Flip
What It Is
Flip is video-based asynchronous discussion tool. It allows teachers to ask a question and have students respond in a video that is under 10 minutes long. Students are also able to respond to one another, creating a video-based discussion threads. You can control the maximum length of your students’ videos. You can also turn on “Video Moderation” in the Topic settings, so that students will not be able to see each other’s videos until you have reviewed them.
How to Access It
Flip is owned by Microsoft, which means that everyone at PTS can use it without creating a new login. It is free and can even be integrated directly into Brightspace so that students don’t have to leave Brightspace in order to record and watch Flip videos. An instructor account can be set up at https://info.flip.com/, just be sure to use your PTS login when setting up your account.
Teaching Ideas
Idea 1: Asynchronous discussions
Flip offers a great alternative to traditional text-based discussion threads. For online courses, in particular, Flip helps to create a more personal and relational learning community through visual interaction. Students appreciate being able to see and hear each other and to have the flexibility of engaging asynchronously.
Idea 2: Mini-presentations
You could ask students to present on a course-related topic via Flip in under 10 minutes. Flip might not be the best format for a formal presentation, but as a tool to help students learn material by teaching each other, it can be great! After creating their own mini-presentation, students can follow-up on each other’s presentations with questions and/or comments.
Idea 3: Group work
A Flip topic could be created for groups to use to communicate with each other asynchronously about a project. They can ask questions, get feedback on ideas, and plan together. This would work well in tandem with a group Word online document, depending on the project.
Idea 4: Student questions
Instead of relying on email for questions about the class, you could create a Flip topic where students can ask course-related questions to each other or to the teaching team. This could be logistics-related or content-related. This could be particularly useful in an online course where students can’t easily pull you aside before or after class to ask a question.