Fostering Student Engagement With Flipgrid

Purpose & objective

The purpose of my session, Fostering Student Engagement with Flipgrid is to challenge educators to think beyond a basic use of Flipgrid (creating Groups and Posting Topics for video responses) for engaging with students. By the end of the session, participants will be able to leverage the advanced features and power of Topics, including those in the Discovery Library, to design authentic, learner-driven learning experiences and assessments that meet ALL learners where they are at in their learning journey with regards to content area standards. In addition to exploring best practices for developing quality lessons that incorporate four essential elements: a teacher created video as exemplar, detailed written instructions, attached resources or links to external learning experiences, and quality assessment of student learning, educators will also be provided with examples of ways in which local and global connections can be made using guest access and copilots (#Gridpals) in Flipgrid. Participants will also explore how establishing connections with students and colleagues around the world not only allows teachers to provide students with authentic audiences when demonstrating their learning, but also helps students build diverse relationships and foster global empathy. Participants will be encouraged to design and build alongside me (the presenter) in order to better explore the features of topics and develop an appreciation of best practices for designing quality, student- centered lessons and assessments. Participants will have the opportunity to explore the Discovery library in depth and learn how to incorporate Topics from Discovery in their own teaching, learning, and assessment practices. Participants will also be encouraged to explore ways they can make connections - local or global - to enhance student learning and relationships in Flipgrid.

Outline

Outline of Presentation
Content and Activities: (including approximate timing and Process)
Welcome Activity - Participants are encouraged to introduce themselves in a Topic in Flipgrid (in order to explore and try out the features of the Flipgrid Recorder) (3 minutes)
Introduction to Flipgrid - explaining why it is such an important app / platform for all learners (3 minutes)
Building Engaging Topics in Flipgrid - Exploring best practices of designing quality, student-centered lessons (with the 4 components) and assessments (15 minutes) - participants are encouraged to choose a content area standard and build a quality, student-centered lesson as a Topic along with me (the presenter). I will encourage attendees to share their lessons with each other and consider submitting to the Discovery Library for the greater Flipgrid Educator community.
Promoting ways students can authentically express themselves and demonstrate their learning in multimodal ways using the updated features of the Flipgrid Recorder (10 minutes) - Participants will get the opportunity for hands-on exploration as they try out the different features of the Flipgrid Recorder to better understand how a student may create a more engaging response.
Showing Examples of student responses (4 minutes)
Exploring how we as educators build relationships with our students through Flipgrid Topics - audience discussion (asking attendees to share how they have built relationships and class community with students through Flipgrid Topics)
Finding, adding, and editing topics from the Discovery Library (5min)
Using Shorts and the Screen Recording Feature to create EPIC mini-lessons, teacher video tutorials, and visual instructions to support all learners (10 min) - Attendees will be encouraged to explore and record a video in Shorts
Making Connections - Connecting locally, as well as with a Global learning Community (exploring #Gridpals) (10 minutes) Attendees will be encouraged to set up their Flipgrid profile and (if they want) try to become #GridPals and reach out to connect with a Global educator. If they prefer making local connections - we will brainstorm ways we can connect locally using CoPilots and Guest access.

All times listed are approximate - based on a total length of 1 hour for the session. If session is longer or shorter, timing will be adjusted appropriately). With regards to Process: the session is intended to be an interactive, hands on workshop so that Attendees are active participants and getting the opportunity to experience Flipgrid just as their students would!

Supporting research

Merrill, J., & Merrill, K. (2020) The InterACTIVE Class: Using Technology to Make Learning More Relevant and Engaging in the Elementary Classroom
https://www.themerrillsedu.com/books

The Hybrid Teacher: Survival Guide by Emma Pass
https://www.edtechemma.com/the-hybrid-teacher-book

Fisher, D., Frey, N., Hattie, J. (2020) The Distance Learning Playbook, Grades K-12
https://us.corwin.com/en-us/nam/the-distance-learning-playbook-grades-k-12/book275865

Flipgrid for ALL! 50+ Ways to use Flipgrid in Your Class
https://ditchthattextbook.com/catch-the-flipgrid-fever-15-ways-to-use-flipgrid-in-your-class/

Infusing #Flipgrid in The Classroom by Holly Clark
https://www.hollyclark.org/2020/04/25/infusing-flipgrid-into-your-classroom/

9 New Ways to Use Flipgrid in the Classroom
https://www.edutopia.org/article/9-new-ways-use-flipgrid-classroom

10 Characteristics of Learner Centred Experiences
https://katielmartin.com/2017/10/07/10-characteristics-of-learner-centered-experiences/

The Student Voice by Christine McKee
https://www.etwinz.com/post/the-student-voice

Toshalis, E., & Nakkula, M. J. (2012). Motivation, engagement, and student voice.

Simple Ways to Promote Student Voice in the Classroom by Beth Pandolpho
https://www.edutopia.org/article/simple-ways-promote-student-voice-classroom