The flipping classroom trend began around 2007 as instructors discovered technology tools that were easily embraced by students. In this blended learning style, students digest lecture material before class and spend class time completing instructor facilitated problem-solving activities or discussions in small groups. Today, Rice students might be watching their professor’s pre-recorded lectures in OWL-Space to digest the basics of the lesson before discussing solutions in class; they might be collaborating on projects through Google Hangout, or they might be using their smart phones to answer polls during class. All these, and many more, create methods of engaging students in a course’s subject matter.
Taking this style of engaged learning activity even further by including interested students not attending Rice University is a daunting task, but 20 Rice professors have successfully tackled the challenge by developing massively open online courses (MOOCs). Most of the faculty members are incorporating their MOOC into their Rice student’s course syllabus, adapting lesson plans to include the video and pre-homework assignments so that class time can be spent in experiments, problem-solving, and discussion. IT’s Educational Technologies (ET) team supports both methods of teaching and learning, as well as technologies and tools used in more traditional classrooms.