The web application that I decided to evaluate is called Flipgrid! Flipgrid is a video discussion platform for students of all ages. The application easily allows teachers to create grids (like a message board) that teachers can post questions to and students reply with a video answer (M. Bernardo, 2019).

Accessibility

Flipgrid is available to use on all platforms! This includes iOS, Android and the web. The application is 100% free and students, families and educators can access the content at any time.

Connection to Multimedia Learning Principles

Since the basis of Flipgrid is students giving video replies to a question, the application reflects many multimedia learning principles. For example, the voice principle states people learn better when words are spoken in a human voice (Mayer, 2014, p. 8). Since students give video replies on Flipgrid, they never have to listen to “robot voices”, only their peers! In addition, the segmenting principle states people learn better when they can learn at their own pace (ibid.). On Flipgrid, students can record their video replies and access their account at anytime and at any place.

Evaluation

Personally I found the Flipgrid application very user friendly! Students do not even need to create an account to use the application. Like “Kahoot!”, they just have to put in a code to access their teacher’s grid. I was able to create my free account in under 2 minutes and without any technical issues. Flipgrid provides you with a short tutorial after you make an account to easily get acquainted with the site. The tutorial also covers how to make your first grid! However, I would have liked the tutorial to be longer. I found that I had to do some of my own research to understand features such as “Disco Library” (shared topics created by the Flipgrid community) and how to add a topic. The help center on the website was able to answer all of my questions.

Once I figured out how to add a topic, I was very impressed with all the different options (below) you could include for your students to view when they accessed the grid.

I used this Multimedia Project Evaluation Rubric from R Campus to provide my final evaluation score for Flipgrid. I give the application a 5/5 for design and technological elements, a 4/5 for focus, a 3/5 for activities, a 4.5/5 for fundamental elements, a 4/5 for content elements and a 5/5 for effectiveness elements.

Privacy

Flipgrid does not use your personal information or your students to market or advertise, nor do they permit third parties to do so. As well, the application has customization security settings that allow you to protect your students’ privacy.

However, when someone creates an account, they must provide their first name, last name, email address, password, instruction type, school name and country. All information posted on Flipgrid is stored in their “Service for purposes of providing the Service” (Flipgrid, 2019).

Want to Learn More?

For more information on Flipgrid I highly recommend this ebook by Sean Fahey, Karly Moura and Jennifer Sarrinen. These 3 “Flipgrid Heros” as they call themselves, have created an educator’s guide to Flipgrid and it is filled with helpful resources and tips to navigate the website. As well, Melchor Bernardo wrote an excellent blog post on “English Teaching 101” all about how he uses Flipgrid in his classroom.

Resources

Bernardo, M. (n.d.). What is flipgrid and what activities can you do with it? English Teaching 101. https://englishteaching101.com/what-activities-can-you-do-with-flipgrid/.

Evaluation of a multimedia/app or website. (2020). R Campus. Retrieved June 19, 2020, from https://www.rcampus.com/rubricshowc.cfm?code=KX35947&sp=yes&

Fahey, S., Moura, K., & Sarrinen, J. (2019) The educator’s guide to flipgrid. (n.p.).

Flipgrid terms of use. (2019). Flipgrid. Retrieved June 17, 2020, from https://legal.flipgrid.com/

No emails? Use student IDs! (2019). Flipgrid. Retrieved June 17, 2020, from https://help.flipgrid.com/hc/en-us/articles/360044758574-No-Emails-Use-Student-IDs-