I’m writing this post during the Covid-19 quarantine and distance learning. Many teachers have had to figure out this new world of distance learning in a very short amount of time. Though not ideal in many ways, I have had to discover new ways to keep language learning moving forward, or at the very least not regressing. Thanks to social media and the many generous and insightful language teachers out there I have a long and inspiring list of apps, Websites and ideas to try. There just doesn’t seem to be enough time to get to them all. Until now. 
I am using this time of reinvention to look into and implement these ideas that I have come across, but have not had the chance to implement. One of these is Flip Grid. Now that I am using it regularly to keep students engaged in all of the communication modes I can’t imagine not continuing to use it when we get back to the classroom. Dare I say that I appreciate the opportunity to try out new things during this time.
Flip Grid allows teachers to post a prompt, such as written questions, videos or images. Students then simply click a record button and then begin recording a video response.
When done, they can edit, work with filters and then submit. The teacher can decide which of these functions to make available. The teacher can then choose to make the videos viewable by the entire class or to keep them private and only viewable by the teacher. Personally, I have used it both ways. When only viewable by me I use the platform for an assessment (formative or summative) and make the videos available to the class when I want students to interact with each other.
There are lots of things that can be done directly on the Flip Grid Website, such as students leaving video comment or reactions to each other, leaving feedback on student videos and following student interactions. Many of these features require students setting up an account. That may be something that you are interested in doing. I only use the video response feature and created unique usernames for each student in the class. You can send them direct link to the grid (prompt) either through email or directly on Google Classroom. Students just simply enter their username and they go right to the prompt.
I’m also having students watch each others videos and answering questions that I create based on each individual video. This is a way of keeping the communication modes alive. Sometimes the videos are spontaneous responses and I have also had students read something that they wrote. These are the videos with more accurate language that I use for follow-up questions for the rest of the class to engage with.
Also… “Flip Grid, which has 20 million users from all over the world, will now be completely free for schools; previously, the service cost $1,000 a year per school. The purchase will help Microsoft in its push against Google and Apple in the classroom.”
Worth a try at that price!
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