Free Apps to Engage Students in Active Learning

Flipgrid

Flipgrid.com - The free version of this app is all I've ever needed, and I have been using it for years with multiple classes. This video sharing tool allows students to share their voices and see one another even in online courses or between in-person sessions.

The Basics

You can create multiple groups for free to keep your courses organized.

When you create a group, you can set it up by individual username or email domain.

When you create a topic, you can use media and/or attachments. you can set the time limit anywhere from 15 seconds to 10 minutes.

Student experience - Member view is very straightforward. Works well as an app as well, so participating by phone is easy.

Drawbacks

Flipgrid does not integrate into Blackboard directly. To use it as a graded assignment, you provide a link in Blackboard, and grade manually in the gradebook.

EdPuzzle

EdPuzzle.com - I use the free version of this app as well. There is an extension to add to your browser, and this tool will integrate with Blackboard, tying directly to your gradebook.

The Basics

You can use videos of your own or videos from YouTube (including popular learning channels). You can also see who from your school has created videos, or use those created by other Flipgrid users.

Once you've chosen a video to use, you can edit by cutting, adding voiceover, or adding questions/text.

Student experience - the app opens right in Blackboard & students can watch and respond right here.

Faculty can see an overview of who has completed assignments right from the gradebook and read/grade responses.

Click here to access step-by-step written instructions for using EdPuzzle in Blackboard:

EdPuzzle Instructions

Drawbacks

EdPuzzle is great for getting students engaged with content. It does not offer help in engaging them with one another.

Screencasting / Video Recorders

Microsoft Stream & Loom are both free* to use. They allow you to present your screen and video yourself at the same time.

These are great tools for recording microlectures for your online or hybrid courses, or for students who are unable to attend your in-person courses because of quarentine. Read more about micro lectures here: Plan and Record Engaging Microlectures (ACUE)

Two Great Options

Loom

You can record both your webcam and screen at the same time, or either on its own. Time limit is 5 minutes. You can provide links to your videos that remain in Loom, or you can download the video files.

Check it out at loom.com

Stream

Microsoft application that is included in our Office 365 membership on campus. Similar in function to Loom but easier to share across the organization and 15 minute time limits on videos. To check it out, click on the Microsoft app launcher in your Outlook window. When you are in your web-based email account, the app launcher is icon of 9 dots that appears at the top left beside the word "Outlook." See the image below

Microsoft app launcher icon:

Drawbacks

Microlectures are great for sharing information with students and keeping students who are required to quarantine up to speed. These tools force the best practice of keeping segments short and purposeful so as to keep students engaged. However, we do miss out on seeing students' faces to help us know whether they understand. Remember to incorporate low stakes, formative assessments into your learning modules following microlectures and other videos.

WiseMapping

WiseMapping is an online, open-source brainstorming tool for businesses and individuals. The tool creates maps that are easy to export or embed. For more security, you can also download the software and use WiseMapping on your computer. As an open-source platform, WiseMapping constantly adds new features, most of which come from users who build the features themselves.

Possibilities

Free collaborative tools like WiseMapping can be used to allow students to interact and collaborate in visual ways - seeing how their ideas connect and intersect, and reflecting on the learning that they are doing.

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