Flipgrid: Cool App to Amplify Student Voice

I'm always coming across really innovative #EdTech resources in my role. Always thinking of ways I'd use this app or that program in the classroom. Vetting these products is difficult without a traditional classroom to test them out with students on, but sometimes some products are seamless and I can see instantly how useful and easy they could be to implement. Flipgrid is one of those those resources.

Flipgrid is a web application that works on any device and all browsers. It's a discussion platform that can be used as back channel chats, in-class discussions, and definitely should be a necessity for those flipping the classroom! You issue the topic on which the students are to discuss, and they record their response via video message. Now I know not everyone likes to be on video, but our students are somewhat comfortable with the idea in their social lives. And that's their pitch: Flipgrid argues that students are using video to project their voice with their peers and social media followers, so we should leverage that for educational purposes!

What my "Grid" looks like 

With a free account, you have the ability to set up one "grid" with an unlimited number of topics you can create for your students to respond to. You set the settings for your topic (moderating responses, privacy, etc.) and can include text and video as a stimulus for the topic. You can push out your entire grid to students, just the topic url, or a topic code that they can plug in on any device. Their response is then recorded by them on a webcam (either on their mobile device or laptop) and posted as a response for the topic. All responses are able to be seen with those that have responded or have access to your topic. Each response also has a transcript associated with their post. The premium version allows for you to assess the students' responses and students to respond and comment on video responses which I think are really cool features. That upgrade is $65/year if you can swing it.

You as a teacher can share it via link, QR code, or embed it on any site (mine is below). When you and others go to view the responses by others (on a laptop) a window pops up and you're able to play the response and read the transcript if need be. On a mobile device, the response opens up as it's own screen view. The topic I created would be one if I were teaching a Government class and we were looking at current events. I recorded my response to my topic (as if I were a student) on my iPhone after I downloaded the free app. It all was quite easy on both ends (creation of the topic and recording a response) and didn't take long to go from idea to it being live.

If you'd like to see a grid that has a number of responses, check out the KQED Do Now Flipgrid.

Give Flipgrid a go if you're interested. If you're on the fence, respond to my topic below (just click the link on the top right corner) and leave a video response to the question to see how it all works. It's a handy little tool that I think could get students to express their ideas in a user-friendly and familiar way.

Resources for Subjects: Tech Resources to Check out

I know this post won't cover every subject, but I'm hoping that it will have a little something for everyone. You may even find some use in some resources geared towards other subjects. Let me know if there is something specific that you need in your classroom. I'd love to work with you and help in any way I can.

Across Curriculum

• Peer Grade - Peer feedback on assignments has never been easier. Collect work and redistribute to students for peer review. Complete with backend data for the teacher to analyze peer feedback
• mysimpleslideshow - Create a script for a story and let the resource find images automatically that flow with your script. Narrate the story or have a computer-generated voice do it for you
• ELink - Curate any type of resource into a slick looking website or embed-able resource for students. Students could also use it to collect resources on a given topic 

ELA

• CommonLit - Library of informational texts with questions to gauge understanding and media to facilitate deeper learning

SAT/ACT Prep

• PrepFactory: Helps students identify what types of questions will be asked on the SAT & ACT using interactive and engaging activities and games

Social Science

• Hexagonal Thinking Approach - The idea with this tool/activity is to get students to categorize events and concepts related to an overall subject (Think "Causes of WWII" as the subject and political events like the "Munich Agreement" could be an event), you can push your students to identify links between events, and also establish priority over other events. An excellent explanation of this process can be found here. Creating Visual Hexagons is a visual twist on this concept as well that can be done in Google Drawing or Slides. 

Maths

• g(Math) add on - easily create graphs, equations and other needs for the Maths class with this add on for Docs & Sheets. g(Math) also has a Google Forms add-on for your formative assessment needs! See the gif below to get yours

Science/STEM

• The Concord Consortium - a collection of classroom activities and simulations that can be filtered by grade level and subject

Physical Education

• 14 Ways to use Google Forms in Physical Education - Google Forms is a great way to collect info, assess learning, and even to identify areas of need for your students

Performing Arts

• Soundtrap - Originally created for music industry artists, this web-based music producing service is user-friendly and allows students in many different performing arts get to use their voice to produce their works

Visual Arts

• Google Arts & Culture - a repository of artistic work from around the world spanning thousands of years of history