Video response tool revolutionizes music classroom!
Community Review for Flip
My Take
Flipgrid is a video response tool that can be used in a wide variety of ways. It is intended to be a verbal response video so that all students can have a voice. For my classroom, it can do that and so much more! I am using it as more of an assessment tool at the moment, but I look forward to discussions that the students have when we start the verbal responses where I allow them to interact within the prompt. There are so many options that, upon looking into this the first day, I upgraded to the paid version the next day. The multiple grids allow me to have a grid per class. The ability to create a rubric and send it back to the student with their score and feedback electronically is another amazing feature. You can also share the “responses” with parents as well. There are many filters you can utilize and moderate. You can decide if the entire grid can see the video or just you and the student. You can monitor responses to make sure they are appropriate. Another random discovery is that when you are looking at your dashboard it will show you the amount of engagement in hours, minutes, and seconds and equate it with something that is done for that amount of time. This would be great to show administrators. I know I haven’t discovered all the neat things that this will allow me to do yet, but I am already extremely happy that I discovered this and can implement its use in my classroom. The only limiting factor for me is that wi-fi is sometimes extremely spotty in my classroom and it makes it harder to send the videos. However, students can create the video and the app can send a stored video from the cellphone at a later time. The only thing that I think could truly upgrade this product would be to create a better support avenue. You can email support and there are a few solutions on a FAQ page, but I think a more extensive list would be helpful or having a link to several different youtube videos that explain different aspects of the app. I highly recommend this app and believe it could be used authentically in all classrooms.
How I Use It
I use Flipgrid in both my performing ensemble classes and my guitar classes. I begin by using it in guitar with the prompt of telling me the six guitar string names and numbers. This is the prerequisite for them being able to tune their own guitar. It is not a graded assignment so this will get them acquainted before they use it on graded assignments. In my performing ensembles, they record playing tests in which I allow them to do at home or in a practice room after school. The students submit their videos via the app or a computer with both a microphone and camera. This version of a playing test allows me to see the student playing their instrument and hearing them play. One of the best perks of the paid version is that you can use Flipgrid’s rubric or create your own. After filling it out and adding any additional comments, it sends the rubric to the student’s email address. During the in- class playing tests, I can't always give the amount of feedback I want to students and now I have the time to go back and review if necessary to give specific, quality feedback. This is all I have used it for in class so far. I am looking forward to posting prompts that allow for group discussion. I am going to post a link of music for students to listen to and have them give their comments and impressions utilizing music vocabulary. Another exciting aspect of Flipgrid is that students can reply on other students’ initial replies. I cannot wait to see the amount of discourse my students can find listening to Percy Grainger. I have also added a “question” prompt so that students can video any questions they have to me because many times there is a technical issue and I have a much better way of telling them how to fix it if I can physically see them playing.
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