Video Use in the Classroom: EdPuzzle & Playposit

Video in the classroom is nothing new. Videos are engaging and spark interest and learning in our students and have a distinct advantage of not being our voice (😝)! The way in which video is delivered however has changed. Gone are the days in which the only was was to wheel in the big TV strapped to the media cart to a place where most can see. Popping in the VCR (remember those?? Whoever has one still....you're amazing!) that documentary you recorded 7 summers ago. Not anymore. Technology has progressed where we can deliver self-paced, engaging video-based curriculum that allows us to assess our students' understanding in real time.

Two resources I love to talk about to achieve these ends are EdPuzzle and Playposit. Both are constructed similarly, have benefits over the other, and are excellent tools to utilize in the 21st century classroom. If you use video in the classroom (whether for classwork or homework) it's not enough to say "watch this video and take notes" - students need direction in order to get the most out of your curated resource.

Check out more after the jump!

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.

Apps I'm Into: Blended Learning, Guided Reading, & Student Organization

Just a quick rundown of some apps I've been looking at in the past few weeks. I get very Google-centric here because of their vast array of resources and the availability of them, but it's important to remember there are amazing #EdTech resources outside of the Google realm. All three of these resources are designed to be for any curriculum. They are tools every class can use as apart of their repertoire.

TES Teach with Blend Space

This is a favorite of a lot of people in the EdTech world. For Blended Learning purposes (think flipped but not completely), this resource is a big one. You can house a series of steps for your students all in one easy to navigate, and use, hub for a self-contained lesson. Add content (documents, video, images, etc.) from your computer or the web, and provide guidance for students. The resource is shareable and embed-able (as you can see below) and makes complex tasks with numerous steps easy for students to grasp.



A link to the above file if you'd like to see it in a new tab:
https://www.tes.com/lessons/C9C0J3u6cp4OPQ/rise-of-fascism-dbq-prep 

Actively Learn

I'm a huge fan of EdPuzzle for videos (forces students to answer questions about the video before proceeding) and Actively Learn works very similarly but with articles and primary source documents. Have students answer questions as they read as part of their check for understanding. Want them to discuss items while they are reading (What? Thinking...while they are reading?), create the space for them. Want them to take a poll within the document at any place to gauge their opinions or understanding? Well....lets' do that!! It's one of those products that asks you to create a classroom and have students sign into it. But it is well worth it. Ken Buck at NU has been giving it a go as of late and he reports its an excellent resource for Primary Source documents and his students' understanding of them. There are a ton of features and options and Actively Learn walks you through the process in an easy to understand way.

With Actively Learn, you set the pace with students, get them to answer all the questions in a rich manner, and allow for a deeper understanding of course material. After clicking, "Read More" check out the pic and gifs on how this looks for the student.