Student Engagement on the Grid

I remember growing up as the quiet kid in school. I moved around a lot when I was younger so I was always the new kid in the class. And not just the new kid who moved from the next town over but one that came from a state that no one had ever been to before; that kind of new kid. This, coupled with a healthy dose of shyness meant that I didn’t speak much in class. It’s not that I didn’t have anything to say - it’s just that the fear of being embarrassed by saying the wrong thing was much greater. At times it was almost palpable, like when the teacher would scan the room for someone to call on to answer a question and I avoided making eye contact like my life depended on it.

My story is not terribly unique and there are many stories just like mine. Perhaps this even sounds a bit like your story. With classroom numbers on the rise it is becoming easier for students to avoid classroom participation. This is an obvious problem for students as participation is a key aspect of learning. In addition to adding interest, speaking up in class provides practice in expressing ideas so that others can understand them. Students that participate are more motivated to make connections with the content and are more likely to retain the information. This is also a problem for teachers, as class participation yields valuable feedback on what students don’t understand and insight into how to adjust instruction accordingly.

Flipgrid is one possible solution to these problems. Flipgrid is a video response platform that can be used to host online video discussions between students and teachers. Not only can students respond to prompts from the teacher, but they can also provide feedback to other students. Fostering robust student-to-student interaction is probably the biggest advantage of this tool, not to mention it’s just really cool to make and share your own videos!

Why Flipgrid is great for education:  From a technical standpoint, Flipgrid is easy to integrate into a classroom because it works on any device or browser. The platform itself is lightweight and clean, so it doesn’t get in the way of what really matters - the voice of the student. Flipgrid empowers students to find and share their voice. Remember that shy student who wanted to avoid participation out of fear of embarrassment? With Flipgrid, students can flip the camera if they are feeling self-conscious and pause while recording with an unlimited number of retakes, so they don’t have to worry about getting it exactly right the first time.

It’s easy to get up and running with Flipgrid, all it takes is 3 simple steps:

1. Create your Grid: Your Grid is where you will host your video discussions. Think of it like a virtual classroom or community of learners. Once you name your grid and save it, you will get an auto-generated Flip Code. This code is what students will use to access the Grid.

2. Add Topics: This is what students will respond to. A question, a photo, the latest headline, just about anything can be the source of inspiration for discussion. You can even add additional resources like videos, documents and web links.

3. Share: Students don’t have to create their own Flipgrid account to participate, they simply enter the Flip Code to access the Grid and start responding to topics.

Flipgrid used to have an education specific edition called Flipgrid Classroom that cost $65 per year and gave you unlimited grids, topics, responses and replies to responses. Certainly a lot of engagement for the buck. But now, thanks to a recent partnership with Microsoft, Flipgrid is being offered to educators for free! What’s even better is that Flipgrid is offering a prorated refund to all educators who purchased a subscription after June 18, 2017. in the last year. Check out all the refund details here.

If you’ve ever been curious about incorporating video discussions into your classroom, there’s never been a better time to jump in and check it out. See you on the Grid!