Practically overnight, the spread of COVID-19 caused a sudden shutdown of classroom-based instruction--the centuries-old emblem of formal education. Fortunately, the capabilities of the technological era--in which broadband connectivity, mobile communication, and video conferencing are increasingly common--meant that for the first time in world…

The Wisconsin-Minnesota Comprehensive Center (WMCC)--housed at the University of Minnesota's (UMN) Center for Applied Research & Educational Improvement (CAREI), the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Wisconsin Evaluation Collaborative (WEC), and Education Analytics (EA)--works directly with the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) on…

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak became a public health concern which affected normal processes and conduct of almost everything. Education was greatly affected and cannot be conducted on the normal classroom setup. The Department of Education in response to the COVID-19 pandemic developed a system through the Basic Education Learning…

Recent advances in technology have created a surge in online educational opportunities, increasing accessibility to education. However, online learning suffers from criticism that these courses are substandard in comparison to traditional classes, despite research that suggests otherwise. We discuss our personal experiences with traditional and…

The flipped classroom has become an increasingly popular pedagogical approach to teaching and learning. In this study, learning gains were assessed in a flipped biochemistry course and compared to gains in a traditional lecture. Although measured learning gains were not significantly different between the two courses, student perception of…

Popular and scholarly discussions of higher education pedagogy focus increasingly on two ideas: the "flipped" classroom and massive open online courses (MOOCs). Both flipped classrooms and MOOCs represent substantial departures from the traditional instructional model in higher education. A MOOC is all one-way communication with no…

The possibility of being always connected to the Internet and/or the mobile network (hence the term "always-on") is increasingly blurring the borderline between physical and digital spaces, introducing a new concept of space, known as "hybrid." Innovative forms of teaching have been developing in hybrid spaces for some time…

The flipped teaching model can engage students in the learning process and improve learning outcomes. The purpose of the present study was to assess the outcomes of a semiflipped teaching model over time. Neurophysiology students spent the majority of class time listening to traditional didactic lectures, but they also listened to 5 online…

Science vocabulary can be abstract (e.g., "photosynthesis," "ecosystem") and have different meanings than in daily life (e.g., "class," "work," "power"). For this reason, understanding individual vocabulary words isn't enough for learners to be successful. The meaning is embedded in basic syntax,…

The flipped, or inverted, classroom has gained popularity in a variety of fields and at a variety of educational levels, from K-12 through higher education. This paper describes the author's positive experience flipping a graduate qualitative research methods classroom. After a review of the current literature on flipped classrooms in higher…

This article reports on a study of K-12 teachers' responses to an innovative flipped professional development series focused on literacy instruction. Thirty-six participants voluntarily enrolled in one or more of three professional development courses. Findings address teacher evaluation of the efficacy of both the structure and the content of the…

The concept of reverse teaching, considered by some as the education model of the future due to increasing technological availability in the classroom, has received great attention in education research lately. However, the focus of these studies has mainly been on the understanding of reverse teaching in terms of its application rather than…

This dissertation is a mixed methods study of a mid-sized Kansas school district. It explores the relationship between a blended learning approach to instruction and 5th grade student performance on Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessments in reading and mathematics. The objectives were to determine what a blended learning environment…

One of the challenges of teaching a foreign language in non-immersive contexts, is extending the exposure of learners to the target language, beyond school hours. Since it is quite common to find linguistic and cultural exponents of foreign languages, in authentic contexts (i.e., the "Linguistic Landscape"), those exponents may serve as…

This chapter provides a brief overview of the inclusive education movement as related to educator preparation. External influences that have driven the push for more blended educational training for all educators, regardless of discipline, are discussed, and recommended practices for inclusive educator preparation programs are provided. In…