In the classroom of the future, everything will be flipped

Vanessa Matthews, the head of education technology at Aldar Academies, talks about classrooms of the future.

Students doing pottery painting at Pearl Primary School during a art exhibition in Abu Dhabi. Ravindranath K / The National

We are seeing exciting developments in education, with the use of new technologies in support of effective learning. Technology has helped us to reimagine education. To continue to be relevant as educators, we must embrace the classrooms of the future.

At Aldar Academies, we have already begun introducing new technology to keep students engaged. These developments have allowed me to observe first-hand how new concepts are revolutionising how we teach – and how children learn.

One new approach is the “flipped classroom”, which turns the student-teacher dynamic on its head and allows students to access a video tutorial outside the classroom.

Having access to this content gives pupils the freedom to watch an explanation over and over again and revisit it for revision work.

This ability of the student to engage the material in their own way has a profound impact on their ability to retain information. The result has an incredibly valuable impact on what goes on in the classroom, with students coming to class wielding a more thorough knowledge of the subject the class is meant to critically engage with.

Freed up from giving a lesson on the concept itself, instructors can devote class time to the application of concepts, which is where a child is likely to need more instruction.

It also allows for a better opportunity to detect errors in thinking or misconceptions, particularly ones that are pervasive throughout the class. The outcome is efficient use of time, with more thoroughly trained students whose instructor is able to cover more, faster.

Accompanying the “flipped classroom” are technological breakthroughs that change the way class looks and feels. This is typified by the “3D Classroom”, software that enables teachers to decide how visual materials will be presented to their pupils. The idea of this approach is to be able to go from a high level of abstraction to a low level without the pupil losing comprehension.

This software enables pupils to explore a range of concepts. Navigating freely, students can learn about concepts that can be difficult to convey using conventional teaching methods. The teaching aid is also in 3D, which reinforces the experience and further augments the high degree of realism of the visualised material. Using green screen technology, where you can be filmed against a green (or blue) background, transporting you anywhere you can imagine, real or imaginary, opens up a whole new world of possibilities.

This sort of tool benefits students from FS1 to Year 13 and into university. The ability to create visualisations of abstract concepts and intangible connections assists students in comprehending the most challenging concepts. Likewise, this tool allows teachers to spend time engaging the topics critically and analytically with students, instead of dedicating copious amounts of time to description and explanation.

Education is often slow to adapt to the world around it, especially primary and secondary education. Educators, even the most skilled and talented, can confine themselves to pre-existing approaches, feeling that traditional, proven methods alone hold the key to a first rate education. There is a conventional wisdom that often fosters an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality, or even more so, harks back to the unparalleled glory days of “a classical education”.

But this can be a fallacy. Our responsibility, our duty, is to develop a 21st Century skill set in our students so that they can succeed in their time.

To do this, we need to utilise 21st Century tools. We must endeavour to be at the forefront of cutting edge advances in the tools and concepts emerging to help us better educate our students. This requires a dedication to innovation, and a frontier mentality. Flipped and 3D classrooms are the future, now. But even as we deliver these revolutionary concepts to our students, we must also be looking further towards the horizon.

Vanessa Matthews is head of education technology at Aldar Academies