The flipped classroom is a class that reverses the function of homework and in-class work. It requires a system of instruction for students outside of the classroom, using a video, textbook chapter, slideshow, or some other vehicle to deliver the content of the lesson. When the students come to class, they work on completing an activity or task that would typically be assigned as homework. This allows the teacher more time to assist students individually with their specific needs while completing their tasks.
I have used this idea for one-off projects before but have never ran an entire course based on the flipped classroom model. It does seem to promote a very attractive use of classroom time. The ability to better address students’ needs as individuals and in smaller groups talked about in the Flipping Your EL Class: A Primer article is certainly a great benefit to implementing this kind of system. Similarly, the article Three Reasons to Flip Your Classroom notes that this model provides an opportunity for students to absorb the lesson at their own pace. Students could pause a video, go back, listen twice, and take their time with the material.
With such easy access to so many powerful web tools, it is really not all that difficult now for teachers to put together a lesson using a video or web presentation. I think it is approaches like the flipped classroom that really show the most advantageous uses of technology in schools.
I think it would be very hard to run an entire course this way. I also think students would suffer from what I call "sameness fatigue". Kids tend to like novel things and then when they do them too much they lose their shine and the kids start to hate the very thing they used to love to do. I also think special education students will struggle with this as a constant SOP. I think you're right to use it as a varying strategy. For example, some lessons lend themselves to flipping better than others. I also agree that running an entire course would be hard but for another reason: the sheer amount of work that would go into creating it for the teacher and the lack of available resources of good enough quality. All good things to think about. Thanks for such a good analysis.
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