After taking the Flipgrid beginner course, I learned that Flipgrid is an online platform that educators, learners, and families can use to communicate through videos. In Flipgrid, an educator can create a group and add students or guests to their group. You can create an unlimited amount of groups! Then, within each group, you can create a topic which is a prompt for your group to answer. You can also create an unlimited amount of topics! You can add in a description, other videos, links, gifs, or files for the people in your group to refer to before answering your prompt. Then, your learners create a short video that answers the prompt. They can record themselves, their screen, or a combination of both. Then they post their videos!
This is a great resource for educators and learners alike because it allows learners to interact and communicate with each other through videos. During online learning, it is especially important to find ways for students to feel like they are part of a community and to learn from other people within that community. Students can watch other students' videos and learn from them; teachers can watch their students' videos and leave feedback to develop their understanding of a concept. In my classroom, I plan to use Flipgrid for quick 30 second warm ups, short 5 minute explanations of a topic or short stories, or longer presentations (up to 10 minutes). My favorite thing about Flipgrid is that it allows students to be creative and show part of their personality while still learning!
Other Takeaways: - Flipgrid can help educators see and hear from every student. - This video platform is an easy way to engage students. - Make sure to walk your students through the process so that they clearly understand how to record videos before you give them an assignment! - Some ideas on how to use Flipgrid for elementary school kids are science fairs, family career day, or fluency and phonics. - Some ideas for secondary school are reflections, about me videos, or peer-to-peer feedback.