Blog Post 3: Flipgrid

 Blog Post 3: Flip

https://info.flip.com/

       

This blog entry is about Flip, previously called Flipgrid, a tool from Dr. Wang's PPT about previous T3PP results. It is one of my technologies from the Google vs. Microsoft Technologies slide. Flip is a video-sharing and video discussion platform made by Microsoft, specifically for students and educators. With Flip, teachers can create a private group and invite their students to join. You can then create a topic or a subject to assign your students to respond to with either a video, an audio recording, or just a text post. Students can record a video or audio right in the platform, and then edit and upload it directly onto the discussion board. After a post is made, the teacher and fellow students can view and comment on each video that has been created. It is a great tool to use for students to connect with each other and with lesson content in a more personal way. 

    Flip is very easy to use. It has one main dashboard for your class where you can access all the discussion topics that have been posted and assigned. You can then click on each board, read the prompt, and create your video or audio response. All the responses appear in the board where you can view and comment on them super easily. It is a pretty basic interface which makes it super simple to use. The home page that contains links to every discussion board makes it quick and painless to find what you are looking for. Included is a sample home dashboard to show how nicely laid out and navigable it is. I think this would probably be best for grades 2nd and up since it does require some very basic knowledge of recording and uploading videos, as well as has some more advanced features like video editing. 
        For versatility, Flip is very in the middle. It pretty much is exclusively a video discussion site, it does not do much else when it comes to assignments or virtual classrooms wise. However, it does exactly what it is intended to do and in a very effective way. I do like the students having the option to record a video or just an audio recording since not all students are super comfortable showing their faces on camera. It also does have commenting and replying features that allow students to interact with each other even more, so that is an additional positive. Besides that, it could be more cohesive if it had a feature that allowed you to assign due dates or other classroom features. But overall, I think it is very effective at what it is supposed to do!

        When it comes to my overall likelihood of using it in my classroom, I think it would be a great tool if we ever had to go back to virtual learning. It is a more personal and interactive way of having online discussions, and I really like that. Just for my general classroom use, I am not sure I'd use this on an everyday or weekly basis. It might be a fun thing to use every now and then for homework assignments, but probably not often. In relation to course material, this could fit into event 5 of the 7 Event Framework as a tool to check for understanding. I can see myself asking students to make videos discussing the most important thing they learned to make sure they grasp the main points, or them demonstrating a skill from the lesson. If I ever want an interactive way for my students to have an out-of-class discussion or a way to share their thoughts and ideas, I will keep Flip in mind! 

Flip Tutorial for Teachers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLzX13jw7bw