FlipGrid - a free video discussion platform

FlipGrid is a free web-based video discussion platform which allows instructors to produce a video prompt and allow students to respond in kind.

Microsoft recently acquired FlipGrid which now allows unlimited free access to this web 2.0 too.  This works on Macs and PCs as well as mobile devices with the appropriate app.  Instructors create a free account to create, store and manage the grids and topics for discussion.  Students do not need any downloads or accounts as they access the content from the link and unique access code created at the time of the grid/topic creation.




FlipGrid allows instructors and students to record and share short videos with each other in a private environment with a unique access code for each instance. Lots of different uses come to mind when thinking about using this tool!

INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES: Reflection, Digital Storytelling, Express an opinion, Justify your position, Virtual meet/greet

Bloom's Level 3-6 (Applying, Analyzing, Evaluating, Creating)

-Flipped Classroom
-Blended Learning
-Formative Assessment
-Maker Movement
-Creativity
-Didactic Questioning

What is TED-ED and how can I use it to create content?

TED-ED is TED's educational initiative!  A large community of students and teachers have create lots of video lessons on thousands of subjects.  The best part, once you find one you are interested in, you can modify it for your needs?  Can't find exactly what you want in a lesson, but maybe you can find a video - you can create a lesson out of it.  Finally, if you can't find anything that meets your needs, just create your own video by adding a TED Lesson Page!






Sometimes it can be a bit challenging to come up with fresh content.  You have taught the same subject before and have your "go to" content, but are thinking about something new. TED-ED gives you access to plenty of of pre-made lessons on thousands of different subject.  You can use one as it is - they have some formative assessments ideas and discussion prompts which make this very usable. You can also search for one that is already created and modify it.  Finally - if it doesn't exist - make it!  You can create your very own TED-ED lesson in a few easy steps.  It is easy - just register for a TED-ED account and start creating!

-Blended Learning
-Flipped Classroom
-Create content
-Formative assessment
-Students leading lessons
-Video content

YouTube and closed captioning

YouTube is a great Web 2.0 tool for adding content to your course.  There are other videos in this series that show you how to record your own video in YouTube as well as how to share it with other people.

This video doesn't really show any instructional strategies, but is more "maintenance" and "prep work" for a YouTube video.

YouTube automatically does closed captioning for you, for purposes of making it viewable for the hearing impaired.  However, sometimes YouTube doesn't get it exactly right!  Learn how to "adjust/edit" closed captions as well as set timings so the text shows up at the appropriate time of the video.





It is relatively simple to make adjustments to the closed captioning language of a YouTube video.  This tutorial shows how to add your script, check the auto caption settings, and set the timings if they are not correct.

Embedding YouTube videos in PowerPoint 2013

Microsoft Office is now in version 2013.  It used to be pretty easy to embed a video into a PowerPoint presentation.  Office 2013 has changed that a bit, but it is not that difficult to make it happen again, once you know the secret - a little Visual Basic knowledge!

Don't panic - you don't need to be a programmer - some easy steps will have you on your way to enhancing your PowerPoint presentations with embedded video.







Although you can add the link of any YouTube video to a PowerPoint slide, it doesn't always have the most professional look to it.  It can look like this below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f60dheI4ARg

By using this method describe in the tutorial, you can get a video that looks like the video listing on this page, with the "TV picture window" already to press play!

Zaption: Great tool for creating/customizing video mash-ups

Zaption is an easy way to find a video and customize it - it is a video mashup builder. You can crop just the portion you want, include text, images, and build quizzes right inside the video!  This can be done on videos you create or ones you find.

INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES: Concept formation, Compare/Contrast, Reflection, Digital Storytelling, Creating, Lecture

Bloom's Level 3-6 (Application, Analyze, Evaluate, Create)

-Flipped Classroom

-Blended Learning

-Formative Assessment

-Maker Movement

-Creativity

-Innovation

-BYOD uses

Learn how to use Zaption to search for great videos by subject, from some well respected sources like PBS, National Geographic and TED. Both instructors and students can use this tool to create video mashups.  You can crop a video to be just the length you need it.  You can splice together multiple videos, include text screen, images, and illustrations (drawings), as well as create formative assessment opportunities with multiple choice, choose from a list, or open ended questions.  You also have the ability to pull analytics to assess how long your viewer was engaged with the lesson as well as scores on the assessments.

Recording in YouTube and uploading to Blackboard

Create your own video right in YouTube!

You can use your YouTube account (use your Google login to access) to create short videos and load them into your Blackboard class.  

There are other tutorials on this site that shows you how to locate videos, edit videos and upload them to Blackboard, so once you view this tutorial you may be interesting in reviewing some of those based on the learning goal you are trying to accomplish.




You are probably comfortable viewing YouTube videos but if you have a webcam, you can actually record videos directly in YouTube. These videos remain in your YouTube account, where you can post them and share them in a number of fashions. This tutorial shows you how to upload the video you created, into Blackboard.

-Great for mini lectures
-Pointing out key issues
-Great for flipped classroom activities
-Can be used in a blended learning environment

Microsoft Office Mix - PowerPoint add-in Part IV (inserting a video and live web site)

Microsoft Office Mix
This is an add-in to PowerPoint 2013 for Windows PCs (currently no release for Mac).

This tutorial is Part IV (please watch at least Part I which is an Office Mix overview, if you haven't done so), which shows how to use an app to load a video or website into the slide, and allow them both to be live when playing back the presentation.

Other tutorials will be part of the Office Mix lesson, so if you are looking for ways to use other tools, please review those.





You are probably very comfortable using PowerPoint as an instructor, so this add-in tool increases functionality of what you do with publisher created presentations or ones you create yourself.

-Great for flipped classroom activities
-Create dynamic multimedia presentations
-Build interactive lessons and learning experiences
-Can help facilitate blended learning courses

Microsoft Office Mix - help guide