Review by Andrea Zellner, Common Sense Education | Updated June 2016
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EdPuzzle

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Crop, customize, and remix online videos for your classroom

Subjects & skills
Subjects
N/A
Skills
  • Communication & Collaboration
  • Critical Thinking
Grades This grade range is a recommendation by Common Sense Education and not the developer/publisher.
3–12
Great for:
Common Sense says (See details)
Teachers say (32 Reviews)
Common Sense Privacy Evaluation

The privacy evaluation process categorizes edtech tools into the following three tiers:

Use Responsibly

Indicates that the service meets the minimum criteria and more research should be completed prior to use.

Use Caution

Indicates that the service does not clearly define the safeguards to protect student information.

Not Recommended

Indicates that the service does not support encryption or lacks a detailed privacy policy.

Use Responsibly
Price:  Free
Platforms:  Website

Take a look inside

1 video | 5 images
How to Customize Videos with EDpuzzle
Educator Video
1:56
Simple tutorials help teachers get started quickly.
On the left users can see all the video-hosting sites that can be searched.
Use videos from various sources, crop them, and add your own questions.
Get data on how students are performing.
Teacher's dashboard includes information on student progress.

Pros: Intuitive video editor includes the ability to add voice-overs, comments, and quizzes to existing online videos.

Cons: Platform is web-based, requiring students and teachers to have reliable internet access.

Bottom Line: If you're using online video in your classroom, you'll want to look into EDpuzzle as a way to layer in more learning opportunities while students watch.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

Use EDpuzzle's tools to enhance your flipped video content, as well as your in-class lessons and lectures. Teachers who choose the highest-quality videos (or create their own) and add voice-overs, interactive quizzes, and audio notes can create a much more interactive experience for their students and one that encourages students to not just be active viewers but reactive viewers who critique what they watch. If you're using others' content as a starting point, EDpuzzle’s search will suggest high-quality videos from sites such as YouTube, Khan Academy, TED Talks, and Vimeo. However, be aware that editing the video won't alter it in any way. Remember to preview all video content for appropriateness.

To take learning a step further, have students use the platform. In the hands of students, the videos can be annotated and reconceptualized in ways that move students from passive consumers into critical remixers of online learning content. It could even give students the opportunity to improve on what's already out there in the vast sea of online learning videos.

Check out the video below for more tips on how to use video in the classroom:

Continue reading Show less
Put this tool into practice:

EDpuzzle is a web-based interactive video and formative assessment tool that gives teachers a set of tools to crop an existing online video to the moments needed for a specific teaching purpose. Teachers can also customize the cropped video with voice-overs, audio comments, and embedded assessment questions. Teachers can prohibit students from fast-forwarding through videos and assign each video a due date. Data from the embedded quizzes is saved in EDpuzzle’s dashboard; however, it can easily be exported as a CSV file and incorporated into other grade- and course-management systems.

Additionally, EDpuzzle offers a space for a community of teachers to share their creations for inspiration or for easy classroom use. Finally, teachers can turn this robust set of tools over to students, enabling them to find high-quality video instruction and customize it in a way that demonstrates their learning. It's also available as a Chrome app or extension. 

EDpuzzle allows both teachers and students to customize online videos in ways that encourage more active video-learning. The quality of the learning will depend, of course, on the original video as well as how it's customized or remixed for classroom use. In general, watching online video may only require lower-level thinking and learning skills. However, the ability to isolate the most important aspects of a video, along with the capability for embedded assessment, makes this type of learning more powerful and relevant. In comparison to other similar tools, the ability to add voice-overs can enhance students' engagement and learning. Teachers can further explain what's on the screen and contextualize what students see in a way that's relevant to their course. While it'll meet many needs, EDpuzzle could use a little more flexibility and more features to annotate and remix videos, especially the ability to combine multiple videos.

Overall Rating
Engagement Is the product stimulating, entertaining, and engrossing? Will kids want to return?

While engagement depends somewhat on the original videos selected, teachers (or students) can crop content to the most relevant and engaging parts. With the voice-over feature, students can hear their own teacher's voice and explanations.

Pedagogy Is learning content seamlessly baked-in, and do kids build conceptual understanding? Is the product adaptable and empowering? Will skills transfer?

The ability to remix and customize learning content is part of what good edtech looks like. Students get immediate feedback in the multiple-choice quizzes. With Zaption going away, it'd be great if EDpuzzle could combine more than one video.

Support Does the product take into account learners of varying abilities, skill levels, and learning styles? Does it address both struggling and advanced students?

There's an active community, and the site highlights exemplars from users. Teachers can get quick access to support through chat, emails, and some social media channels.

Common Sense Reviewer
Andrea Zellner Researcher
About our ratings and privacy evaluation.

Teacher Reviews

(See all 32 reviews) (32 reviews) Write a review
Featured review by
Jim B. , Classroom teacher
Classroom teacher
Foulks Ranch Elementary School
Elk Grove, CA
Edpuzzle makes viewing videos INTERACTIVE!
Overall, Edpuzzle is a way to make a video interactive and student-centered. Rather than a teacher playing a video, clicking pause, and then trying to get students to discuss or take notes or interrogate the film based on what the teacher deems reasonable, Edpuzzle puts the student in control. They can rewatch. They can respond to written questions or quizzes. They can click on hyperlinks inserted by a teacher. They can review written comments or audio notes left by a teacher. Edpuzzle truly takes the viewing experience and slows it down for students and allows them to engage with it individually. I avoid using DVDs in my class at all cost when it comes to teaching science or history or math. I will do anything I can to use a YouTube video that can be enhanced by Edpuzzle. My EL students, gifted students, and general education students all enjoy this, because they can move along at the pace that's right for them. I can connect Edpuzzle to Hyperdocs or share via Google Classroom or with a link in an email. It allows students to view video, reflect on it, and learn from it like so many of us adults who take online video courses or rely on online training modules for continued professional development. And it's fun. Viewing a film clip with a purpose or a task switches a student from a passivie recipient to an active viewer. My students love this. And so do I!
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