For those of us in education, the flipped classroom model has been one of those nirvana-like strategies that sounds great, works for savvy teachers, but, well, there is just so much to learn.

In reality, and done well, the flipped model can be both as efficient, in terms of teacher effort, as  it is effective. The model leverages students' preference for video/visual information and the true expertise of a teacher in guiding application and understanding in the classroom.

Based on contemporary neuroscience, we suggest a model of two mind states: the blue zone – where we are at our best – and the red zone where we operate well below our full capabilities.  In terms of our brain’s resources these two zones or mind states represent having our resources in the most modern parts of the brain, the blue zone, and having them in the more primitive parts, the red zone.

Teaching is a complex social activity, and while teacher training prepares teachers well around content expertise and delivery, very little is done to skill teachers in behaviour engagement. Behaviour engagement/management, in what is already a high-stress profession, remains one of the most significant stressors for teachers, yet little has been done systematically to solve the problem.

Recently I had an exciting glimpse of the NBT (next big thing) at the 2014 Digital Education Show Asia (KL, Malaysia), where Dr Adam Gazzaley presented some very interesting and engaging content around the intersection of neuroscience and gaming (something tells me that I'll be blogging a great deal of his work).