The other day I was super excited to see this email in my inbox: In this earlier post about the new Google Classroom updates, I mentioned that the Announcements option was now only available in the Stream. You couldn't organize it within your Classwork page, which made posting things like videos and links that accompany assignments or units very difficult. I thought Google should bring Announcements to Classwork, so I put in feedback using the little question mark at the bottom left of Google Classroom, and apparently I wasn't the only one, because Google came up with the Materials feature this last week. Now, you can post links, documents, videos, etc. that you want students to use but you don't necessarily want them posted as an assignment. You can organize it by topic so that the materials stay with your other content.
This just goes to show that Google really does listen to your feedback. So if there are features that are missing, let them know (like the Move to the Top feature??). I did this same thing a couple of years ago with decimal grades in Classroom, and it took them a while, but they did fix it. It's always so nice to know there is a person on the other end of the tech.
1 Comment
Happy September! It's hard to believe that Fall is almost upon us. Does anyone else feel that the pumpkin spice brigade comes out earlier and earlier every year? It's becoming like Christmas decorations. But I digress... Today's Digital Tool Tidbit is on Flipgrid. Flipgrid is a response tool that allows students to post videos of themselves. Teachers create "grids" (think of a grid kind of like a class) with discussion topics and give students a class code so they can post a video. I wrote this post last year on a similar tool called Recap. At the time, I actually preferred it over Flipgrid. The big reason was because in Recap, teachers could do multiple "cues" (again think classes) to split up their students. At the time, Flipgrid only gave teachers one grid for free. Translation: if I have 125 students, all 125 videos are in one spot. That can be a bit overwhelming! What I didn't like about Recap, though, was that the interface for students was a bit bulky. It wasn't quite as easy for students to navigate and record. Enter Microsoft. They recently acquired Flipgrid and made all of Flipgrid's premium features FREE. That's right, you heard me correctly. A digital tool where you get all the good stuff for FREEEEEE. You can have an unlimited number of grids, have student-to-student replies, longer video length, and the ability to "copilot" a grid with another teacher.
The sky is the limit when it comes to the applications of Flipgrid. Here are a few ways you could use Flipgrid in the classroom:
To elaborate on #6, students can actually attach video files to a Flipgrid. Our science teachers had students create and edit a video in WeVideo and then post it in Flipgrid. This is so great because then they can easily watch each other's videos and give feedback, and it's easy for teachers to watch them all as well! Another awesome part of Flipgrid is a phenomenon called #gridpals. Much like the ways educators have used Skype and Google Hangouts, #gridpals connects students from all over the country. Flipgrid allows educators from anywhere to copilot a grid together that they then use with their students. Like pen pals, but with video! Really, you could do an entire project with another class if you wanted to. See the details of #gridpals here. Hopefully your wheels are turning on how you can use Flipgrid in your classroom. I'd love to hear how you use it! |
AuthorChristin Barkemeyer Archives
April 2020
Categories
All
|