The What
Flip is blended teaching?
No, “blended learning” emphasizes the use of digital or online media in some parts of the learning, while Flip emphasizes moving some parts of the classroom instruction to be done before class, thus creating time for other interactive activities in class;
It is typical to use tablet computers in Flip?
No, actually in most cases, viewing video, playing with tablets individually, and googling for project material in class will unnecessarily slow down the pace of teaching and can be a waste of the precious classroom time which should be used for human (teacher–students, student–student) interaction;
Flip has to be done with video?
No, mainland Chinese teachers flip with “paper” successfully; in most cases, short video + reading material is better than video alone; summary tables, flow/organizational charts can often be better than videos;
Flip video is useful only for highly motivated and higher ability students?
No, it is based on the assumption that they are more obedient and will watch the videos; some western studies show that lower ability students will engage more because they can now “pause”, “replay” the lessons which they cannot do in traditional teaching; actually for brighter students, watching videos designed for average learners can be extremely boring, fast-forwarding a video is difficult because they may miss some important points; brighter students might prefer reading text than watching videos;
The Why
Flip and distance mode are totally different pedagogies?
If we extend the flip contents further without the classroom activities, it can become a distant mode course; or at least we can turn 3 out of the 10 chapters, say, into distance mode so as to leave room for out of classroom visits/ on the job training/ practicum, etc.;
Flip is not useful because video lectures are worse than teachers’ more interactive lectures in class?
Video lectures are worse than in-class lectures, but video lectures + interactive classroom activities is better than boring in class lectures alone; we should design good classroom activities that we are unable to do without flip;
The ultimate goal of Flip is to improve classroom teaching?
If some Flip modules gradually adopt the distance mode, then we have the opportunity to expand our learning activities as in the Flip 3s (Minerva project, university without a campus, learn Middle East not on textbooks but in Middle East); Flip is not only helping the teaching of a certain course, Flip + distant education should enable us to broaden the kind of educational activities in any educational programs; that is why MIT emphasizes “campus and beyond”, “learning communities”, “communication skills”, “credit bearing services”, “engaging the neighbor community” once online education is extensively adopted;
Students will be doubling their homework to watch all these videos?
If we complete part of the homework and solve the more difficult items in class, students may not have to spend more time at home (see primitive research below)
The How
To Flip, the major challenge is to produce the videos?
No, producing videos or reading material is generally easy, but designing useful activities to make better use of the time in class may need some more thoughts;
Flip is time consuming for teachers?
Not necessarily; once produced it can be repeatedly used; if we use short primitive (annotated ppt, simple drawing on “explain everything” rather than professional video-taping/animation), it is an accessible pedagogy for all teachers; animation is good, but simple drawing/ picture can be almost equally effective in most cases;
Flip videos require professional editing?
No, primitive production using screen capturing (ppt 2010/2013 or “explain everything”, Camtasia) + simple video editing [“movie maker” or EDpuzzle (enable adding of questions into the video), mainly to cut away unwanted sections] is good enough for most cases;
Flip has to be self-produced?
If you have anxiety recording your “imperfect” lectures, search on Youtube for suitable contents, either for the systematic teaching (e.g., explaining what normal distribution is) or as challenging problems/tasks to be solved at home; you may also consider to put videos to be broadcast at 1.2x speed (e.g., use VideoPad Video Editor; www.nchsoftware.com/videopad);
It is impossible to condense a lesson into 5-10 min videos?
We should never attempt to condense a whole lecture into the video format, in most cases, watching an hour video is boring; the short video clips should either introduce the topic (like a conference poster attracting audience’s attention), explain the most difficult parts, or serve as the framework for further learning (as “advance organizer”);
In Flip, students are allowed to ask questions when viewing video so that teachers can understand students’ difficulties?
No, teachers should understand students’ potential questions; we allow students to ask questions while viewing just to engage them more; so pick some of their questions to answer in class;
We have to flip the whole course?
No, most school teachers only flip twice or thrice in a week
Q:「翻轉課堂」是新生事物嗎？
從某個角度來看，「翻轉課堂」(歐美國家稱為flipped classroom, flipped teaching)並非新鮮事物。例如在研究生課，老師要求學生先看某篇文章，在課堂不再作解釋，而直接深入討論文章所引發的深層次問題，這已是「翻轉課堂」。同理，自古以來中小學老師亦會請學生在家先預習備課，然後上課時跳到更深入的課題。
過往學生課前預習備課，主要依靠閱讀書本材料，較為沈悶；現在通過觀看老師的講課視頻，更為生動。而且，現在老師自己制作短片十分容易，網速也支援短片播放，令「翻轉課堂」更易於進行。
當今電子教學盛行，很多時候學生在課堂上搜索網頁、看短片、做電子習作。當用了「翻轉課堂」後，這些個人網上活動改在家中進行，課堂上師生面對面的互動機會增多，更充分和高效利用課堂時間，是重返面授教學的最基本一步，也解決課堂使用手提電腦的電源、上網、維修等繁複問題。故此不同學者也描述「翻轉課堂」為教學範式(paradigm)的轉移。
Q: 「翻轉課堂」是重要的教育改革嗎？
近年教育界的不同調查研究報告顯示，「翻轉課堂」是高等教育界未來五年內數種重要改革之一(如，NMC Horizon Report: 2014 Higher Education Edition)，因為它不涉及高端科技，「翻轉」目標可短期內達致。故此不難理解(如，美國對中小學教學人員的大型調查“Speak Up 2013 National Research Project Findings: A Second Year Review of Flipped Learning”) ，一些國家的調查顯示，教學行政人員認為「翻轉課堂」的影響遠超其他電子教學遊戲等方法。不單大量老師在使用翻轉課堂，絕大部份同學也認同「翻轉課堂有助學習」。
Q: 「翻轉課堂」等於「教育電視」嗎？
這兩者在制作及使用視頻上有多種重要的區別。「翻轉課堂」使用極短(5至10分鐘)的短片，多由老師自行制作。在教學概念上，短片令堂上的講授轉至家中，且在上課前進行，在上課時師生便可一同討論較深奧的功課及教學難點。即，「翻轉課堂」的課堂內容已經不同傳統課堂及「教育電視」，「翻轉課堂」使得課堂時間的使用更加高效。
Q: 在「翻轉課堂」下，學生不是要在家中用很多時間備課嗎？
假設學生只有一個小時做功課，以往他是做上一課的作業。「翻轉」後因為大部份功課在堂上做完，在家中的一個小時只需做一點上一課的作業，餘下多數時間則為下一課作準備。
Q: 教師何來時間制作「翻轉課堂」短片？
首先，無論傳統教學還是「翻轉課堂」，都需要老師對教學內容有基本的把握。如果說「翻轉課堂」還需要多餘傳統課堂的「額外」投入，這個「額外」的投入是非常少量的。長遠來說，教學更省時有趣味。這是因為，這些教學短片並不需要「鏗鏘集」式高水平的制作。例如攝錄期間，老師的母親遞了一杯水給老師(一個新加坡小學老師的真實例子)，或老師講解時不夠流暢或略作修正，這些都可以保留，無需花額外工夫剪掉。
其次，一節40分鐘的課節，原本老師可能講解20多分鐘，若拍攝成短片，因為不用等待學生回應等，多能在5至7分鐘完成。據很多採用這方法的老師的經驗，拍攝10分鐘的短片，用15分鐘已足夠。一些老師需花更多時間，是因為他尚未掌握該課的核心要素，即，如果尚未把握教學內容本身，即使用傳統教學方法，這些老師同樣花更多時間備課及講授；制作短片令老師更清楚每章節的教學重點。
最後，大部份老師也不是每堂課都「翻轉」，故此也不是每天都在攝錄。現在制作短片軟件工具十分方便，老師可用平板電腦講授，或對著電腦簡報表(ppt)講解，便可自動制成短片。很多現時正在採用「翻轉課堂」教學的老師，當初也是為了「偷懶」不重複講授，而採用這方法的。
因為這類視頻甚短，所以即使攝錄質素稍低問題也不大，縱觀世界各地所錄制的同類翻轉課堂短片，也多以這模式進行。
Q: 「翻轉課堂」對能力較低學生適用嗎？
很多前線老師的經驗顯示，能力較低學生上課時害怕發問，也不敢要求老師重複。但現在可以在家中暫停、甚至多次重看老師的講解，這樣相對在上課時就可以跟到正常的教學進度，從而學得更好。所以「翻轉課堂」對能力較低學生幫助可能更大。而老師也因此而節省了課堂上照顧這部分學生的時間，保證了課堂效率。
Q: 「翻轉課堂」能在所有科目及內容中使用嗎？
「翻轉課堂」之風在歐美、台灣、國內、新加坡等地已十分熾熱。但我們不會誤以為某一教學法能醫百病，在所有科目及內容中都有神效。故此，我們仍需多方試驗，考慮如何將教學內容分成短片及上課兩部份。上課活動如何安排，短片中如何講解，如何設計課前及課後習作，以發揮教學最大果效，這些都是需要前線老師共同探討的問題。
在香港，數百人大班的「翻轉課堂」講座在近數個月已多次舉行，部份校長及老師更大力推薦同事參加。在其中一次四百多人的講座後，問卷顯示九成與會者同意或十分同意我們應大力推廣「翻轉課堂」，九成與會者亦有興趣參與日後相關活動。四分一人更留下姓名及聯絡方法，以便參與日後「翻轉課堂」教學研究。
我們不相信某一種教學法能適用於所有教學情境，但自推行電子教學以來，「翻轉課堂」的改革實在得到大量前線老師的喜愛及支持。
我們相信香港老師的專業性，當他們學懂翻轉課堂的優點及局限之後，必定能善加利用