"Oh, Flip That!" An Evaluation of Flipped Learning in Initial Teacher Education

Abstract

Technologies are already ‘established and stable’ in Further Education Colleges (AoC, 2014: p. 11), such as distance and blended learning packages, virtual learning environments (VLEs), e-portfolios, messaging and plagiarism detection, however, these technologies often mean there is no interaction between the users, or, when there is, it follows the more traditional didactic method. There is increasing pressure in all education sectors to broaden the use of digital technology in teaching, learning and assessment, and flipped learning has been seen to contribute to this. What makes the flipped classroom different is the use of technology in order to encourage collaborative teaching and learning. This paper will first provide a general overview of flipped learning and then evaluate its effectiveness within Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in the Lifelong Learning Sector (LLS) via a summary of a small-scale research project with in-service trainees. The conclusion emphasises that Teacher Educators require time and support in order to develop and embed e-learning effectively.