Classrooms During COVID-19
during the waves of the pandemic, many schools concentrate on promoting Online learning and conduct most teaching activities through the Internet which brings the underprivileged students some unavoidable difficulties.
Even though the times are difficult, our Fellows are still able to adapt to the situation quickly and come up with practical solutions which are supportive to the students. One of our Fellows, CY Ling, used a new model of teaching called “Flipped Classroom” and it is proved to be effective and innovative compared to the traditional mode of teaching.
CY (Fellow 2019-20) implemented “Flipped Classroom” during his Fellowship experience.
What is ‘Flipped Classroom”?
“Flipped Classroom” changes the traditional order of teaching, asking the students to study at home first and then revising the knowledge in the classroom with the teacher. CY implemented the idea of “Flipped Classroom” during his Fellowship. He pre-recorded the contents, asked the students to learn the new knowledge at home first, and then guided them deeper through the concept while conducting online classes.
“Flipped Classroom” under the pandemic
Most of the students CY taught are underprivileged students and students with Special Education Needs (SEN). They have weaker learning abilities compared to other students. The students sometimes lack motivation to study and virtual learning made learning even more challenging for them. Most of the students never had classes online before and they their families could not afford to buy expensive electronic devices nor provide technical assistance for their online learning.
“When I first started “Flipped Classroom”, it was because of the lack of teaching hours and I couldn’t finish the contents.” CY recalled the time he implemented this new way of teaching and learning at school, “After I successfully implemented the program, the result exceeded my expectations. It saves time from explaining repetitive knowledge and concepts in class and students can use the extra time to expand their knowledge by discussing questions that aren’t on the school notebooks.” CY noticed that students are more engaged in “Flipped Classroom” and they are more likely to talk and ask questions. Besides that, “Flipped Classroom” also increased the interactions between student and teachers. He had more time to provide personal feedback to the students, while the students had more opportunities to listen and study others’ ideas.
CY believes that innovation helps improve both teaching and learning experience during or even after the pandemic.
At the same time, CY also promoted the idea of life education during the pandemic. He started to film YouTube videos to encourage the students to play some mind games in their leisure time, such as chess. After receiving positive feedback about this, he continued to create more videos promoting positive education and other topics. “I believe that using videos to promote ideas and learning is the easiest way for students to perceive. For me, learning to edit videos is also a great way of self-improvement.”
Opportunities for innovation
“The pandemic offers great opportunities for innovation.” CY believes that teachers can create flexible modes of learning and trust that students have the ability to adapt to them. Don’t afraid of changes and never underestimate the influence a small change can bring to us.