Flipgrid: Engage and Assess Students with Video

New educational technology often proposes to transform learning. Sometimes the useful features are inaccessible unless a subscriber pays a fee or purchases a premium account. Flipgrid has been available for a few years but has truly proved its effectiveness in the last year, and, unlike some other edtech, this application provides many benefits with the free version.

Flipgrid bills itself as a process for teachers and students to use video in ways students are already using this medium. Teachers present questions to students and ask them to record videos to respond - creating an online video discussion board. Users can use Chromebooks, smartphones, tablets or computers to access film and post videos and interact with the grid.

This is a group of developers that listens to educators. They just launched some changes to address educators' suggestions and requests. Teachers can now embed a video from YouTube or Vimeo to get a discussion started. Users can also attach all types of documents or links to supplement or begin discussion as well. They can use a Tweet, a Google Doc, a Word Doc or a file from OneDrive. Teachers can manage their student responses with the Dashboard and use the QuickView to provide feedback (with a custom rubric) and watch other students' replies.

 

Educators can embed or integrate Flipgrid with Blackboard, Edmodo, Google Classroom, Canvas and other learning management systems. Combining it with current technology is simple.

The idea behind the system is to give every student a voice and provide a way for all students to participate in discussion equally. Some educators use it as an assessment tool while others have students document their learning (think science labs) with the web-based application. Possibilities abound!

To learn more about Flipgrid, visit these helpful links.

Meet the All NEW Flipgrid! - a blog that clearly identifies and explains the platform

TONS of New Flipgrid Features - an easy overview of Flipgrid features and how to use them

How to Share a Video Using FlipGrid - a video tutorial