Flipping classes is an important idea and concept and has much merit. I loved my tutorials at university, which revolved around that idea. With that said…it was a tutorial, not a class. The demand and expectations are different and traditional pedagogical strategies would have to be rewritten in order to make “learning visible” (like transparent understanding and quality classroom discourse) and deal with “attendance” (like accountability or active participation) issues. I am quite pro on the flipping of classes, but after preparing for the debate I understand the criticism more.
Costs are a big issue, and while, i believe, in the long run the financial costs associated with flipping classrooms will diminish and be recouped, there are many other costs that must taken into account. Due to the limited aspect of a non-interactive video of limited functionality and capability there will be technological advances and accessibility issues revolving around them in the field of flipping that will involve apps, multiple platforms, learning management systems, comparability, copy rights, availability, open (plethora of garbage) vs. closed (expensive) sources, textbooks and so on.
Regardless, it is an important aspect that an independent adult should experience before graduating K-12 and making that lifelong choice to turn away (turn off and disengage) from the pursuit of life-long learning and academic engagement. Since many who have never attended university would never know that other formats exist in which they might thrive in. So yes, there are problems, and yes children will be children and might not be able to fully grasp the opportunity of what is being handed to them, but they might (probably) not get that from the classroom either. Therefore, we owe them that window.
