The Gap Year and College Students

The Gap Year and College Students

Introduction

High school graduation is one of the biggest achievement for most of the students. This is because it marks a new beginning where they can enroll in college and get all the freedom they want. When looking at the current world, there is a big difference between the students who join colleges directly after high school completion and those who prefer a gap year. A gap year can be defined as that period after or before college, where students are involved in several activities such as traveling or doing other tasks (Vargas et al., 2017). Students who take a gap year before colleges become better prepared since they gain other skills and can select the kind of careers they want. With this idea in mind, it is vital to consider a flipped classroom. This discussion will consider the crucial factors in a flipped classroom.

Definition

Technology has made education to be easier for the students since they don’t have to attend school for them to learn. One of the most applicable trends in education is flipped classroom, which can be defined as a type of learning where the content is introduced at home, but the practice is done at the school. This is a direct opposite of what people are used to where new content is introduced in the classroom, and students are given homework so that they can continue with the practice back at home. Several activities that can be carried out at home include watching an online lecturer, reading digital texts, doing research, and having an online discussion, among others. Examples of the practices that can be done at school include debates, presentations, station learning, and lab experiments, among others (Mehring, 2018). A flipped classroom is not only time saving but also effective for the students since they spend more time doing practice on the things they learn at home.

Origin of the Flipped Classrooms

This technique was developed back in 2000 by professors from the University of Miami. These professors wrote an article and gave it a title inverted classroom. At that moment, the issue did not become effective due to the absence of technology. Bergman and Sam started teaching at Woodland Park High back in 2004 (Mehring, 2018).  Just like any other learning institutions, the two became friends since they were working in the same department. Their role included writing tests, planning lessons, and setting up labs since they worked in the science department. Bearing in mind that the school was in a rural area, those students who were involved in extracurricular activities missed most of their classes. More so, other schools were located far away from Woodland Park, and the students had to leave very early so that they could participate in sports, music, or other activities. The question that Bergman and Sam had was on how to get class materials to such students and others who could not attend school due to sickness.

The first solution to their problem was when they discovered software that could record their voices and the notes. This video could then be shared with the students. In the year 2007, they had advanced and were able to record all their lectures. These lectures were then converted to video presentations. The following year, they decided to employ this technique in all their lessons. This gave the students an opportunity to view the presentations at home while the discussion was carried out in the class. This is how flipped classrooms were developed by Sam and Bergman in 2007 though, the ball was set in motion back in 2000 by Glen, Maureen, and Michael. These were the professors from Miami University. During that period, this method failed due to the absence of technology that enhance video sharing, such as YouTube.

Models

Several flipped classroom models are applicable in schools. One of those models is known as the traditional flipping. This is a model where students must watch tutorial or short explanatory before their classes (Unal & Unal, 2017). This is the most common model, especially in colleges and Universities. During class time, they can debate on the topic with the help of their lecturers. Later after the classes, the student can review what they learned during the debate time. When dealing with subjects that require argumentation skills, the best model is known as the debate-oriented flipping. This is also very common where the teachers give learning materials such as the TED talks and videos. Using these videos, students can get more ideas on a given topic so that during class time, it becomes easier for a face- to face debate. This model is primarily applicable to units related to political science.

Another interesting model is the Group-based flipping model, where students have to interact. Through this model, learning is added more value since the students can learn more from each other. Instructors put the students in groups, and each group is given its learning materials. The instructor aims to ensure that the students work in teams so that they can learn from each other. The other model is the demonstration-based flipping which focuses on processes. In this model, the professors have to record videos of themselves performing activities. These videos are shared with the students where they study this content back at home. These procedures are then repeated at school. A good example of assignments carried out using this model are the lab experiments (Unal & Unal, 2017). Students can go through the video at home so that when they report back at school, they can do the experiment on their own following the steps given in the videos to have the expected results.

Advantages of the Flipped classroom

This method enables students to be in control. This implies that the students can learn at their own pace since they have the lectures with them and can access them at any time. One of the things to be considered when the students are in control is freedom, where they can access the notes at any time, depending on their schedules. They also have a chance to rewind or pose the lectures, write down any questions which might be asked to their colleagues or lecturers. There are those students who take more time to understand concepts, and through this method, they can take as much time as they want to go through the materials. As a result, students can improve their results.

The lessons are more accessible from different platforms. Students who miss classes due to illness, music, drama, and sports can still access the materials during their free time. One of the sources that can be used is through emails. This is the oldest and the best method that is still used by teachers. Emails are easily accessible and can store large capacities as compared to other sources. Another source is YouTube which is the best when it comes to sharing videos (Akçayır & Akçayır, 2018). In most cases, the lecturers share links that are used to access the videos from You Tubes. Not only the students benefit from this learning method but also the teachers. In a situation where the teachers are not available, they eliminate make-up assignments because they can still share their lectures from home without having to attend school.

This method also creates transparency for the parents. Parents have a chance to see what their children are learning, and in case of any assistance, they can offer without hesitation. It is easier for the parents to monitor their children and see what they learn at school. Most important is that the parents can assist their children from time to time, which results in better grades. This is also a way of keeping the children away from watching TV and doing other irrelevant activities at home.

Disadvantages of Flipped Classroom

One of the critical issues is technology. This system cannot be applicable in most of the rural areas due to lack of internet and electricity. Internet is a primary requirement because of the videos and other materials that have to be downloaded. Another thing is computers. The students must have access to reliable computers or smartphones (Akçayır & Akçayır, 2018). Some parents cannot afford to buy computers due to their financial status. Some of the students tend to use technology for entertainment instead of learning. A good example, a significant number of students tend to join social media platforms such as Facebook instead of using that time to carry out their assignments. Others tend to visit other sites that are not educational, and they end up wasting more time, which could have been used studying.

Any new change must take time. A flipped classroom is time-saving for the teachers, but coming up with the first flipped course is time-consuming. The instructors themselves must understand how a certain model works before using it (Young et al., 2017). Students, on the other side, must be introduced to a new concept, which means they need training. In other words, the changes might take more time before being applied by both the lecturers and students

Another thing is the lack of motivation. Student needs to learn how to prepare and do the homework without being monitored. Most of the time, the student gets distracted, bearing in mind that there are other activities that are carried out at home. Sometimes it becomes difficult to understand concepts without the help of their teachers.

Conclusion

This paper has provided a discussion on several factors that need to be considered about a flipped classroom. One of the things covered is the history of this concept and how it came to existence. The second thing is about the models. Several flipped classroom models have been discussed, which makes it easier for the reader to understand this topic. Lastly, the paper has provided a few advantages and disadvantages of this concept. There is much to talk about this new learning technology, but only a few things have been considered in this discussion.

References

Vargas, J., Hooker, S., Collins, M., & Gutierrez, A. B. (2019). Eliminating the Gap between High School and College. 13 Ideas That Are Transforming the Community College World, 191.

https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/flipped-learning-0

Unal, Z., & Unal, A. (2017). Comparison of student performance, student perception, and teacher satisfaction with traditional versus flipped classroom models. International Journal of Instruction, 10(4), 145-164.

Akçayır, G., & Akçayır, M. (2018). The flipped classroom: A review of its advantages and challenges. Computers & Education, 126, 334-345.

. Mehring, J. (2018). The flipped classroom. In Innovations in flipping the language classroom (pp. 1-9). Springer, Singapore.

Young, C. A., & Moran, C. M. (Eds.). (2017). Applying the Flipped Classroom Model to English Language Arts Education. IGI Global.