Virtual Flipped Classroom: An Approach Transforming Online Learning In Indian Higher Education

Abstract

Calamities come with their challenges but also bring opportunities for transformation. Similarly, COVID-19 has pushed the world to find innovative strategies for coping with the "new normal." An immediate and productive response to this calamity was to go digital. Developing robust online platforms became the need of the hour to offer continuity in the teaching-learning process. Therefore, in this paper, researchers explored how the Virtual Flipped-classroom strategy supported the higher education system during lockdown when all educational institutions were temporarily closed. This experimental study was conducted on 50 students of M.Ed. at "Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak" using a true experimental design. The control group was given instructions through virtual one-on-one interaction, and the experimental group was taught using a virtual flipped classroom. Findings indicated a significant difference in the learning outcomes favouring the Virtual Flipped Classroom. The paper's findings aim to facilitate the teaching community to incorporate the Virtual Flipped Classroom Approach by adopting a hybrid model that integrates online learning and face-to-face teaching. It can also motivate teachers to embrace technology to better their teaching methods and grasp how the virtual classroom can provide students with new learning opportunities.