Using Mashup and Web 2.0 to Foster Inquiry-Based Flipped Classroom in Online Teaching of Technical Curriculum: A Case Study

With the unrivalled advances in information and communication technologies, teaching and learning methods have substantially evolved over years. This has led to several novel and creative ideas and thoughts, making several channels available for gaining knowledge of academic curricula as well as post-graduate career development. In this paper, we share our experience on a case study for shifting the traditional approach of teaching a course on Web Application Engineering and Development, which is a commonly-populated regularly-offered course on most software engineering, computer science, and information technology related programs in many worldwide universities. The course material and assessment methods are redesigned to foster more active and collaborative social learning. The instructor's role has changed to act as a coach guiding students to gain the required knowledge and achieve the expected learning outcomes through inquiry-based learning using mashup and Web 2.0 technologies to engage students, deal with student differences and mange their communications. The described approach has been approved as part of an innovative teaching initiative program at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia, for online classes during the global pandemic of COVID-19 coronavirus. This paper also shares the instructor's and students' perspectives on comparing virtual classrooms to traditional face-to-face classrooms.