For decades, lecture-based instruction has been how teachers were taught to teach. It goes something like this: Stand at the front… deliver content… cross your fingers that it sticks.
But today’s classrooms have completely different needs – with fragmented attention, students crave participation and a chance to relate to the curriculum, not passivity.
Recognizing this shift forces you to acknowledge that active learning matters more than ever. We’re no longer in the pre-pandemic world where students hadn’t experienced remote learning or greater exposure to devices. We’re in a post-pandemic world, where students are expected to perform better and educators have been stretched thinner.
Now, the right question isn’t whether lectures still work so much as it is whether they’re still the best use of limited instructional time. That’s where the flipped classroom model (and this episode) comes in.
Listen to the full episode now:
Why did the lecture die, really?
As Michael put it, “the lecture didn’t die because the teachers failed. It died because students are capable of so much more than sitting still.”
One of the biggest shifts Michael described was the process of moving away from being the sole source of information. Instead of directing learning from the sidelines, he currently designs experiences where students do the heavy lifting. They collaborate, create, and discover together. That keeps them engaged, and when they’re engaged, they’re naturally focused on and excited about learning (rather than goofing off to stay entertained).
That also means:
- Fewer interruptions during small-group instruction
- Clearer expectations for students
- More autonomy and ownership over learning
Addressing misconceptions about flipped classrooms
A common misunderstanding among educators is that flipped classrooms are just about giving homework to watch a video so you can build on it with your lecture. While video-watching can certainly be incorporated into flipped classroom learning, it’s so much more than that.
For Michael, flipped learning isn’t about sending lectures home or repackaging them. The real value is the time it frees up inside the classroom. He applies a mindset of using videos to record instructions and FAQs in video so students have consistent resources for their assignments, without having to have him answer the questions directly. When talking about a specific example of when he used this approach, he added, “It wasn’t the information… it was directions on how to learn the information.”
By moving directions, expectations, and repeated explanations into short videos, teachers can use classroom time to facilitate activities that apply the curriculum students are learning. Teachers spend more time coaching and working with students in meaningful ways, making information stick and concepts come alive.
Garnering support from leadership
While Michael felt like he had the support of his leadership team when he was trying out new tech strategies in the classroom, not every educator has that. Trying new approaches can feel risky to some teams – especially schools with strict curriculum or those that face a lot of test-score pressure. Michael’s advice: lead with data.
When educators can show where students started, what changed, and how engagement improved, innovation becomes defensible. Data turns experimentation into evidence and helps administrators see flipped learning not as a gamble, but as a strategic move.
Reclaiming your classroom
“If something saves you time or gives you extra time in a teacher’s day, what teacher wouldn’t want to do that?” asked Michael, rhetorically.
Educators today are using their agency to protect their time so they don’t burn out, and flipped classroom strategies provide a myriad of ideas they can use to make it possible. It’s not a silver bullet, but it does give teachers another tool to drive learning that actually sticks.
Want more conversations like this? Subscribe to The Lecture is Dead Podcast for bi-weekly episodes.
Then, make sure to join the Lecture is Dead active learning community to dig into active learning ideas and related resources you can actually use in your classroom.S