« Back to Newsletter Home Page

Federal Highway Administration’s Distance Learning Flipped Classroom Pilot Program

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), an agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation, supports state and local governments in the design, construction, and maintenance of the nation’s highway system (Federal-aid Highway Program) and various federal and tribal owned lands (Federal Lands Highway Program). Through financial and technical assistance to state and local governments, the FHWA is responsible for ensuring that America’s roads and highways continue to be among the safest and most technologically sound in the world.

Recently, the FHWA Operations Discipline instituted a virtual distance learning approach for the continued professional development of all staff members that resulted in piloting a “flipped-classroom” approach with its Corridor Management Approach to Operations training course.

The FHWA's “flipped classroom” approach allowed participants to watch short videos (less than 10 minutes each) and participate in scenario-based online discussions. Participants then joined live online webinar sessions to discuss what they had learned, as well as their on-the-job experience of the subject matter, with experts and colleagues from across the country. This rhythm of self-study, group-based online discussion, and live facilitated online dialogue occurred over the course of three consecutive weeks.

Each week, course participants engaged in the following learning activities:

• Viewed recorded learning vignettes (short, 10-minute or less videos) to introduce key concepts.
• Engaged in asynchronous discussions and activities with other learners based on real-world case studies.
• Participated in a synchronous, 60-minute, facilitated discussion with SMEs and peers to reinforce key concepts and provide opportunities for participants to ask questions and share best practices.
• Completed quizzes to measure knowledge, retention, and content alignment to objectives as well as to gain real-time feedback to adjust the learning design to participants' needs.

The course was built and delivered with an agile learning approach, developing learning outlines, validating them with key government stakeholders, and building prototypes of content before launching the final version to course participants.

In total, the target audience included approximately 110 Division Specialists located in nationwide, regional offices, up from a high of 60-70 participants in the webinars. Participant experience ranged from Novice (0-2 years) to Expert (10-plus years).

Given the seniority of some audience members, the flipped classroom approach capitalized on their experiences in overseeing complex corridor management projects by allowing more time for them to share their in-the-trenches experience with colleagues – a hallmark of flipped classroom knowledge sharing.

Based on both formative and summative evaluation results, participants provided the following feedback:

• 94% said “the instructors were effective in conveying course information”
• 83% said “there was enough interaction to keep me engaged throughout the course”
• 87% said “the content will be valuable in helping me to implement Corridor Management in my division“

In addition to the weekly polls, participants were asked to provide summative feedback in a final course evaluation within one week of course completion. This evaluation was developed to measure each respondents overall learning experience. Participants provided the following feedback:

• 85% said the live webinars were effective or highly effective
• 85% said the online discussions were effective or highly effective

With the success of this pilot project, key stakeholders and senior leaders in the FHWA Operations Discipline have committed to expanding this pilot to other courses within the agency.

Government Learning Technology Symposium

The Government Learning Technology Symposium (GLTS), co-located with the Government Video Conference & Expo (GV EXPO), is sponsored by the Federal Government Distance Learning Association (FGDLA) and includes two days of consecutive sessions covering such topics as instructional design and the ADDIE ISD model, gaming, mobile learning, instructional design basics, video and animation design for distance learning, and LMS integration.

The FGDLA is also sponsoring a Learning Technologies Arena on the Expo floor, as well as hosting its annual awards ceremony recognizing federal government agencies and organizations for excellence in distance learning. Click here for more information

The 2016 GV EXPO and GLTS will be held at the Washington D.C. Convention Center, Dec. 6-8, 2016. The GV EXPO is the East Coast’s largest technology event designed for video, broadcast, and AV professionals, and there is no registration fee to attend the EXPO and FGDLA sessions...it's FREE!

The FGDLA is proud to announce that it is re-launching the GLTS in 2016. The FGDLA is aligning GLTS with NewBay Media’s Government Video EXPO and Government Video magazine to make it an integral part of the 2016 GV EXPO. The vision of the FGDLA is to continue the prior success of the GLTS and establish it as an annual conference in the Washington, D.C. Metro area focusing on distance learning in the federal government.

In 1998, a group of federal agency representatives held the GLTS at Gallaudet University’s Kellogg Center, Washington, D.C. Those representatives worked for agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the U.S. Air Force, and the Departments of Agriculture (USDA), Energy (DOE), and Veterans Affairs (VA). Representatives of the supporting federal government agencies planned the symposium, and the Graduate School, USDA, coordinated conference logistics. The purpose of the symposium was to create a venue in the Washington D.C. Metro area to network and share best practices concerning distance learning in the federal government.

The two-day symposium featured 36 presentations and was attended by more than 250 people from 35 federal agencies. The symposium published proceedings and made attendee lists available to all federal government participants. This was a grassroots effort rather than an officially sponsored federal government event. Due to the lack of sponsorship and financial resources, the last GLTS Symposium was held in 2001.

Today, the FGDLA plans to reignite the vision of GLTS and establish it as a meaningful and relevant part of the Government Video Expo and to be the premiere federal government distance learning conference in the Washington D.C. Metro area.