Higher Ground blog

Guest post by Professor Janet Gregory, University Professor of Education Quality and Innovation, sharing her thoughts from the EDUCAUSE 2011 conference held in Philadelphia, October 18 to 21.

I have always been interested in the people side of business and academia, organisational behaviour and the impact of technology on people. I'm fascinated by how the changing environment is going to affect how our students learn and what this means for learning and teaching in higher education.

The EDUCAUSE 2011 conference, held at the Philadelphia Convention Centre, was themed the "best thinking in Higher ED IT". The huge number of concurrent sessions covered information systems and services, security and infrastructure, leadership, governance and management, and web and media development. I focused on the teaching and learning sessions and the wealth of ideas and information was truly incredible. 

One of the ideas that particularly piqued my interest was this concept of the 'flipped classroom'. In her presentation entitled "The changing role of educators in the digital age", Lynda Weinman discussed the work of Jonathan Bergman and Aaron Sams on the 'flipped classroom' model. This model is where content is provided online and homework, the practise, is done in the classroom with teachers as facilitators.  

The flipped classroom (whether it is located on-campus or online) is a collaborative learning environment, where students both contribute and critique content. It is the antithesis of the traditional 'sage on the stage' model. In an age where content is so readily available and often free, the role of the educator is changing and evolving.

One of the most frightening statistics I heard during the conference was that US student debt has now surpassed US credit card debt. Universities must continue to deliver a high quality product and service for our students. Otherwise, where are we adding value? Our capacity to be excellent mentors and facilitators, rather than disseminators of content, is the new benchmark for teaching quality in this brave new world.

It is interesting to note the flipped classroom model facilitates the development of skills closely aligned with the needs of industry, much more readily than the traditional model. The graduate qualities employers are seeking - collaboration, critical thinking, openness to new things and communication skills - are well practised and developed using this flipped model.

The flipped classroom may not only be more relevant for 21st century learners who are digital natives but also, potentially, prove to be a more cost effective model. Mobile connectivity is changing social and information space. Peer learning, larger classes and group projects can be more easily supported and facilitated using online technologies.

The critical need for universities to change to meet the needs of future learners was discussed in depth at the conference. I know some Swinburne academics are already using approaches similar to the flipped classroom model in their teaching, particularly in tutorials and labs and Swinburne Online is employing e-learning advisors to coach and mentor online students. So we are already moving in exciting new directions.

As technology continues to develop, there will be exciting opportunities for new models of teaching and learning to be explored.

Professor Janet Gregory
University Professor of Education Quality and Innovation

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