Since Sal Khan’s 2011 TED Talk, the Khan Academy has been nearly synonymous with “flipped classrooms.” This is because since then, Khan Academy has been promoted by the Gates Foundation as well as major media outlets like CNN and CBS. But, what the media and outsiders (non-educators) fail to recognize is that Khan Academy is “just a tool” and not a methodology or pedagogy on its own. Debates have raged simultaneously in educators’ circles, especially in social media and blogs, about the benefits (or lack thereof) of flipping. Through all of this, the term “flipped classroom” or even “flipping” has been misconstrued and inaccurately represented. Rather than argue about titles or labels, let’s get into the philosophy of flipping.
Too much of the discussion around flipping has been on the technology. Let’s begin to focus on the philosophical decisions teachers and schools need to make to move education forward in a connected world.