Student teach to learn' model clicks in Telangana state

Hyderabad: Flipped learning methodology, an active learner-centric method, is being adopted by educational institutions in Telangana state, wherein a student prepares and learns with the guidance of a teacher.

This method is already in place in some foreign countries. Experts say this method helps students increase their skill sets as a whole. A few institutions that have introduced this method include Telangana social welfare residential schools, Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge and Technologies and some of the international schools like Oakridge.

In flipped learning method, students get a break from monotonous teaching sessions unlike the traditional teaching method, and they can teach their classmates with the help of technology.

According to Dr Sanghamitra P. Bhattacharjee, a paediatric surgeon, “A flipped classroom activity makes a learner take ownership of their learning. It helps them analyse content from their perspective and also while preparing the presentation, work on most lucid strategies to explain the content. In the process of follow up discussions, a learner and the class at large get more clarity of the concept being discussed.”

However, when it comes to Telangana state, the method is still in the experimental stage and the process is being slightly modified based on the conditions.

When it comes to social welfare residential schools, this is in place in certain campuses as a pilot project since last year. Here, students are given handouts and online content such as videos during evening study hours and asked to prepare for the next day, based on the information they are provided with.

Students will prepare and present it to the entire class the next day using technology. As of now the method is being implemented in classes 8, 9 and 10 at the school-level and in some Intermediate and degree colleges.

A trainer of flipped learning method from a residential school, Mr B. Seetha Manohar Rao, said, “This method is in fact helping students improve their communicative and expressive skills. And the student invests more time and concentration to engage his fellow classmates. Many students are coming forward to discuss and are contributing to the topic with multiple angles and insights.”

“We are planning to come up with freedom schools, from next year, in some campuses where we will give students not only academic but also administrative freedom. Our students will be teachers and administrators all by themselves by dividing work among themselves. They will be handling everything based on the guidance of supervisors,” said, Mr S. Praveen Kumar, secretary, Telangana Social Welfare Residential schools.