In this blog post, we introduce two pivotal phases of the FLeD project: the pilot kick-off and the pilot implementation. By understanding the objectives and activities within these phases, we aim to gain insight into their progress and potential impact on flexible learning designs in flipped classrooms.
- Pilot Kick-Off: Online Workshop and Learning Journey Commencement
At the onset of the pilot phase, the pilot project started on December 7th, 2023, with an engaging half-day online workshop called “FLeD project: towards Flipped and Flexible Learning“. This event marked the beginning of our participants’ learning journey, where we introduced them to the project, the Pilot and the FLeD Tool and engaged them with the playful design of the FLeD learning experience.
The workshop was delivered through a web conferencing tool for 2 hours and 30 minutes. It included a brief overview of the FLeD project by the coordinator, Ingrid Noguera-Frutuoso from Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona (www.uab.cat), followed by a presentation on the Pilot, including objectives, phases of collaboration – by Lina Morgado from Universidade Aberta (www.uab.pt). Then, Laia Albó from Universitat Pompeu Fabra (www.upf.edu) demonstrated the tool (fledtool.upf.edu) in her brief presentation.
Part of the workshop was dedicated to exploring the playful FLeD experience developed by the Portuguese team – Lina Morgado, Ana Afonso, Isabel Carvalho and Maribel Pinto guided the participating lecturers through The FLeD Garden (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXzrXd61Yoc), a scenario with several challenges to immerse in a playful experience of co-designing flipped learning, envisioning the FLeD website as a playful space.
The goal was to provide a pathway for creating a structured yet playful journey for lecturers to experience using the proposed patterns, the scaffolding process, and the FLeD tool in a collaborative, supportive, rewarding, and playful environment.
During the workshop, the lecturers had the opportunity to engage in FLeD Garden’s Challenge 1, which mainly included two activities:
- Activity 1: FLeD Bingo
Ice-breaking and interaction moments among the participants.
- Activity 2: Gate Opening
The lecturers were invited to share their experiences about flipped learning and respond to a short survey, followed by access to the patterns, the tool, and the scaffolding on the FLeD website.
- Pilot Implementation: Collaborative Scenario Design and Flipped Learning Application
With the Portuguese team from Universidade Aberta as the Work package leader and responsible for the pilot design, the Sofia University team (www.uni-sofia.bg) undertook the responsibility of operationalising the Pilot. After the kick-off workshop we will run the pilot implementation phase in two stages: collaborative (or peer-reviewed) scenario design and scenario implementation for flipped learning.
The collaborative scenario design stage is currently taking place. During this stage, one lecturer from each pair will engage with the playful design resource, initiating their learning journey. Additionally, one of the lecturers will guide the process of leveraging the capabilities of the FLeD Tool. While one lecturer designs the flipped learning scenario, the other will provide valuable feedback by engaging in peer feedback. Each pair will then share their learning scenario on the FLeD Tool, fostering collaboration and knowledge dissemination.
Moving forward to the flipped scenario implementation stage, each pair will implement their designed flipped learning scenarios in a real context within their context.The implementation can span an entire course, module, or unit, with lecturers having the flexibility to conduct a minimum of one to a maximum of three sessions per course/module. Throughout this stage, the FLeD Tool and the scaffolding resource are valuable aids to support lecturers during their implementations.
The pilot kick-off and implementation phases are fundamental to the FLeD project’s pursuit of flexible learning in higher education. Through collaborative engagement, playful design resources, and the utilization of the FLeD Tool, lecturers embark on a transformative journey, designing and implementing flipped learning scenarios. As the project progresses, the team will analyze valuable feedback and data collected during the Pilot to inform further improvement and contribute to the project’s ultimate goal of enhancing the learning experience.
Follow our updates on the FLeD project and find out how you could use our outputs in your own flipped classrooms.