Abstract:

The Net, Web 2.0 and the new technologies and tools allow us to be constantly online, suggesting new paradigms that involve aspect of sociology and communication; in fact, learning methodology, as well, is affected by this wind of change.

Flipped classroom methodology (Bergmann, Sams, 2012) is currently riding the wave of success in Higher Education and Distance Learning: it consists in a sort of an “upside down” way of teaching, comparing to the “traditional” one, where the student is personally involved into the learning process by giving him/her the responsibility of researching, comparing, contrasting concepts and ideas. The student takes an active role during the lesson in class and at home, when s/he prepares some material that can be useful for the lesson time (Maglioni, Biscaro, 2012).

Moreover, the method promotes an extreme individualization of the learning process since the student is able to choose his/her personal rhythm of learning and his/her style of knowledge acquisition, pointing the accent on the well-known (and sometimes abused) Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory (Gardner, 1983).

In this contribution, an experimental session of language lessons will be presented. Since the “flipped classroom” method seems to fit the way of teaching and learning a second language, we will present the structure, methodology, technical tools and initial results of two different educational contexts: a university, online context of Italian for foreigner courses at beginner and false beginner levels, and a K12, absolute beginner, Italian for foreigner course.

Such results will endorse a deeper reflection on how the method can be applied in K12 and Higher Education and will suggest some future developments.

Keywords:

Flipped-classroom, education.