Flipgrid Benefits:
I think collaboration platforms are one of the best ways to get involved in learning. That is why group projects and gallery walks are effective in the classroom. The tech tool that I would want to immediately use is Flipgrid. I think creating a classroom “Grid Community” provides an efficient and engaging way to extend collaboration to the entire classroom.
The advantage of Flipgrid over a gallery walk is that the students describe their thinking in their own words for peers to watch, and it can be viewed more than once. Flip grid also gives students a chance to be more expressive and creative than they can be, if they were creating a poster for a gallery walk. They are able to “play” with stickers or add-on to personalize their responses.
Concerns:
I think Flipgrid is great as a collaborative tool, but with short video lengths, I don’t see this format as being useful for more comprehensive or robust projects. There can be a concern that immature students may not use their video in an appropriate manner (language or content) but since there is high accountable with Flipgrid, that concern is pretty low.
Age Appropriate for Upper Elementary and Middle School:
Most of these students are used to obtaining information via videos on the internet. A grid community gets students involved in the process of sharing information in a format that is relatable to their generation. They understand how to use this technology without much direction, and are engaged in creating videos to show their peers and teacher.
Learning Activity: Exploring Light Lab- 8th Grade Science
Recently, I wanted to give the students freedom to create an experiment to determine how light waves are transmitted, absorbed, and reflected off different materials. This lab is ideal as practice for designing experiments because it is easy to perform and conceptually easy to understand.
One thing students struggle with is coming up with a claim that can be tested. This is a crucial step because, if they get stuck, they can’t move beyond this point to successfully gather and analyze their evidence. Their claim needs to include their prediction about what types of materials should transmit, absorb or reflect light waves.
I think Flipgrid would help the students in coming up with their claim.
First, I would send out the prompt:
Teacher Prompt: “What can you hypothesize is the way light rays interact with various materials?”
Then I display various materials that they could potentially use and let them discuss what could be a testable claim. For example, a group might say “Light can be reflected off objects that have shiny surfaces”
Students will record and upload a brief video describing their ideas for a claim. Flipgrid will provide a place where students can share their ideas and compare peer thinking to their own. After the initial round of sharing, I would have students revise their claim if needed.
If you are interested in getting started with Flipgrid, the following "How To Use FlipGrid" video by Richard Byrne can help.
Resources
How to Use Flipgrid by Richard Byrne @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1f992gNBEc
Flipgrid @ https://flipgrid.com/