How to use FLIPGRID for Speaking Lessons?

What is Flipgrid? 

Flipgrid is a website that allows teachers to create and  facilitate video discussions. Teachers can create  groups for each classroom and in each group teachers can post questions or topics of discussions. Students can respond to the questions and topics by responding through video responses that appear in a display. The videos can be shared with classes, small groups, or any collection of users interested in a common strand of questions. However, in order to protect my students' privacy I have made the setting private and the video responses sent by my students are only available for viewing and commenting by peers from their own classes. 

What do I use Flipgrid for? 

I find Flipgrid to be a student - friendly application and it makes my speaking lesson more interesting and interactive as I could see my students' responses via video messages in Flipgrid. This helps me to assess their speaking skills especially during the pandemic where teaching and learning is conducted via online and conducting speaking lessons online is very challenging.  Besides, making all 24 students in a class to speak during an online lesson is an invitation for disaster. Therefore, I have started using Flipgrid to facilitate learning during my speaking lessons. Flipgrid allows me as a teacher to take time to watch and listen to my students' spoken responses and also provides opportunity for them to practice their speaking skills from time to time.  (from one unit to another)

Not only has Flipgrid made it easier for me to carry out online speaking lessons with ease, it also has a large space for storage (this storage is free if you use your MOE account to register) that I could keep all my students' video responses as evidence for their learning (PBD filing purposes). Flipgrid makes it so much easier for me to organise students' tasks and keep their responses without endangering my devices.  

Records in my Flipgrid 'Teacher Account'

Another good thing about Flipgrid is that it is linked to our MOE _ DELIMA account, so teachers can actually 'import' students' name lists and monitor their video submissions via Delima account. I watch my students responses on Flipgrid and keep their scores in Delima. I also leave written or sometimes video comments at the end of their videos to help them to look into  mistakes and contents. 

The video below shows some examples of students' video responses : 

Please be reminded that students can respond via the Flipgrid with any camera - enabled device. Teachers can also set the duration of responses for the topics given. Responses can be as short as 15 seconds and the longest response can be five minutes. Another interesting feature in Flipgrid is that teachers can also enable peers to respond to their friends' videos via video replies. I have enabled this feature for students within the same classroom. 

If you are interested in using Flipgrid in your lessons, click and watch the videos below and after that you will be all set to get started! 

a) Introduction to Flipgrid - Click Here 

b) How to Teach with Flipgrid  Video 1 - Click Here 

c) How to Teach with FLipgrid Video 2 - Click Here