Flipped classroom integration in Greek state primary

ResearchPapersinLanguageTeachingandLearningVol.9,No.1,February2018,166-180ISSN:1792-1244Availableonlineathttp://rpltl.eap.grThisarticleisissuedundertheCreativeCommonsLicenseDeed.Attribution3.0Unported(CCBY3.0)

FlippedclassroomintegrationinGreekstateprimaryschools:Anactionresearchproject

Andriani-ChristinaRIGOUTSOUThis article provides the descriptive analysis of an action research project upon theapplicationoftheFlippedClassroomApproachintwelveteachingcasesof6thgradersintheGreekpublicprimaryschoolcontext.Basedonrecentstudies,noresearchcanbe foundonflipping in theareaofTeachingEnglishasaForeignLanguageataprimaryschool level inGreece. Flipped Classroom Approach is a relatively new pedagogical approach which hasgained momentum recently to overcome the rigidity and ineffectiveness of traditionalteacher-centered practiceswhich over-rely on lectures, homework assignment, testing androte learning. In Flipped Classroom, the traditional lecture and homework sessions areinvertedwith students being providedwith onlinematerial in order to gain the necessaryknowledgebeforeclass,while class time isdevoted to clarificationsandapplicationof thisknowledge. Therefore, the research presented in this article, aimed at examiningwhetherEnglish Language Teachers were ready to embrace flipping as part of their professionaldevelopment,toevaluatetheprovidedflippingmaterialandtodevelopnewone.Finally,theflippingimplementationwasdiscussedconcerningitseffectivenessintopromotingstudents’ActiveLearningprocesses.Keywords:FlippedClassroomApproach,EducationalTechnology,ActiveLearning,Teachers’ProfessionalDevelopment1.IntroductionThe instructional practice of most teachers in Greek public primary schools nowadays isportrayedastraditionalteachingcharacterizedbythepassivetransmissionoftheorybytheteacher, little or no peer interaction and textbook instruction. Under such circumstances,theFlippedClassroomApproach(FCA)isarealizationofteachers’tendencytomodifytheirpracticeswiththeaidofInformationTechnology(IT).Theyhavethechancetotransformthetraditional lectures at school into video-recorded lectures retrieved from awide range ofonlineeducationalresourcestoteachstudentskeyconceptsofaparticulartopicaspartof

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theirhomework(AbeysekeraandDawson,2015)providingclasstimeforamoreactiveandsociablelearningandteaching(Tucker,2012).Such a learning environment is described in this article with the readers being smoothlyintroducedtoFCAfeatures.Abriefhistoricalbackgroundoftheapproachisinitiallyprovidedfollowedbythepresentationofitsmainadvantagesandlimitations.Then,FCAAdoptionisdiscussed in association with Teachers’ Professional Development (TPD) aligning with thetwo-foldedresearchpurposewhichis,inturn,explainedinSection4.Theresearchmethodaswell as the procedure followed are analysed in Sections 5 and 6while the core of theresearchisgiveninSection7wherethefindingsarethoroughlypresentedandanalysedinrelation to the research questions. Based on these, the two final sections focus on thelimitations of the current research and relevant recommendations made for future FCAapplications.2.FCAhistoricalbackgroundandpaststudiesFCA dates back to the early 1960s when Gregor Novak began teaching evening physicsclassestohisstudents.However,thefirstrecordofFCAinstructiontookplaceintheHarvardUniversity Physics classroom by Professor Erik Mazur. His students read their physicstextbooks prior to class to gain the basic information to participate in the discussionsresulting in reducing the amount of time for lecture in class and more time for peerinstructionactivities(Crouch,Watkins,FagenandMazur,2007,p.14).ThemostprominentfiguresinFCAareJonathanBergmannandAaronSamswho,in2007,createdvideosoftheirclass lecturestodeliverthe instructionalmaterial totheirscienceclassstudentswhowerecontinuouslyabsentfromschool.Finally,perhapsthegreatestcontributiontoflippingtheK-12classroomhasbeentheadventoftheKhanAcademy.In the early 1980s, Baker had a vision of using electronicmeans to “cover” rotematerialoutsideofclass.AnearlyeditionofanonlinecontentmanagementsystemresemblingthecurrentLearningManagementSystem(LMS)allowedBakertouploadhisnotesandretrievethemduringclassmeetingsreferringtothismethodas“TheClassroomFlip”(Baker,2011).Lage,PlattandTregliadesignedand implementedasimilarprocedurecalled“The InvertedClassroom”onfivesectionsofaneconomicscourse.LoveandHodgecomparedaclassroomusingthetraditionallectureformatwithaflippedclassroomduringanappliedlinearalgebracourse(Love,Hodge,GrandgenettandSwift,2014).3.FCAadvantagesandlimitationsTechnology has a deep impact on 21st century learnerswho can no longer solely rely onclassroom-based instruction. “Many theoreticians believe that the traditional model oflecture-based learning is becoming increasingly unappealing to the contemporary studentand that a paradigmatic shift in pedagogy is needed to keep students engaged (HanoverResearchCouncil,2013,p.8).”Additionally,FCAallowsteacherstoleveragevideolecturesathometo increase interactionwith students inclasswithout, though,advocating theirownreplacementwithonlineinstruction.Flippingtheclassroomcanbeanidealmergerofonlineandface-to-faceinstructionknownasa"blended"classroomwheremoretimeisfreeduptosupportstudentlearning(Fulton,2012;Springen,2013).Apartfromtheteacher-to-studentinteraction,studentsinteractwitheachotherimprovingtheirproblemsolvingskills,teamwork,creativityandinnovation(Bergmann,2012;Laman,BrannonandMena,2012)withoutsacrificingcontent(Gardner,2006).Similarly,Bergmann


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andSams(2012)believethat interactivelearningenvironmentscanfuelstudents’curiosityandwithproper support from the teacher, this can increase students’motivation, that is,students’ learning. Consequently, FCA facilitates the development of students as activelearners rather than passive receptacles of information and transforms instructors from“being dispensers of facts to being architects of learning activities (Pierce and Fox, 2012,p.22).Under such circumstances,many of the classroommanagement problems evaporate to agreat extent, too (Alvarez, 2011). The need of an “audience” for unruly students iseliminated because of the small group and independent work style of the classroom(Bergmann,2012).Absenteeismandhomeworkcompletion(Alvarez,2011;Forsey,LowandGlance,2013)areadditional issuesassociatedwithFCA.Theclassno longerfallsbehind inprogress when either the teacher or students cannot keep up with the rest of the class.Moreover, inaFCAenvironmentwecandiscernnumerousopportunitiesfordifferentiatedinstruction (Ash, 2012; Hanover Research Council, 2013; Springen, 2013) as well asaddressingmultiplelearningstyles(FlippedClassroomOffersNewLearningPath,2011).However,many primary schoolers, particularly those from low-income districts who havelimitedresourcesavailability,aredeprivedofaccesstotechnologyoutsideofschoolmakingitdifficulttoattendtheassignedvideos(Hamdanetal.,2013;Nielsen,2012).Therefore,FCAis alleged to createor exacerbate a digital divide.Moreover,Herreid and Schiller’s survey(2013)confirmedstudents’resistancetocometoclasswell-preparedmainlyduetothefactthat they have not learned how to familiarize themselves with the new content prior tobeingexposedtoitinclass.Finally,creatingthevideosbecomesmorelaborintensiveonthepartof teachers thanplanning fora traditional classroomenvironment (HanoverResearchCouncil,2013).Teachersoftenhavemixedfeelingsofexcitementandtrepidationconcerningtheir familiarity with IT. However, there is an abundance of technological tools (seeAppendix) enabling teachers to produce well-organised FCA lessons, for instance, VideoHostingTools,VideoInteractionTools,VideoCreationToolsandLMSs.4.FCAadoptionandteachers’professionaldevelopmentOn-goingTPDiswelcomednowadaysduetothechangingroleofteachersfromdistributorsofknowledgetodesignersoflearningexperiencesandsincetechnologyisasignificantdriverbehind thatchange.TPDgoeshand inhandwith reformand innovation in teachingwhichcomesasaresultofstudy,reflection,practiceandhardwork.Therefore,engagingteachersin thedesignand incorporationofeducational technology-FCA inourcase- into theirdailypracticesisasteptowardsTPD.FCA instruction has a lot to offer when successfully implemented. It can contribute toteachers’ better understanding of technology use in teaching and learning activitiesintegrating both face-to-face learning in the class through group discussion and distancelearningoutsidetheclassbywatchingasynchronousvideolessonsandonlinecollaboration(Halili and Zainuddin, 2015). The FCA adoption can also encourage individual andpersonalized support to students, both the struggling and the advanced ones, due to theadditionalclasstimeensuredforinteraction.Additionally, FCA can be conducive to the establishment of an Active Learning (AL)classroom environment. Due to their student-centered, technology-rich nature, ALtechniques help mitigate the chaotic classroom environments present in the traditionalmodel of teaching which entail distracted students negatively affecting other students’


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learning. FCA instruction can keep students continuously engaged in the classroom so,classroombehaviorproblemsarereducedifnoteliminated(EmmerandStough,2001).FCAteaching experience followed by reflection further ensures TPD as it involves teachers’criticalanalysisoftheirpracticeswiththeaimofreachinganewperspectivewithmodifiedattitudes.Teachershavethechancetoexperiment,reflectandadaptnewtheories,practicesandcontentintheirprofessionalcontext.Apart from becoming agents of change, EFL teachers are urged to develop their owncontextualizedmaterials.“Theopportunitytodevelopexpertiseforthemselvesasmaterialsdeveloperscanquitedefinitelyhelpthemtodevelopandgrow(Tomlinson,2003).”Finally,as already stated, teachers involved in FCA projects can reap the benefits of constantcollaboration with colleagues as well as building a communication bridge with theirstudents’parentstowardsacommonsetofgoals.5.ResearchpurposesandquestionsWith reference to the twelve classroom contexts, the researcher, with the EFL teachers’contribution,attemptedto:

1) investigatewhetherornotthelatterwerewillingtoincorporatetheFCAfeaturesintheirteachingchoices,inotherwords,theeffectoftheFCAimplementationontheirTPD. The issues emphasized include Technology Awareness and Integration,Teacher-Student degree of classroom interaction, Classroom Management andEvaluationof theFCAsupportmaterialaswellas theDevelopmentoforiginalFCAmaterial.

2) investigatewhetherFCAcontributedonrendering6thgradersintoactivelearnersinaprimaryschoolcontext.

Particularly,theresearchquestionsthatguidedtheresearchpurposeswerethefollowing:

1) AspartofTPD,weretheEFLteachersinthe6thGradeoftheprimaryschoolsettingwilling to incorporate the FCA features in their teachingon a regular basis and towhatextent?

2) Were they satisfied with the effectiveness of the suggested FCA material in thisexperiment?

3) Did these lessonsactasan incentive for theEFL teachers tocreate theirownFCAmaterialanddesignoriginalFCAlessons?

4) Whatweretheteachers’perceptionsonthe impactoftheFCAlessonsontheir6thgraders’AL?


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6.Researchmethodandinstruments6.1.MixedmethodresearchThevalueofthemixedmethodofresearchhas longbeendiscussed inthe literature(Ellis,2005; Ponce, 2014; Scott and Sutton, 2009). It uses both qualitative and quantitative

methodsieitherconcurrentlyorsequentially (Venkatesh,BrownandBala,2013) leadingtotriangulationofdata (ErzbergerandKelle,2003 inOstlundetal.,2011) thatenhances thevalidity (Mengshoel, 2012) of the results. The application of such a convergent researchapproachwasalsoimperativeforthepurposesofthispaper.6.2.ResearchinstrumentsForthepurposeofthisstudy,theresearcherfirstlydesignedaGoogleFormsquestionnaireiiaddressingtheparticipatingteachersaftercompletingtheirFCAlessons.Thequestionnaireconsisted of 70 itemswritten in English and it was divided into three sections under theheadings “Background, Teaching Style and Resources available”, “FCA and Teachers’Professional Development” and “FCA and Active Learning in EFL classroom”. It includedfixed-responsequestionsrangingfrom“yes/no”questions,whichmakerespondents“comeoffthefence”(Cohen,ManionandMorrison,2000,p.250),multiplechoiceandratingscalequestions,mostofwhichfollowedtheLikertformatof“Stronglydisagree,Disagree,Neutral,Agree,Stronglyagree”choicesaswellasopen-ended,narrative-responsequestions.Tocaterforissuesnotcoveredinthequestionnaireandinorderthattheparticipantscouldelaboratemoreextensivelyontheirflippingexperience,unstructureddiscussionstookplace insocialnetworking sites such as Facebook where their views, concerns and perceptions wereexchanged. They were carried out in a friendly, natural flow resembling unstructuredinterviews.7.Researchprocedure7.1. The preparation stage: Designing the FCA support material and selecting theparticipatingteachersInorderfortheresearchertoensureparticipants inthisFCAexperiment,anopencallwasmadetoEnglishteachersworkingwith6thgraders instateprimaryschoolsboth in IliaandaroundGreece toofferat leastoneFCA teachinghour.After the researcherhaddesignedthenecessaryFCAsupportmaterialiii,sheuploadeditinFacebookgroups,Englishteachers’forums like the Hellenic Open University Yahoo Groups and English Teachers local

i Particularly, the major characteristics of the traditional quantitative research of deduction,confirmation, theory/hypothesis testing, explanation, prediction, standardized data collection andstatisticalanalysisarecombinedinanarticulatedandharmonicmannerwiththoseofthequalitativeresearch,thatis,induction,discovery,exploration,theory/hypothesisgenerationandtheresearcherastheprimary“instrument”ofdatacollection.iiFCAquestionnaireforPrimarySchoolEFLTeachers:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1toRlVJA3Qf1qi_ckIDQrraOBBBf6ldJnBQ58tLSd6g4/edit?usp=forms_homeiiiDesignedFlippedLessonsMaterial:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B839sq-tOLIAbUJZTTd3ODJVUzQ?usp=sharing


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associations.Finally,sheemailedthematerialtomostExperimentalPrimaryschoolsofthecountry.It is important tomention that the support FCAmaterial was freely distributed online inorderthatmoreteacherscouldfamiliarizewiththepurposeandproceduresofthecurrentresearch and, thus, be attracted to it. An introductory Powerpoint presentationdescribedwhatFCAentailsandgaveinformationandsuggestionsfortheeffectiveteachingofthefourdesignedFCAlessons.OtherusefuldocumentswerealsoattachedincludinganInformationBrochure addressing students’ parents, four Lesson Plans for the teachers’ convenience, aVideoTasksheetforeachlessonwithinstructionsandnotesforthestudentstofollowwhenworkingathomeontheirownandfinally,anIn-classTasksheettobedistributedduringthelessons.Itwasintheteachers’conveniencetoteachfromonetofourofthesuggestedFCAlessons or even totally depart from them and develop their own input meeting theconstraintsoftheirteachingsituations.Morespecifically,thesuggestedmaterialconcernedUnit3introducingthecomparativeandthe superlative degrees of adjectives and presenting the “Midnight Summer’s Dream”Shakespeareanstory.Theother twoFCA lessonsdealtwithdescribingmemories fromthepastandpasthabits,thus,teachingYLtheSimplePasttenseandthe“usedto”grammaticalstructurecoveredinUnits4and5.Asforthevideolectures,theresearcherwasinfavouroftheGoEnglish.tv site,Photodentro andtheLearnerEnglishKidswebsite.Theresearcheralsoconfided in the high qualitymaterial offered free of charge in a couple of EFL educators’personalblogsandwebsites,thatis,BillieHaase’sandClaudioAzevedo’sblogs.7.2.Participants’profileThe result of the open electronic call was an overwhelming minority of twelve teachersworking inprimary schools aroundGreece, for example, inDrama,Kozani, Serres,Halkidaand Crete. Based on their answers in the demographics part of the questionnaire theycompleted,elevenof themwere femalewhileonlyonewasamaleteacher.Nineof themhadateachingexperienceofmorethan11yearsretainingtheircurrentpositionfrom1to15 years. Most teachers worked with classes of 10 to 15 students keeping a balancebetweenteacher-ledandstudent-friendlyactivitiesintheirlessons.Onlyaminorityresortedto a largely teacher-centrered method. Moreover, half of the participants consideredthemselvesasaveragetechnologyuserswithfourofthembeingadvancedandonlyacoupleofthembeingeitherexpertorbeginnerITuser.AsforITintegrationintheirlessons,sevenof them occasionally did it and the other five always or almost always resorted to it.However,almostallofthemintroducedFCAintheirinstructionforthefirsttime.7.3.Theimplementationstage:DescriptionoftheFCAlessonsTheFCAlessonswereconductedintheacademicyear2016-2017fromlateJanuarytolateApril. All potential stakeholders, including the school principals, the students and theirparents,werenotifiedabout the FCA investigation through the InformationBrochure. Thestudents were exposed to online pedagogical videos that included visual and audioinstructionathomewiththeteachersalsoexplainingbeforehandthevarioustasksneededtobecompletedathome.Thevideolectureswerecarefullyselectedbytheresearchertobecreative, engaging and interactive. Most of them were followed by multiple choicequestions,gapfilling,drillingandreadingcomprehensionquestions.Thesamematerialwasalso offered in DVDs so that the students, who were deprived of Internet connection at


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home,couldhaveaccess to it.TheVideoTasksheet foreach lessonwasdistributedbytheteacherstotheirstudentstohelpthemfollowalong.During the lessons, the teachers made a considerable attempt to create student-friendlyconditionsbasedonwhatFCAdictates.Tocaterforpossibleambiguities,theyfollowedtheguidelines in the Lesson Plans and the suggested In-Class Taskheets. The students workedcollaborativelytoboosttheirconfidenceandusethelanguageinacommunicativecontext.Groupmemberstriedtoexchangetheirideasandnegotiatetheirunderstandingsandlater,presentthemtotherestoftheclass.Beforeendingclass,anoutlookonthenextlessonwasmade especially on the topic, the support material and the contents of the next classmeeting.7.4.Thefollow-upstage:ReflectingontheFCAexperienceUpon the implementation of the FCA lessons, the twelve teachers completed thequestionnaire and at the same time, they participated in the unstructured discussions inFacebookexchangingviews,concernsandperceptions.8.Researchfindings8.1.ResearchQuestion1Ageneralfeelingofhesitationandevenunwillingnesswasreceivedforthedevotionofsomeclass time to experiment with the alternative FCA method. Based on the researcher’sassumptions,thefactorswhichheldEFLteachersbackcanbeidentifiedwiththedeprivationof technological resources, students’ heavy relianceonpassively receiving knowledge, therigidstructureofworkingdaysandthelackofin-servicetrainingonFCAaspects.Thetime-consuming and demanding tasks of creating educational videos and designing AL classactivitiesactedasadeterrent,too.Similarly,sometraditionalEFLteachersfeelthatthereisnoneedtochangetheirownpracticesbecauseofthelackofpersonalbenefit.Inacultureofcompliance,theydonotvaluerisk-taking,particularlyinthefieldofnewtechnologyfeelingmorecomfortablewhentheydelegatetheresponsibilityofexperimentingwithnew-fangledideastonovicecolleagues.CollaborationwithparentsisstillabarriertoovercomeinorderthatthelatterfeelmorecomfortableandflexiblewitheducationalinnovationssuchasFCA.Nowadaysparentsaretoobusytospendtimetosupporttheinnovativelearningwhichtheyfindconfusingbecausetheyareaccustomedtoonewayofbeingeducated.Regardlessoftheabove,theparticipatingteachershandledFCAtechnologysuccessfullybyusing different technological tools, mainly desktop computers and laptops. The fact thatthey were further familiarized with educational technology and experimented withinnovative methods and materials made them more assertive and confident in theircomputer skills, which is confirmed by the following extract from the unstructureddiscussions:

“IhavecreatedanEdmodoclassformy6thgradestudentsandI’musingittopostthevideolinks.”

Moreover, they discovered a wealth of educational content online appropriate for thedesignof FCA lessonsmotivatedby the effectiveness of the supportmaterial providedbythe researcher. Equally important is the fact that the teachers as well as the researcherenjoyed their collaboration upon the barriers they encountered such as the frustration


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caused by the limited time during the school day, some students’ lack of home Internetconnectionor theirdemotivation towatch thevideos.Despiteworking fromdistance, theparticipants were encouraged to collaborate in multiple ways aligning with what TPDdictates,somethingwhichisalsoobviousinthestatement:

“It has been a pleasure and an honour working with you all! Thank u for awonderfulexperience!!!”

The FCA adoption in the EFL class ensured additional class time for the teachers tocommunicateandpracticewiththeirstudents(Graph1)departingfromtheirtraditionalroleofinformationprovidersandbecominglearningfacilitatorsinstead(Graph2).Theygainedadeeper insightoftheirstudents’needsandpreferencesanddealtwiththeir inquiriesbothindividually and in groups. Thus, the teachers were able to manage their classes moreeffectivelyduetothefactthatincidentsofunrulybehaviorwerereduced.

Graph1

Graph2

0%

8%

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42%

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"FCAgavememoreclasstimetopractisewithmystudents."(Question33)

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33%

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42%

"Iwasgiventheopportunitytobealearningfacilitatorinsteadofamereinformation

provider."(Question30)

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8.2ResearchQuestion2Theparticipantsexpressedtheirsatisfactionandappreciationtotheresearcherforthewell-structuredandorganizedworkdone(Graph3).

Graph3They found the embedded videos appealing and the home and in-class activitiesapproachableandenjoyablebystudentsaddressingvariouslearningstylesandencouragingpairandgroupinteraction(Graph4).

Graph4Theaboveteachers’perceptionswereexpressedinthefollowingwords:

“Thematerialwasverywelldesignedandcarefully selected. Itworkedwellwithmy six graders. My group is quite low level, but they felt that they couldunderstandthematerialandworkquitewellwithit.”

0% 0%0%

75%

25%

"Thematerialwaswellstructuredandorganised."(Question55)

Stronglydisagree

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0% 0%

17%

58%

25%

"Theresourcesencouragedpairandgroupwork."(Question52)

Stronglydisagree

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ThemajorityoftheteachersdeliveredthelessonsabouttheShakespeareanplay“MidnightSummer’sDream” and theSimplePast tense.Theyspentmore thana45-minute teachinghour for each lesson, therefore, the overriding reason for not implementing all four FCAdesigned lessons was the limited time according to the syllabus and the deadline of thestudy.8.3.ResearchQuestion3Itisworthmentioningthatoutofthetwelveteachers,acoupleofthemdesignedtheirownFCAlessonsivupontheirstudents’demandwhilealmosthalfofthemcommittedthemselvestomakingsuchanattemptintheshortrun.

“Iamnowlookingforwardtodesigningrelevantmaterialmyselfforthefollowingschoolyear.”“Thank you for the experience-I will definitely keep using it and I’m thinking ofstartingfromthe5thgrade!”

Startingwiththeformer,theyusedexistingmaterial,suchasvideosandquizzes,whichwerefunny and simple. Once they prepared the necessary tasksheets, they shared them withtheir students and the rest of the teachers involved in this investigation. The particulargroup of teachers even expressed the desire to work collaboratively to design a flippedversionofthewhole6thgradetextbook.8.4.ResearchQuestion4The teachers reported that their studentswereengagedduring theFCA lessons (Graph5)havingnumerousopportunitiestocommunicatewithoneanother.

Graph5

iv“TheHistoryofanAeroplane”-Unit4-PastTensesLesson:padlet.com/panosevi111/k5phplgj8jxl

0% 0%

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58%

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"FCAkeptmystudentsengaged."(Question62)

Stronglydisagree

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Thelearnersmanagedtogainknowledgeofthesubjectmatterattheirownpaceathomeand proceeded to its application in class through engaging hands-on activities. The samepointswerealsohighlighted in theteachers’commentsappeared in theirblogsand in theFacebookinstantmessagingservice:

“Mystudentswereenthusiasticabouttheflippedclassroomlesson!Theylikedallthis idea of watching videos at home and doing exercises on their own! I willdefinitelytryitagain!"”“They all participated, they all got involved, they all raised their hands tocontribute,theyallappreciatedtheworkoftheirteammembers…”

Although they may have not saved time from homework since they watched the videosseveraltimes,theycompletedasignificantnumberoftasksathomeinsomecasesreachingapointofhomeworkcompletionmastery.

“Itmustbenotedthattherateofstudenthomeworkcompletionincreasedduringthecourseofthelessons.”

9.ResearchlimitationsBecauseofdifferentreasonswhyEFLteachersaroundGreecewerereluctanttoexperimentwithFCA,theresearchsamplesizewaslimited,soitmaynothavebeenatruereflectionofschool reality underpowering the results. Furthermore, the three-month-time, from lateJanuaryto lateApril, fortheconductionofthisactionresearchprojectwasconstrainedbytheduedateofthedissertationtoexamineits impactonTPDandstudents’AL.Asfortheresearchmethodinstrumentsandparticularly,theonlinequestionnaire,thetwelveteacherswere expected to answer all the questions. However, they skipped a number of themparticularly thoserequiringmoredescriptiveresponses.Therefore, itcouldbeallegedthattheresearchfindingswerepartlyincompletedistortingthevalidityoftheanalysis.Asfortheunstructureddiscussionsthroughsocialnetworkingservices,notallteachersheldFacebookaccounts or were familiar with TitanPads or Padlets, so they may have missed someimportant points raised. Finally, the fact that the involved teachers came from differentregions of Greece made it challenging for the researcher to take advantage of in-personinterviewsorclassroomobservations.10.RecommendationsforfutureresearchThefirstsuggestionmadewouldbetheresearchsampleexpansiontoawidernumberof6thgrade classes to ensure more extensive results in the future. To this end, EFL teachersworking inprimaryschoolshavetobeencouragedtodepart fromtheirdeeply-rootedandsometimesoutdatedteachingpracticesandthroughon-going,long-termteachereducationto be rendered into skilled and confident agents of innovation. Aware of what the FCAinnovation actually entails, they will be able to proceed to the careful organization andpreparationoftheirownFCAmaterialandthedesignoforiginalandappealingFCAlessons.It is also essential that amore extended time expansion of the research be ensured, forexample,onanannualbasistofullyunfoldthepotentialofthemethod.EFLteacherscouldbemoreflexiblewithflippingwithoutbeingintimidatedbyfixedtimetablesanddeadlines.In addition, concerning the research data collection and analysis, it would be wiser thatfuture researchersmake use ofmultiple research instruments such as individual in-depth


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interviews,structuredandnon-structuredinterviews,focusgroups(Yilmaz,2013,p.315)orsystematic classroom observations. Finally, teachers who hesitate to experiment withflippingbecause they cannothave full control overbefore-classhomeworkpreparationorbecause reliable and consistent Internet access at home cannot be ensured could try thealternativewayoftheIn-ClassFlipv.11.ConclusionThis research aimedat examiningwhether EFL teachers in the6th gradeofGreekprimaryschoolswerereadytointroducetheFCAinnovativeteachingmodelintheirpracticesaspartoftheirTPDandasameanstoestablishALintheirclasses.Theprevailingsenselefttotheresearcherwas thatEFLstate teachers treateducational innovationswith trepidation.Thefear of the unknown and the daily workload absorb most of teachers’ preparation andteachingtime.However,FCAhadagreatimpactontheparticipants’TPDduetothefactthattheybecamemoreflexibleandcompetentITusersandtheywerefamiliarizedwithawealthof educational online content appropriate for flipping. Equally importantwere the higherteacher-studentandstudent-studentinteractionandpracticethattookplaceinclassduetothe time saved by video presentations at home. In thisway, the learners’ autonomywasencouraged, that is, their AL rendering their teachers into learning facilitators instead ofinformationproviders.When evaluating the support FCA material designed by the researcher, the twelveparticipantsreportedthatitwaswell-structured,organizedandenjoyablealigningbothwithlearners’preferencesandhowFCAworks. In fact, somotivatedwereacoupleof teachersaftertheirinitialflippingexperiencethattheyembarkedondesigningtheirownFCAlessonsaccordingto theresearcher’sexpectations.Despite the limitations,FCAcanbeaworkablesolution against the everyday hurdles that EFL teachers face preventing them from beingprofessionallyandpersonallydeveloped.ReferencesAbeysekera,L.&Dawson,P.(2015).‘Motivationandcognitiveloadintheflippedclassroom:

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AppendixTechnologyConsiderationsbeforeFlipping

Ø VideoHostingTools

o YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/o TeacherTube:http://www.teachertube.com/o YouTubeEDU:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3yA8nDwraeOfnYfBWun83go BBCLearningEnglish:http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglisho FilmEnglish:http://film-english.com/o BrainPOP:https://www.brainpop.com/free-stuff/o CrashCourse:http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/crash-course/o EduTube:http://edutube.orgo EducationalVideos:http://www.educationalvideos.como GoEnglish.tv:https://goenglish.tv/o HistoryChannelOnline:http://www.history.com/videoso KhanAcademy:https://www.khanacademy.org/welcomeo NationalGeographyVideo:http://video.nationalgeographic.com/o NeoK12:http://www.neok12.com/o LearnEnglishKids:http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/o Photodentro:http://photodentro.edu.gr/lor/

Ø VideoInteractionTools

o TedEd:http://ed.ted.com/o WatchKnowLearn:http://watchknowlearn.org/o EduCanon:https://www.playposit.com/o OfficeMix:https://mix.office.com/en-us/Homeo EdPuzzle:https://edpuzzle.com/

Ø VideoCreationToolso ScreenFlow:http://www.telestream.net/screenflowo Jing:https://www.techsmith.com/jing.htmlo CamStudio:http://camstudio.orgo Screencast-o-matic:http://screencast-o-matic.com/homeo PowToons:https://www.powtoon.com/

Ø LearningManagementSystems

o EdModo:https://www.edmodo.com/?language=elo Moodle:https://moodle.orgo Schoology:https://www.schoology.com/


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Andriani-ChristinaRigoutsou([email protected])hasbeenworkinginPrimaryEducationintheregionofIliasince2003bothasasubstituteanda

permanentEnglishLanguageTeacher.In2012shestartedherMaster’sDegreeintheEnglishDepartmentoftheHellenicOpenUniversitywhichshecompletedinSeptember2017.Sheaspirestotakepartindifferenttrainingprogramsand

sessionswhichaimatpromotingteachers’professionaldevelopment.

Documents

Flipped classroom integration in Greek state primary