Flip is a website and an app that gives teachers and students a platform to create classroom videos. Students and teachers can quickly create videos with many editing options for FREE on phones, iPads, or computers. The plus side? It is extremely user friendly, so we decided to try it out with our class. Last year, my co-teacher and I became frustrated by a lack of motivation and engagement in the classroom. We knew that we needed to explore other options to get students interested in the content. There were one or two students in the class who never wanted to pick up their pencil or participate in discussion. We felt discouraged and decided to try a new educational technology app called Flip.
When we discovered Flip, we asked the students to create videos that would demonstrate each student teaching the content that they had learned. The results were jaw-dropping. We immediately saw students using academic language with each other as they were creating the videos. The students who rarely picked up their pencils wanted to learn Math to create a good video. For that unit, our average formative assessment grade in our inclusion Math class was a 70%. When students took their summative assessments, the average grade was an 88%. We saw growth after just implementing Flip into our instruction one time! We were hooked!
Flip creates a student-centered classroom where students take ownership of their learning! Students can prove their learning by providing video evidence that they have mastered a standard.
How to Get Started
Step 1: Go to flip.com. Sign up or click educator login and sign in with your Google account!
Step 2: Create a group for your class. Label it the class period or the course name. You can add several courses in case you have add different assignments to different class periods.
Step 3: Click on topic. Add any topic you want! This can be the name of your unit, activity, or simply “Student Reflection Video.” The name of the topic is what the students will see when they enter the assignment. You can also choose a funny gif that students will see as soon as they open the assignment!
Step 4: Click share, then copy and paste the link into Google classroom or whatever platform you sue to communicate with your students. Students will be able to click directly on the link and can start recording immediately.
Step 5: After students have uploaded all of their videos you can click on each one and present it to the class on your screen OR you can quickly make each video into a QR code. Print out the QR codes and you have just made your first AUGMENTED REALITY ACTIVITY! Your students will be seriously so excited to see their faces popping out of the walls. Want to know what this looks like? Here is a quick video below of me walking to the back of my classroom and scanning a Flip QR code with my Flip app. PLEASE TRY THIS! IT IS AWESOME!
How to QUICKLY turn student videos into printable QR codes for the augmented reality flipgrid app.
Want to know what the students are seeing? Check out this quick video below that goes through how students will create their first Flip video. Feel free to share with your students if they need help getting started.
Ideas for Using Flipgrid in Your Classroom:
Augmented Reality Classroom Project
Create a year-long Flip augmented reality wall! Most people when they see augmented reality, they keep scrolling, but I promise this process was SO EASY! Students are also more inspired to create good content videos if they know that they are contributing to a collective project.
Augmented Reality History Timeline
Ask students to work individually or in a small group. Ask students to create a video that describes different periods of time. Each Flip video that they upload can be quickly turned into a QR code. Place each of the QR codes in line to create a historic timeline of events based on the unit. Students can observe each other’s timelines at the end as a way to summarize the unit.
Flip COURTROOM: I need the EVIDENCE!
Dress up like a judge and record 10 videos of statements. Get the wig and everything. For your video, discuss a Math problem that has an error where students have to find it. Students can pretend to be lawyers and respond to the judge with their case! The goal is to compete with the other lawyers to win their case!
GOOD WILL HUNTING CHALLENGE
Who doesn’t love this movie?! The poster child for a “gifted” student. First, find a different Math teacher in your school each month to post a Flip QR code video on a wall in the hallway. In the video, pose a challenging multi-step problem that encourages complex thinking skills. If students respond with a correct solution, they can receive a Math prize that recognizes their high quality Math skills.
Flip Escape Room or Scavenger Hunt
Create videos around the classroom that students have to scan and solve for clues. Make a theme for the mystery so students have a collective goal that they are all working towards.
Literacy and Reading Comprehension
Ask your students to record themselves reading text! The text can be anything from a script from a play to research! You can make the videos private so other students cannot view them or have students work in groups. You can respond to the videos with auditory feedback so that students can listen to in real time! If you decide to make the videos public, have students listen to the reading and ask questions about the story.
Creativity Opportunities
Skits, songs, art, dances, you name it! Try to incorporate the creative side of your students with your curriculum. You will be surprised by the results when students have a choice on what to produce.
Chorus or Band Talent Show
Have students sing/play instruments in groups or a solo! If students want to keep their video private tell them to talk to you before you start so you can make it private to everyone else. You could even create a concert or a talent show for the school so students outside of the class can enjoy the music! Students will be excited that their work will go outside of the classroom.
Art Showcase
At the end of the nine weeks, have students create a stop-motion video on Flip. Have students record each piece of art that they produced in the class. They will have to record, click pause, record, click pause, and so on. After they have recorded all of their work, share with the class to show how students grew throughout the course. This would also be a great opportunity for an augmented reality art show for your school!
Learning Extension
Give students opportunities to extend their learning if they have already proved mastery of a standard. You can give them several higher-level topics to choose from. Have students investigate and research the topics.
Learning Support
Due to COVID-19, it has been difficult to create consistent opportunities for tutoring. Create a topic called “TUTORING.” Post several teacher videos of problems that you want students to work out. Students will respond to your video by showing you how they would work out the problem. Then, you can respond to them to provide feedback on what they are doing right and what they need to work on.
Community Flip
Reach out to your community and find women in the computer science field. Ask them to create videos about their jobs to inspire girls to join the field! Have students respond to their videos with questions so that the “presenters” can answer their questions! You could reach out to any profession related to your content. The possibilities are endless!
Have any ideas on how to use Flip in the classroom? Let me know your ideas!
Saved By the Beldin 