Transforming pedagogical practices: Illustration with the inverted/reversed class

Technology is transforming our uses and learning methods. New uses are now finding their place in the school. In a world where students are increasingly connected, teaching deploys new pedagogical approaches to strengthen the exchange between teachers and students, and promote personalized support. This article details two models of learning that have already proven successful in schools, and that Serious Factory has had the opportunity to deploy with its partners: the reverse class and the reverse class.

The reverse class: an opportunity to put theoretical education into practice

The principle of the reverse class is to learn the theory or situations outside the classroom. The student can work at his own pace, listen again, make mistakes, start again and take notes. During the current classroom session, the teacher no longer positions himself as a coach, but as a coach who focuses on the problems encountered by each learner and synthesizes the knowledge acquired.

Interactive and personalized instruction for students

The learner also gains in competence, thanks to simulations and simulations that are offered outside the classroom. Let’s take the example of a reverse classroom sales course. Before the course, the student must play several sales scenarios with different customers. He will encounter difficulties that he will not necessarily be able to solve during these simulations. In class, he or she will share this information with the teacher, who will then explain or re-explain the sales method or the rules of behaviour. This approach also makes it possible to create debates, exchange best practices and put into context situations experienced during sales internships, for example. Thanks to Digital Learning, learners will be able to train with virtual clients and be better prepared for the situations they will encounter in their professional lives.

Connected school equipment for all

To implement these methodologies, it is necessary to have a good IT infrastructure in the institutions. The physical equipment determines the effectiveness of digital courses and simulation exercises. The transformation of pedagogical practices requires a digital school environment, to ensure that students have the necessary means to engage, participate and progress serenely in their learning.

Digital spaces as well as initiatives such as the 100% digital high schools in Ile-de-France are contributing to the development of these approaches. Serious Factory is for example a partner of this system by providing its authoring software VTS Editor to enable teachers to produce simulators in a wide variety of fields (knowing the documentation centre, developing a culture of sustainable development, etc.).

The reversed class: when the student becomes an actor in his or her teaching

To go further, some schools have implemented the so-called reversed pedagogical method. Students build their own course materials in collaboration with teachers. These simulators are then used by other students, or synthesized to create a generic scenario. Everyone finds it interesting and even enjoys it: students learn differently and in groups, and take responsibility for producing educational content that will be used by their peers. Teachers, for their part, remain at the heart of the system to supervise the work and play a real role as facilitator, coordinator and coach.

With Digital Learning, this approach will develop rapidly, as students will be led to create devices according to their own experience and thus share their best practices. This type of method contributes to better teamwork in joint projects. These skills, which include soft skills, are considered essential in the workplace and can be reused in the workplace.

In order to enable the implementation of these two pedagogical methodologies, Serious Factory supports the education sector with innovative solutions, and in particular its Virtual Training Suite software solution.

To learn more, download VTS Editor for free to design your first course materials: