The Synchronous Online Flipped Learning Approach: An eight-step learning cycle for digital age pedagogy
Abstract
The sudden pivot to online teaching necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic left many university instructors floundering. One group of educators ready to overcome these challenges, however, was a small but growing community that had been teaching using the Synchronous Online Flipped Learning Approach (SOFLA). The goal of SOFLA is to provide instructors with a template for learner-centred online instruction that allows for creativity and freedom within each structured step of a learning cycle. The approach draws from principles of flipped learning pedagogy and best practices in online learning to offer a robust framework for technology-based instruction with both synchronous and asynchronous components. This paper begins by defining flipped learning and then rethinking it in terms of the online instructional context. Following this is a description of the eight steps of SOFLA that offers details and caveats to aid implementation. Then, the authors discuss what SOFLA offers educators and their students in terms of online teaching more generally. Finally, the conclusion provides suggestions for future work on SOFLA and for online flipped learning.
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Author's Biography
Helaine W. Marshall PhD is Professor of Education and Director of Language Education Programs at Long Island University-Hudson Campus, Purchase, New York, USA. She teaches courses in linguistics and multicultural education in face-to-face, blended and synchronous online formats. Her research interests include culturally responsive-sustaining education, students with limited or interrupted formal education (SLIFE), nontraditional approaches to the teaching of grammar and instructional design, especially as it relates to flipped learning. Her most recent book is titled Breaking New Ground for SLIFE: The Mutually Adaptive Learning Paradigm, 2nd ed, co-authored with A. DeCapua. Helaine has developed a model of online flipped learning, and her most recent article on that topic is ‘Fostering Teaching Presence through the Synchronous Online Flipped Learning Approach’, with I. Kostka in The Electronic Journal for English as a Second Language (TESJ-EJ).
Ilka Kostka PhD is a Teaching Professor at the College of Professional Studies at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. She teaches a variety of English language courses to international graduate and undergraduate students, oversees graduate courses, and contributes to curriculum and programme development. Her scholarly interests include instructional models for supporting international students’ English language development (eg flipped learning and service learning), source-based academic writing instruction, and curriculum development in language programmes. Ilka has earned three certifications from the Flipped Learning Global Initiative (FLGI) and published and presented extensively on the topic of flipped learning in teaching English as a second language (ESL). With Erik Voss, she co-authored a book titled Flipped Academic English Language Learning: Experiences from an American University, published by Springer. Ilka is an active member of TESOL International Association and has taught English in the US and in China.
Citation
Marshall, Helaine W. and Kostka, Ilka (2023, June 1). The Synchronous Online Flipped Learning Approach: An eight-step learning cycle for digital age pedagogy. In the Advances in Online Education: A Peer-Reviewed Journal, Volume 1, Issue 4. https://doi.org/10.69554/NPPG8722.
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