use of videos, though it has more of a focus on college level subjects. However, there are still some general courses that are taught in college and high school such as physics, calculus, biology, history, etc. Teachers will need to vet which videos will fit their current concept they’re trying to teach.

Apple iPads or Macbooks

Now I may be biased when it comes to these products (not only because I own a lot of them) because of the sheer fact they are so intuitive to use, which is exactly what some teachers may need to make classrooms run more smoothly. Refurbished Macbooks and iPads can be purchased from Apple and school discounts can be arranged when inquired. Some of the benefits of these products include:

• Engaging applications for both platforms. For both OSX and iOS, applications are available that can help enhance the classroom.
• Simple and easy to use. Now I am a fan of Apple and Windows products, but if there is one thing I can say with honesty, Apple products are far easier to understand and pick up.
• Extremely powerful devices. The advantage of these products is that they are usually built with power in mind to account for heavy usage of powerful applications.

Google Chromebooks

It is surprising to have learned that there are actually lots of schools and districts beginning to adopt this form of hardware for educational purposes. There are multiple benefits in opting for use of Chromebooks:

• They’re portable so it would be east to lug around from class to home
• They pretty cheap. You can get a Chromebook or event a mini tablet for as low as $150, which for most schools, their number one priority is to save money.
• Made for collaboration, the Chromebook comes loaded with all of Google’s software tools such as Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. The beauty of these are how students can work together in real time with each other during class, which is exactly what teachers looking for a reversed classroom are looking for.

Omninox

We offer supplemental tools in the form of practice problems. Lots and LOTS of practice questions for multiple subjects that is timed, graded, and provides instant feedback in the form of explanations. Our current focus is for the Advanced Placement courses, mainly because there are a lot of students who want to increase their chances at getting admitted into colleges, so they like to take AP courses.

These practice questions can benefit a flipped classroom, because students can practice the concepts they learned with the relevant questions in the class. Also, it can save you from having to write your own questions since you can just use ours! Now, our website/platform is not free, but hey, the best things in life aren’t always free.

Ted Ed

A very interesting site to say the least. You can view and create your own quick lessons about any subject you want. Every lesson has sections to help engage with the students in some way.

It features a “Watch” section where you can pull YouTube videos and embed them into your private lesson, a section called “Think”, which has a mix of some multiple choice questions and short answer which you can create, a section called “Dig Deeper”, which provides additional resources to users who want to learn more about the topic, and a section called “Discuss”, which is exactly what you think… you can discuss…about anything related to the topic.

How do you use this in a flipped classroom? The students can review video and the extra resources at home, while the questions and discussion portion can be used in the classroom the next day. Overall, it has a great user interface and it looks clean.

Conclusion

There are plenty of other hardware and software tools available out there, but hopefully this list will get some of you new flipped classroom teachers a head start on figuring out what works best for their students and classroom.

Jake Yap
Co-Founder at Omninox
jyap@omninox.org