Title: Flipped Learning at Associated Credit Union
Author Name: Angela Davis
1. Introduction
There are four pillars to F-L-I-P: a flexible environment in flipped learning allows for a variety of learning modes; the learning culture allows the instruction to deliberately shift to a learner-centered approach, in which learners are actively involved in knowledge construction as they participate in and evaluate their learning in a personally meaningful manner; Intentional content maximizes instruction time to adopt methods of student-centered active learning strategies, the professional educator continuously observes their learners, providing them with feedback, and assessing their work.
In 2007, two science teachers in Colorado, Jon Bergmann and Aaron Sams, developed the flipped learning model, made their recorded lectures available for students viewing at home, and used classroom time for student consultation and problem-solving. The USSR was the first country to propose and implement this model. Over the years, flipped learning has gained popularity in primarily secondary education. (Reiser & Dempsey, 2018, p. 64-65, 195) Many of us may have never heard the concept of flipped learning or may not even have realized when we are training that flipped learning is the approach utilized. Flipped learning research is growing at a rate of 31.24% per year.
How is flipped learning defined? Flipped learning is a pedagogical approach in which direction moves from the group to the individual learning space, transforming the group space into a dynamic, interactive learning environment where the instructor guides students as they apply concepts and engage creatively in the subject. In short, the learners control their learning and have a recording to refer back to as a learning resource. This approach aims to be more of a learning-centered process. From research and various readings, flipped learning is the most common in the education sector, but I would like to explore further flipped learning in the business sector.
As a Learning and Development Specialist at Associated Credit Union, I realize that we use flipped learning to a certain extent in various training. Due to the wide range of content, our training methods consist of a blended approach because flipped learning is not a one-size-fits-all for our organization. I interviewed the Assistant Vice President, Annia Pereira, who leads the Learning and Development department at Associated Credit Union, currently pursuing her Master’s in Learning and Development at the University of Georgia. The questions used to develop the case are: Do you believe the flipped learning/classroom approach has become more prominent with the onset of Covid-19? How can we improve utilizing this method, whether having a knowledge-based Intranet impacted how the staff learns, and how the Learning and Development Team will continue to use flipped learning as a training approach?
2. Overview of the Case
Associated Credit Union is a financial institution that employs approximately 350 employees throughout its 21 locations and has a Learning and Development team of six, including the AVP. New Orientation occurs every three weeks, and company-wide training occurs on Wednesdays. The credit union opens an hour later to the public to host mandatory for all employees unless otherwise noted. Training is beneficial for this hour to ensure we are intentional at refreshing products and services and making sure we are completing all mandatory training required for a financial institution. With the onset of Covid-19, we had to transform our training from in-person to pre-recorded training due to not being able to gather and many individuals working from home. Below are the responses to the interview questions from Annia Pereira.
Do you think flipped learning has become more prominent in our training approach since the onset of Covid-19?
“Flipped learning has become more prominent at ACU due to the onset of Covid-19. Particularly with Wednesday Morning Training, our approach was to bring everyone into two classrooms, and the branches gathered around the television to watch our presentations. Our training was live presentations. However, we were unsure whether or not what the staff learned during these live training sessions was applied on the job.
We have flipped it where the team is now driving their learning because they are responsible for accessing the library to watch the videos. However, the interactive piece for collaboration is currently missing. What is helpful in a flipped learning approach is that you can still confirm that each staff member is learning through the 3-1-1 activities or 4-1-1 activities. At ACU, we didn’t have one platform for collaboration, and our LMS’s are segmented by need, such as BAI for compliance and regulation and the Show and Share Portal for all of our training recordings.
BAI has the collaboration available now, but it still does not have the space to have an interactive group activity. Covid-19 has awakened our perspective of how to execute flipped learning more effectively and intentionally. We had a flipped learning approach before covid, but the organizational culture at ACU was not quite there. For example, with WebEx Personal Rooms, before covid, we only had ten power users hosting meetings, and today a third of the organization can facilitate and host meetings. All users at ACU have needed to use virtual conferencing for collaboration quite often, with a majority of the staff working from home. The pandemic drove us faster to incorporate this because the culture at ACU is much so face-to-face.”
What are some ways we can improve the use of flipped learning?
“One example where we have room for improvement is facilitating new hire orientation. For instance, we can let the learners read the material, not entirely listening to a lecture the entire day. Having the learners collaborate through smaller activities what they have learned. For example, the new accounts section is very robust. As an alternative to a facilitator lecturing the content the entire time, the material could be available as a takeaway for them to read for homework to have a 5-minute review the next day. Another alternative is to have an activity, for instance, what type of account could you offer this member, and as part of the process, if there are gaps that need further explanation, that is where the instruction would come in. Those alternatives, as mentioned earlier, would allow the learning to be more conversational versus lecturing.
The Learning and Development team records a Workflow Ninja Series one Wednesday Morning Training each month. The learning series could be broken into shorter modules, such as four weeks, or focus on essential workflows rather than all of them. We can have these loaded, and the staff would have an interactive activity to collaborate on when to use the workflow. However, with these examples, I could think of many more. Still, I don’t believe the staff is prepared to perform at this level, and everyone on the team currently does not have the foundation of the methodologies that we are learning now in our programs. We would have to teach this to the staff and the Learning and Development Team before implementing flipped learning wholly to the organization for them to understand the benefits.”
How has having a knowledge-based Intranet impacted the learning for the staff?
“We would have had a tough time sending people to work from home without a knowledge-based Intranet as an organization. The knowledge base has done several things for ACU. First, it is an extension of your team away from your team. I mean by this, for example, the member service team relies on their leads to answer some of the questions they may have, but the Intranet allows them to search readily on the Intranet. Having a knowledge-based Intranet has brought consistency in training documentation to be a step-by-step process, so it is convenient for our users. Secondly, it will enable us to collaborate on information for every department to allow for career advancement opportunities for lifelong learners to research information they are willing to learn. The final impact is the ease of use and convenience at our staff’s fingertips because they seek something they want to know.”
How will the Learning and Development Team continue to use flipped learning as a training approach?
“When it comes to our classrooms and approach to training, evidence shows that people learn better when there is something in it for them. Whether it is their love for learning or their desire to grow, there is a lot of value in allowing our learners to drive their bus and their knowledge. What they learn is invaluable and advantageous to the staff. I see us implementing this approach more in new hire orientation, but it will take time for Wednesday Morning Training to evolve.”
3. Solutions Implemented
Associated Credit Union implemented the staff to watch the training through the Show and Share Portal, a library that houses ACU training modules. Each training module has a PowerPoint presentation, job aid, FAQs, and step-by-step instructions loaded on the Intranet for all users to obtain. Since the pandemic, the flipped learning approach has been effective because managers can refer their teams to the recording and the Intranet to review the information when questions arise. The Learning and Development team has access to validate if the staff has viewed the recording and whether they completed the recording to share with management in cases where an individual is not performing because they failed to watch the training.
4. Outcomes
The executive and management team has placed the ownership of learning and advancement opportunities in the hands of the staff. There are many opportunities to learn and grow, but ACU staff must be driven to use the tools and resources readily available to increase their knowledge, skills, and abilities. With many ACU staff working from home, they have to be self-driven learners for flipped learning to be effective. Flipped learning will allow the staff to work at their own pace throughout their workday.
At Associated Credit Union implementing a way to interact with their peers across the organization will have meaningful and desired effects. The collaboration will have viewpoints from various individuals rather than management or facilitators, which will provide a different perspective. Although interpretations may differ, the facilitator is always there to validate their responses. A tool for future enhancements may be utilizing a feedback tool like Feedback Fruits.
5. Implications
Associated Credit Union realizes that the staff must understand the need and reasoning for flipped learning to be effective. The organization is not fully ready to implement flipped learning for Wednesday Morning Training, but there is an opportunity in the future. Concerning K-12 or higher education, the flipped learning approach in a corporate setting takes more time and dedication because the staff is not always in a classroom. They have to carry out their day-to-day job duties, and they may become more disengaged completing Wednesday Morning Training independently. However, this approach will work in the new hire orientation classroom setting. The primary implication would be on the training team to develop flipped learning content.
References:
Reiser, R. & Dempsey, J. (2018). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (4th ed.)
Anni Pereira, AVP at Associated Credit Union
Additional Flipped Learning Resources:
How much research has been done on flipped learning-2021 update
Flipped learning can be a key to transforming teaching and learning post-pandemic
Youtube-What is flipped learning
Youtube-Challenges to Flipped Learning
Pre-pandemic studies about the flipped classroom