In a teacher education institute in Malaysia, blended learning is considered as a strategic and effective learning instruction with unique features to help improve student-teacher's discussion skills, improve their communities of practice, and achieve their course purposes. One of the tools of blended learning is flipped classroom. Flipped classroom should be implemented especially among student teachers. The definition of flipped classroom was explained in detail, and furthermore, flipped classroom activities are based on social and cognitive constructivist theory that is suitable to be implemented in teacher education institutions in Malaysia because it is student-centered and involved students actively during the learning process. A research done in one of the teacher education institutions was discussed to find out the effect of flipped classroom in achievement history test and motivation among the 20 student teachers who enrolled for Early European History until 21st Century as one of their major papers.
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The role of teachers is increasingly challenging and they need to prepare for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4.0) or risk being left behind. The rapid development of technology requires a paradigm shift among teachers. Are teachers ready for a generation of students who are digital natives? We need teachers who are committed to forming new pedagogical tools and adapting to new teaching methods (Goh, 2017). Thus, it is expected that our teacher education institute should focus on teacher training programs that need to be in line with current developments and be updated with new technology to equip student teachers with tools to face this new age.The role of teachers as the main source of knowledge and information may be irrelevant today as teaching and learning now emphasise on creativity and innovation. Teaching and learning for student teachers should focus more on active learning, project-based learning, problem-solving and inquiry with opportunities to engage with the real world should be a practice and to improve their overall lack of engagement, in class. As future teachers, student teachers should be given the freedom to customise their learning process through blended learning, flipped classroom and Bring Your Own Device. It is to make them realise the importance of to adapt they are teaching to students’ interest and abilities. Learning is not only concentrated in the classroom, but can also happen anywhere, at home, workplace and even at the bus stop. Baeten et al. (2010) strongly believes that student intrinsic motivation increases in a constructivist learning environment, but have not indicated if student motivation mediates achievement in a learning environment such as the flipped classroom.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution powered by the Internet of Things will have an effect on every aspect of our lives including learning and teaching methods at Malaysia’s Teacher Education Institute. . The education system worldwide has to transform for the imminent FIR as the job market will be largely prompted by the advancement of digital economy, robotics, artificial intelligences and automation technology. According to Gleason (2018), institutes of Higher Education must work to reinforce the higher order thinking that is needed in the FIR. Lewis (2018) posited that the ability to learn new skills, accept new approaches, and cope with continual social change will be essential in the FIR.
Blended learning is actually one of the techniques that is assisted through mixeds media modern technology and also can easily produce student teachers of the 21st century. Hybrid mix-learning, blended learning, and discovering are likewise inclusive in blended discovering. The principle of blended knowing combines the traditional learning model with interactive media devices to create a combined setting finding out where students learn with direct active discovering in the classroom while it is actually incorporated with various other components including on the internet understanding outside the class. Students are going to be much more proactively entailed throughout the finding out procedure so they may seek much better methods of discovering that matches them thus that they can participate in the dual-way method to the greatest of their capacities. The task of a instructor is merely as a facilitator and negotiator who produce a favourable learning setting for the learning procedure.
Interaction between the teacher and the student remains in a two-way direction whereby the student and also the teacher can share knowledge to allow an efficient understanding method. The Blended Learning concept will include the typical discovering method through its own usage. Poon (2014) pressured that combined discovering is a mix in between classroom activities as well as internet learning adventures outside the course. The principal concentration of blended learning is also the integration in between learning in person and on-line learning as well as it has its own benefit which is actually to create the understanding process much more affordable.