by patrick murphy, senior lecturer in the department of spanish & portuguese<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a>flipgrid<\/strong> is a free online video tool from microsoft that allows students to record video for up to 10 minutes.\u00a0 it has a lot of fun visual effects as well as intuitive assessment and feedback options that can be included in rubric evaluation and grading components.\u00a0 when i came to the realization that i would be teaching my classes completely online for the remainder of the term, i really wanted to utilize the tech tools my students already knew to minimize new training that would be necessary and to ease that burden in class.\u00a0 fortunately, for my classes, flipgrid was in our repertoire before the pandemic, but let me assure you, this is one tool easily integrated to any class really at any time.\u00a0 it is extremely user friendly and requires very little technological skill to set up and execute.<\/p>\n

i have been using flipgrid in my classes for the past two years.\u00a0 it is the easiest tech platform that i use for a number of reasons that i hope to outline here.\u00a0 i use it for asynchronous language practice in spanish for high beginners (1103), but i believe it can be useful in other classes as well.\u00a0 your students can use flipgrid with a google account sign in or no sign in at all.\u00a0 as you will see, you only need to supply students with a \u201cflipcode\u201d which is an alphanumeric code to enter the grid and record a video or respond to an instructor\u2019s or classmate\u2019s video.\u00a0 these grids can be public or password protected for increased privacy.\u00a0 there are tons of options for using this tool. if you have students sign in with an email account, this added step would allow students to view feedback and rubric scores if you choose to use it that way. it also creates a low-pressure environment for students to speak extemporaneously without the anxiety of evaluation in the moment.\u00a0 i use video recording for most of my performance assessments in the presentational mode for spanish, and my students have reported they love this tool because it allows them to speak naturally about a topic in their own space and on their own time in many cases.\u00a0\u00a0 in addition, i have noted an unintended outcome of using flipgrid.<\/p>\n

for students that suffer from clinical anxiety when speaking in front of others, flipgrid has radically helped them specifically.\u00a0 this platform allows those students an opportunity to participate more effectively in class overall, so what may feel like a disadvantage or weakness in performance in class can become a strength outside of class for these individuals.<\/p>\n

as i stated, i have been using flipgird in my hybrid class for a weekly asynchronous lesson before the covid pandemic.\u00a0 the only difference now is that i use it even more as we have increased our asynchronous tasks significantly this semester.<\/p>\n

how to use flipgrid<\/h2>\n

as the instructor you will first go to the website www.flipgrid.com<\/a> and create an educator account. \u00a0again, this is a free site with absolutely no cost to you or the students.\u00a0 \u00a0you will need to use a google email or microsoft account to sign up.<\/p>\n

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once you create your account, you will be ready to create your first \u201cgrid\u201d.\u00a0 the grid is the space that will house your topics and prompts for the video recordings from your students.<\/p>\n

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first, click on \u201cnew grid\u201d and from the grid launch pad, you have a few different options for how you want students to access your grid.\u00a0 i prefer to make them public, so students do not need to sign up for an account, and they will only need a code.\u00a0 this makes it easier for the students to enter the site and record without logging in.\u00a0 however, if you would like to use the assessment features and have students able to read their feedback, they will need to sign in with a school google or microsoft email account.\u00a0 this may be more useful during our current remote teaching reality. \u00a0next, you will create the grid name and you can select an image to personalize your grid. one thing i really like about this site is how fun and personable it can be.\u00a0 you can use stock photos or something of your own. next, you have the option of adding a grid password.\u00a0 i use this for my grids, so i can give the password to my students and only they will have that access to the grid and its topics.\u00a0 it is optional, however. finally, click on \u201claunch my grid\u201d.\u00a0 then you are all set to add specific topics.<\/p>\n

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you can create multiple grids depending on your number of classes or your personal preference.\u00a0 i prefer one grid, and then i create specific topics that i would like for my students to speak about on their own.\u00a0 before moving online completely, i would assign one topic a week, but during this time of remote teaching, i have increased it to three or four topics a week.\u00a0 in order to create the topic, from the grid portal, there is a button called \u201cadd new topic\u201d. click on that to create a specific topic for your class or classes.\u00a0 you will need to give it a title and set the length of the videos from 15 seconds to 10 minutes.\u00a0 for me the timing is important, so i do not have students speaking too long, and i can give them explicit instruction on the minimum speaking requirement as well. you will also have a text box for adding prompt or topic for the recording. \u00a0this step is important for students in the elementary level i teach especially, so they have explicit instruction on the goal for their speaking and the specific information you (the instructor) want to hear. next, you can add a focus, which can be an emoji, a photo upload, or even a gif.\u00a0 this always adds a personal touch, but it is optional.<\/p>\n

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finally click create topic, and this will generate a unique alphanumeric \u201cflipcode\u201d for your topic. this is what you will give your students when you assign the activity along with the password if you created one.\u00a0 so now, you have your grid and topic prepared with a code and password.\u00a0 students will go to www.flipgrid.com and enter the unique flipcode and password you provide.\u00a0 once they have done this, they will see a large green button, the prompt stimulus, and any other submitted videos.<\/p>\n

students will click on the green button which will activate the camera and microphone, and they are ready to record.\u00a0 once they record, they can upload the video.\u00a0 the grid then will house all of the videos for everyone to see that has access to the topic grid.\u00a0 students can post with emojis and stickers, which my students really enjoy.<\/p>\n

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as students become more advanced, i require them to post a video and then a response to a classmate\u2019s video.\u00a0 additionally, if you require your students to sign in, you can evaluate the video with feedback a number of ways.\u00a0 you can post a private response video; you can assign a rubric and score, or simply give written private feedback.\u00a0 i typically use this feature now since i teach a large number of students, and it is more efficient for me as the instructor.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

in addition, flipgrid has many other features if you are interested in really diving deeper.\u00a0 for example, each grid will generate a qr code for students to access from the flipgrid app, or you can use the qr code for augmented reality in which you watch student\u2019s videos as a screen overlay while multitasking.\u00a0 it is very cool!<\/p>\n

finally, there is also a new screen-recording feature that you can use to present asynchronously to model short video lessons, or you can have students present with screen recording videos as well.\u00a0 i have not used this feature yet, but flipgrid\u2019s developers are always coming up with ways to enhance the platform.\u00a0 it is a wonderful tool that is useful for asynchronous online learning.<\/p>\n

i also have a video presentation on using flipgrid in the language classroom here: https:\/\/www.languagepanda.org\/lpresults\/entry\/56\/?gvid=263<\/a> and you can follow flipgrid news and updates on twitter here: https:\/\/twitter.com\/flipgrid<\/a><\/p>\n

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