Peter Smythe has often been accused of being a little back-to-front, confused or perhaps even ''flipped out'' in class. Why?
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Because the year 11 mathematics teacher at Gungahlin College has the concept of ''classwork'' and ''homework'' back-to-front.
Every day he sends his students a series of YouTube links to self-recorded videos of himself lecturing and asks them to study the clips at home.
Then, in class, he asks them to pull out their homework and work through all the exercises associated with last night's ''lesson''.
It might all sound a little strange, but the concept of the ''flipped classroom'' is being celebrated as a ''eureka moment'' by educators across the world.
Portable technology and high-speed internet have bred a generation used to accessing information anywhere, anytime and teachers see no reason why they shouldn't join the trend.
Mr Smythe said students could watch his video clips on their iPods, smartphones and laptops between classes, on the bus or lying in bed at home, leaving classroom time to be dedicated to learning.
''We're used to a system where teachers lecture in class then ask students to go home and practise with exercises for homework, but that seems a bit weird to me,'' he said.
''If you were a sports coach you wouldn't say: 'Go home and practise your skills where I can't see you, help you or intervene'.
''By having videos to replace me talking in class, I can devote all the time we've got in class to helping the students with the areas [in which] they are struggling.''
The ''flipped classroom'' method was introduced to Gungahlin College students last year and Mr Smythe has been amazed by the results.
Feedback surveys suggest his students stop, pause, fast-forward, rewind and repeat his lectures several times - some even watch them backwards. A number of students have worked through the lectures together via online chat networks and many separate themselves into groups in class according to ability level.
The results have been so astounding that Mr Smythe was recently named runner-up in the Microsoft Asia Pacific Partners in Learning awards in the category of ''knowledge building and critical thinking''.
Mr Smythe admitted the method separated his class, with some students surging ahead while others fell slightly behind. But he was confident it was a beneficial style for all his students.
''There will always be students who hit a barrier in your lessons but the problem with traditional teaching is that we can't always wait for them to get over that barrier, so we just surge ahead,'' he said. ''By giving these students time to get over that hurdle - which they can do by pausing and revisiting the clip - research has shown they can get over that hurdle, excel and catch up.
''At the end of the day, that is what our job is all about.''
