Digital Storytelling in a Flipped Classroom for Effective Learning

Clemens Bechter,Fredric Swierczek

doi:10.3390/educsci7020061

Abstract

Conclusive empirical evidence on whether virtual classrooms result in higher performance, satisfaction, or an improvement in problem solving skills when compared with traditional face-to-face lecturing does not exist. Various studies point in different directions. However, blended learning outperforms the traditional classroom in student performance and satisfaction. A flipped classroom is one type of blended learning. For more than 20 years, this approach has been used at a European executive MBA (EMBA) program delivering online content combined with six residential weeks where students collaborate and reflect upon their online learning. Our research examined the overall setup of this program, and assessed one course in depth. As part of the course—International Management—an intercultural negotiation project was chosen to highlight the integration of online and offline activities. The flipped classroom is a demonstration of the reform-based teaching approach. The power of reform-based learning in executive education is the engaging combination of practice and theory, which improves the performance of executives. The participants considered the flipped approach exciting, dynamic, and insightful. The emphasis on a negotiation process involving classmates from around the world increased their global understanding. Beginning with a negotiation experience in the digital story project gave them a better appreciation of the relevant theories, techniques, and applications. Focusing on the practice of international negotiation and a cross-cultural analysis with reflection on cultural intelligence improved the competencies of the participants both during the course and after it.

Highlights

The flipped classroom engages students by delivering content outside the classroom and focusing classroom time on collaborative exercises, question and answer sessions, and other interactive communication [1]
Flipped classrooms that foster higher-order thinking skills can come in many shapes and sizes
The emphasis is on competencies, which are a combination of knowledge, skills, applications, and results

Summary

Introduction

The flipped classroom engages students by delivering content outside the classroom and focusing classroom time on collaborative exercises, question and answer sessions, and other interactive communication [1]. It is a reversed setting of a traditional lecture insofar as content is delivered online in the first stage, and followed by face-to-face sessions in the second stage. A virtual classroom is an online learning environment which is often web-based [4]. Since the actual course content has to be delivered outside the classroom, an e-learning component is an essential part of any flipped classroom. Whether a virtual classroom outperforms a traditional classroom setting is an open question.

Methods

Results

Conclusion