Traditional, online and hybrid learning settings

With technology, educational strategies and instruction changed. Many educators include some digital resource in their daily classes.
The following image will summarize the main points of the traditional and online classes.

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MY FLIPPED CLASSROOM EXPERIENCE with FACEBOOK

Back in 2013, I was the manager of a company in Spain with educational services. We had to teach Math, Spanish and English languages, and other subjects to adults who want to get professional certifications. That was a real challenge since the company that hired us did not have all the physical resources to make it, so my team and I had only nine months to prepare the students (around 100 adult students) for the official exams in a very limited time, and we had to offer them the best learning experience.

We know the characteristics of adults: lack of time because of work schedule, family issues, among many more things. Within those conditions, we had to design a course that was convenient and efficient to everyone: company, instructors and students.

The following picture summarizes the main steps of this instruction (SPACE model) and the roles of teachers and students.







        



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Those courses had two face-to-face classes per week and online classes. As everyone had a Facebook account, students were invited and accepted to the closed groups, one for each course and level. In those groups the students could access and download the lessons and activities. Besides, teachers recorded and uploaded videos with the lessons and shared links of YouTube video tutorials, documents... By then, we did not have google drive -I think-, but instead we had Dropbox where students' assignments were submitted. The students received personal feedback and assessment through Facebook video-calls.

F-2-F classes reviewed and revised the main points of the objectives and contents of the lessons. As in a flipped classroom, they came -or at least that was the intention of this design- with the lessons read from home, ready to solve general doubts and do some activities.

Some challenges we found:
- Time: despite having a schedule and deadlines, for some reasons the students need more time. The organization of time and the assignments is crucial for the success of the students, some students used to leave the assignments until almost the end of the due-day so if they have a doubt, that might not be solved before its submission.
- Communication: We can find several channels or ways of communication, however the agreement of the way of communication is very important. Before starting the communication, the setting of the rules of communication and behavior is recommended for the best of the learning community.
- Sources: Educators are recommended to verify all the sources that are used in the online classroom. Before posting the sources, educators should visit and surf the websites or apps to avoid surprises.

If you implemented a flipped classroom, what benefits and challenges have you found?

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