Traditional Classroom Teaching:
In traditional classroom teaching, the trainer prepares content and delivers it to the trainees. It means that the trainees have to understand the new language, understand how to use it and then practice using it within a 2 or 3 hour period. They don't have time to think or preview the content.
The trainer, on the other hand, spends most of the class time describing, explaining and clarifying the new language. She has little time for realistic practice and little time to give focused feedback to trainees.
From a learning point of view, this isn't an effective way to make progress because according to research, trainees make most progress when they have time to think about the new language and can study at their own pace.
From a training budget point of view, the trainees waste a lot of valuable class time listening to the trainer explain the language; trying to understand how to use the language and less time practicing.
The Flipped Classroom Model
To provide trainees with a more effective learning approach and to make better use of training budgets, many organizations now prefer to use a flipped classroom approach.
In a flipped classroom model trainees use self-paced learning content online [e-learning] to work with and understand the language before attending scheduled training events to get a deeper understanding of the content and to practice.
Learners have time to work with the content, solving problems and completing meaningful exercises, before they use the language in class.
A flipped classroom approach allows for much more productive use of valuable class time. There are opportunities for more interaction, more practice and more individual feedback in class. Trainers spend less time explaining new language and focus on practice, on guiding trainees and on providing individual feedback and evaluation.
The flipped classroom is a much more effective and productive way to use a language training budget.
