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game-based quiz tool

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simple video recording/discussion board

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quickly "take the temperature" or "read the room"

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check for understanding, collect responses with interactive slides

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check for understanding, collect responses with interactive slides

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simple screencasting tool

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Mlf America - April 2020

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Formative Assessment Tools_ FLIPGRID_ April 2020

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Mlf America - April 2020

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Formative Assessment Tools_ Audience Response Tools & Backchannels_ April 2020

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Mlf America - April 2020

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🍐 Formative Assessment Tools_ Pear Deck PART 1_April 2020

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Pear Deck Knowledge Base | Cool Things You Can Do

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podcast - screencasting 101

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Sponsored by World101 and ViewSonic

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Early in March, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a domino effect of school closures. Overnight, educators were forced to rethink their instruction as they moved online. Thankfully, most aren't comfortable simply replacing themselves with cookie-cutter, ready-made content built without the unique needs of their students in mind. They miss their students, and their students miss them, so they are willing to put in the hard work to ensure that their authentic teaching styles remain intact. This should not be a surprise to anyone who understands the art of teaching; technology simply cannot replace teachers.

One of the most effective ways to move instruction online is to build screencast videos. Screencast videos are unique because they are actual recordings of your computer screen or tablet as opposed to a video of an in-person lecture. They are a powerful way to deliver instruction, but they do require a fair amount of time and planning, which I have learned through a lot of trial and error. Building effective screencasts continues to be the barrier that stops educators from making a smooth transition to distance learning, so I have put together the following tips to help guide you through the process.

My Own Screencast Journey

As an educator myself, I spent several years developing screencasts and making mistakes along the way. I was fed up with lecturing and was determined to find a better way to tailor my instruction to students' needs. I knew technology could be a powerful tool to amplify my impact, but I wasn't willing to replace my lectures with a disembodied voice on a screen who didn't know my students. So five years ago, I made the commitment to eliminate lectures from my classroom and replace them with instructional videos I created myself. This allowed me to facilitate a blended, self-paced, mastery-based classroom built on the backbone of high quality feedback and differentiated instruction:

Years later, I left the classroom to launch The Modern Classrooms Project, a nonprofit that equips and empowers educators to create blended, self-paced, mastery-based classrooms of their own. Through our in-person trainings and our Modern Classroom Essentials* course, we have supported teachers as they learn how to:

Plan and record their own instructional videos

Build student-friendly websites for instructional content

Design effective self-paced learning experiences for students at all levels

The following tips align with what we teach participants about creating their own instructional videos.

Start with the Research

When launching distance learning and meeting students' needs, it can be tempting to dive head first into instructional video creation without actually understanding what works. But before you start investing countless hours of time and energy constructing videos, it's important to understand what the research says about cultivating engagement.

Video Length

The research on how long instructional videos should be is incredibly clear and tells a simple narrative: Keep it short. The ideal length should be under 6 minutes. Between 6 and 9 minutes, engagement drops slightly.

Image from Brame, 2015.

After 9 minutes, engagement drops considerably, and if your video is over 12 minutes, you have a real problem on your hands. It is important to note that the majority of these studies have been conducted on young adults, so for younger students try to keep it 6 minutes or under (Brame, 2015).

These time recommendations can make educators anxious. It can be hard to imagine how to synthesize concepts or skills in such a short span of time. One of the beauties of instructional video creation is it forces you to think about delivering content in a lean way. What is essential? What is not? And where can students discover the content for themselves without you walking them through the process?

A simple way to make videos short is by chunking more frequently. Educators are used to thinking about lessons in 45-, 60-, or 90-minute blocks of time. When you use instructional videos, those constraints disappear. A 10-minute lecture that is designed as part of a 60-minute lesson can be chunked into two 5-minute videos, each of which then becomes part of a 30-minute lesson (Ibrahim et al., 2012).

It also helps to speak quickly and enthusiastically. Teachers are used to speaking slowly and enunciating very clearly, but that is not necessary in a screencast; in fact, it can be quite boring. Instead, speak fast and use conversational language to bring your authentic self into the picture (Guo et al., 2014). Don't worry that students won't be able to follow if you speak too quickly; they can always rewind the video and watch sections again. And don't be afraid to make mistakes-a few of these will make your video sound more genuine.

Video Design

Next let's talk about design principles. First off, minimize text (Guo et al., 2014). Nothing is less engaging than an instructional video with a whole bunch of typed up text. It is especially redundant when you simply read the text during the recording. You might as well just send them a document and have them read it over instead. When possible, always accompany what you say with visuals (Brame, 2015).

Second, instructional videos do not need to be pretty; they need to be personal. Your students want to hear from you; otherwise you could just send them existing videos from YouTube. Research has shown that engagement increases when students know their own teacher is behind the screen delivering the instruction (Li et al., 2016).

Lastly, interactivity is engaging. Embedding pop-up questions into your videos provides great checks for understanding. Moreover, accompanying videos with guided notes helps kids stay focused and ensures that the information travels with them to their next task or assignment (Lawson et al., 2006; Vural, 2013; Zhang et al., 2006).

Don't Forget to Plan First

As with any lesson, good advance planning is essential. Don't just find a software, fire it up and start screencasting. This usually leads to long, dry videos that generally disregard the research. When we train educators to build instructional videos, we tell them that the large bulk of the work will be equal parts planning and recording. The rest of the time is devoted to enhancing your videos and sharing them out with your students.

In most cases, planning your video means putting together the visuals. We find the easiest tools for this are PowerPoint or Google Slides: You'd design the slideshow, then present that as the visual component of your screencast while narrating with your voice. Depending on the content area, these slide decks can look quite different from one another, but the best ones are highly visual and include a nice balance of new information and examples, with as little text as possible.

Other educators will use guided notes instead of slides. If you have already built a nice series of guided notes that would accompany your in-person lectures, those can work really well as the background of your instructional video. Whether you use a slideshow or guided notes, about 40 percent of the time you spend building your screencast should be spent preparing this part.

Finding the Right Recording Tool

If you haven't noticed already, there seems to be an endless stream of edtech products that all allow you to accomplish very similar tasks. This is especially the case for screencasting, so to keep things simple, I'll just recommend a few tools I know are good. Once you've learned those, it's pretty easy to transfer those skills to other tools you might want to try.

The big distinction in screencasting tools depends on whether you have a touchscreen device. While not required, touchscreen devices with styluses (tablets and 2-in-1 laptops) unleash a whole new frontier of functionality. Here is how you should think about the two options:

Interactive Whiteboards

(for touchscreen devices only)

If you have a touchscreen device, we encourage educators to use screencasting tools that serve as interactive whiteboards. Our favorite is Explain Everything. The beauty of a tool like Explain Everything is it acts like a highly interactive digital whiteboard with a built-in recorder and editing tool. More importantly, you get to control the background of your whiteboard. Instead of writing on a blank canvas, you're able to upload visuals-slide decks or guided notes-to become the background of your interactive whiteboard.

Here is an example of one of my Explain Everything videos: Independent vs. Dependent Variables.

For educators looking to learn how to use Explain Everything and all of its tools, you can access our comprehensive tutorial on our online course* or by clicking directly here: Explain Everything Tutorial. If you do go this route, make sure you have a stylus to annotate. We recommend the Meko Universal Stylus because it is affordable but allows for really clean and clear annotations with a high level of precision.

Traditional Screencasters

If you do not have a touchscreen device (most people don't) then do not worry! Traditional screencasters will still get the job done. With the right planning in place, you can create really high-quality, engaging videos. When picking an effective screencaster, you want to look for one that gives you a high level of flexibility, strong editing tools, annotation capabilities, and a webcam function. The most important editing function is the capacity to "truncate." This allows you to scroll to a specific point in a video and re-record when you make an inexcusable mistake without having to redo the whole thing.

Our favorite screencaster is Screencast-O-Matic. It is really easy to use and has all the functionality you need. The free version is ok, but the paid version is worth the upgrade for the added features. Here is our full Screencast-O-Matic Tutorial which can also be found on our online course*. There are many other screencasters out there with similar functionality. The product does not really matter much if it covers all the key components; in the end, it will come down to how you use it.

Since it is difficult to annotate or write using a traditional screencaster, you have to make up for that lack of functionality with animations; these allow you to show lines of text or bullet points one at a time, as you're speaking, rather than all at once. This minimizes the stress that students feel to write down everything immediately, and keeps them focused on each point of your video as you discuss it. Slide decks that are animated to slow-release information lead to far more engaging videos for students. But make sure the animations are simple and have a purpose. Avoid flashy animations and unnecessary sound effects; they prove to be more distracting than beneficial.

Recording: The Most Relaxing Part

Once you have selected your screencasting program and completed the planning process, it's time to start recording. For some educators, this is anxiety producing. Do your best to relax; the more authentic you are, the better.

Before you start, make sure you are in a quiet room and try to get headphones with a mic. For years I have used simple apple headphones with a mic. If you are looking for a more advanced option, consider a headset with an adjustable mic. When you are recording, you should have one goal in mind: Never speak without doing something on the screen.

Interactive Whiteboard (only if you have a touchscreen device): When using an interactive whiteboard, this is a relatively easy task. When possible, write on the screen. If you are reading text or images, constantly annotate.

Traditional Screencasters: When using a traditional screencaster, this can be a little more challenging. As you read text or discuss images on the screen, consider using your on-screen pen or cursor-just as you might use a finger in person-to follow along with the text. When possible, underline and circle key information. This is when animations will make your life a lot easier (Ibrahim et al., 2012).

Remember not to get bogged down in little mistakes. When they do happen, use the truncate function as opposed to re-recording. If you're feeling nervous, consider writing out a script for yourself. Speak quickly and genuinely and before you know it, you will have a solid and engaging video.

Making it Interactive

Once you are done recording your video, consider how you can make it interactive. You can build a fantastic video that follows all the right research, but without tools designed to ensure students are following along, there is a good chance they will inevitably check out.

Research shows that two simple strategies can increase student engagement with instructional videos:

Embedded Questions

One of the most important features of in-person lectures or discussions is the check for understanding. It is both an opportunity for teachers to get a temperature check on student learning and a chance for students to identify their own misconceptions. The problem with most checks for understanding is that they only engage a small percentage of students. That is not the case with instructional videos. When you upload your videos to a platform like Edpuzzle, you can embed questions and comments at key points in the video that EVERY student has to engage with. We recommend that you use closed-response (multiple-choice) questions so that students get immediate feedback on their responses. If you want to track responses, you can build classes on Edpuzzle to track the data. Here's our tutorial on how to use Edpuzzle.

Guided Notes

An easy way to ensure kids are paying attention during an instructional video is to require the completion of guided notes. The challenge is making sure that your notes support learning as opposed to being an unnecessary and tedious barrier. (For an overview of how to put guided notes together, click here.) As your students watch your videos, they should take notes on key content. If you require students to take freehand notes, you will find that some will flourish, but the large bulk will struggle. It will also extend the video watching experience and in turn take away from the rest of the lesson which is likely more engaging. Instead, consider simply providing students with copies of your slides-on paper or digitally-and allowing them to annotate these slides with you as they follow along. If you are not comfortable with that, provide an explicit note-taking model for students, such as Cornell notes, to provide them with a clear structure.

The enhancing phase of building instructional videos is easy to overlook. But it should only take 10-20 minutes per video and can have a major impact on engagement.

Next Steps on Your Screencasting Journey

Like any new skill worth learning, screencasts require planning and practice. But with time they can become an essential teaching tool - whether you're physically in the classroom or not. Research on our Modern Classroom Fellows has shown that when you use screencasts to allow for self-paced learning and mastery-based grading, it substantially improves your capacity to effectively differentiate instruction.

If you are looking for more resources and support through this process, we can help. For educators who are looking to dig deeper into our resources, see exemplar units, or learn how to incorporate videos into a fully self-paced, mastery-based classroom, our free online course can be accessed here, which includes unlimited access to our content and tutorials.

Finally, for any teachers who want help creating videos and running a self-paced, mastery-based class, we offer our Modern Classrooms Mentorship Program*. Every participant in this program is matched with an expert mentor from our Modern Classrooms team, who provides:

1. Feedback on every assignment you submit, from instructional videos to progress trackers to mastery checks

2. On-demand, 1-1 personalized virtual coaching

3. Three Continuing Education Units (CEUs) from George Mason University upon completion

Our mentors have experience creating instructional videos for students across a wide range of grade levels and subject areas, and they stand ready to share their expertise. If you're interested in enrolling, you can save $50 at any time with the coupon code CULTOFPEDAGOGY.

Whether you take our free course, pay for additional support, or simply read this article, we hope you'll join us in using instructional videos to create better learning experiences for all students.

* Cult of Pedagogy has an affiliate relationship with the Building Modern Classrooms Project. Although the Modern Classroom Essentials course is free, if you purchase one of their paid offerings through the links on this post, Cult of Pedagogy will receive a percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you.
References:
Brame, C. (2015). Effective educational videos. Retrieved April 19, 2020, from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/effective-educational-videos/

Guo, P. J., Kim, J., & Rubin, R. (2014, March). How video production affects student engagement: An empirical study of MOOC videos. In Proceedings of the first ACM conference on Learning@ scale conference (pp. 41-50). Retrieved from https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2556325.2566239

Ibrahim, M., Antonenko, P. D., Greenwood, C. M., & Wheeler, D. (2012). Effects of segmenting, signalling, and weeding on learning from educational video. Learning, Media and Technology, 37(3), 220-235. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ980817

Li, J., Kizilcec, R., Bailenson, J., & Ju, W. (2016). Social robots and virtual agents as lecturers for video instruction. Computers in Human Behavior, 55, 1222-1230. Retrieved from https://rene.kizilcec.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/li2015social.pdf

Lawson, T. J., Bodle, J. H., Houlette, M. A., & Haubner, R. R. (2006). Guiding questions enhance student learning from educational videos. Teaching of Psychology, 33(1), 31-33. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1207/s15328023top3301_7

Vural, O. F. (2013). The Impact of a Question-Embedded Video-based Learning Tool on E-learning. Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice, 13(2), 1315-1323. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1017292

Zhang, D., Zhou, L., Briggs, R. O., & Nunamaker Jr, J. F. (2006). Instructional video in e-learning: Assessing the impact of interactive video on learning effectiveness. Information & management, 43(1), 15-27. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378720605000170

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Everything You Need to Know About Building a Great Screencast Video

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Moving some of your instruction to video? Learn how to plan, record, and enhance screencast videos students will actually watch.

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The Educator's Guide to Flipgrid eBook.pdf

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What is a backchannel?
A backchannel is essentially a classroom conversation that takes place alongside a class. With the advent of technology in the classroom, backchannels can now take place digitally, in or out of the classroom.

How can a backchannel be used in the classroom?
Opening up a backchannel in your class can serve numerous purposes. It can allow quieter students to fully participate in class. By setting up a digital backchannel using one of the below apps, quieter students can simply log in and share their question or comment. It can supplement your teaching by allowing for discussions outside of the classroom. Students and teachers can participate in a supplemental dialogue about the subject after class is over.
Apps that can be used for a class digital backchannel include:

1. Backchannel Chat: An app and a website, Backchannel Chat gives the teacher control about what is discussed in the backchannel. Discussions can be archived and available for future reference. Another great aspect of this app is that every post in the backchannel can be moderated by the teacher and must be approved before posted for all to see. Along with the website, there's an app for Android and iOS.

2. Padlet: Create a wall that pertains to a specific topic or chapter and use it as a backchannel. Allow students to comment and ask questions on the board. Make sure and turn on the profanity filter.

3. PollEverywhere: In the same way you opened a Padlet wall, start a discussion in PollEverywhere. Use the app or the website to let students communicate with you. Use PollEverywhere while students are working on a project or classwork. Great for students that are timid in the classroom.

4. Recap: Students can use the app or access the website to ask questions or comment. Set up a topic and allow students to present their questions or ideas.

5. Google Slides Q & A: If you use Google Slides to do a presentation, you've got to use Google Slides Q&A as a backchannel. Simply go to your audience tools and start a new Q&A. During the presentation, a url is presented at the top of the presentation, directing students where to go to ask a question or make a comment. Students can vote on which questions or comments are the best then, at the end of the presentation, the teacher can choose to display the comments while they address them.

6. Verso: Verso is unique in that when you post an activity to discuss, it allows you to post a recording of yourself giving directions, a document from your Google Drive, or attach a link for students to access. Verso provides an option that allows the teacher, to include certain vocabulary. The other thing that's unique about Verso is that, as the teacher, you can access classroom stats, showing who has participated in your discussions and how often. Verso is available on the web at Verso app.com as well as an app.

7. Slack: Slack is not only great for business teams, but it can be used in classrooms as well. Set up channels for different class topics. Use separate channels for comments and questions. As the teacher, send out discussion topics and ask students to comment. Send students feedback on their work in class.

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What is a backchannel? A backchannel is essentially a classroom conversation that takes place alongside a class. With the advent of technology in the classroom, backchannels can now take place digitally, in or out of the classroom. How can a backchannel be used in the classroom?

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As entire countries are closing schools in the wake of COVID-19, we are experiencing some unprecedented challenges in our learning communities. In addition to the logistical headaches of closing buildings, handling parent communication, and getting families the tools they need for remote learning, we also have to grapple with how to bring the humanity of face-to-face learning into a fully disembodied experience.

How do we disconnect from the physical space of the classroom without disconnecting from the community? And how do we guide our students to maintain the expectations and codes of civility that govern our physical spaces?

To answer these questions, we turned to our talented community of educators to share their experiences with online learning and using Pear Deck to connect with remote learners. Below, Pear Deck Coach Stacey Roshan presents her experience and recommendations for creating success in an online classroom.

By Stacey Roshan
Math teacher, Director of Innovation & Educational Technology at Bullis School
When I started teaching a purely online version of AP Calculus several years ago, one of my biggest goals in designing the class was to keep the collaboration and personalization alive in an online environment. Making the course feel connected-both student-to-student and teacher-to-student-was one of my top priorities. I wanted to ensure that my students felt they were part of a class community, working together to build and strengthen understanding, and strongly connected to me, their teacher.

With these goals in mind, I carefully selected tech tools to help me achieve my goals. I knew right away that Pear Deck was going to play a key role in how my students and I would interact. With Pear Deck's Teacher Dashboard, I can see students writing in real time, even though we are all in different physical places. Since I don't see students working problems in the classroom, seeing them work through the problems during this session gives me incredibly valuable feedback and insight into their understanding.

Whether you're using Pear Deck with a remote classroom temporarily or for the semester, here are my top 3 tips for using Pear Deck in an online classroom setting:

Create lessons that students can interact with at their own pace

Using Pear Deck's Student-Paced Mode, I can assign a lesson where I can see students working in real time through the teacher dashboard. There is no passing back and forth of files, everything students do is automatically recorded in Pear Deck. And, after all students have completed their work, I can publish Pear Deck Takeaways to provide students more in-depth feedback or to give students a copy of their work as reference.

I've created a video to walk you through creating a Student-Paced lesson with Pear Deck.

Engage students in a synchronous, virtual class session

While most of the course work in my virtual classroom is asynchronous, I find it beneficial to host regular Zoom sessions that the whole class joins. With students problem-solving and responding through Pear Deck, I can see them working in real time through Pear Deck's Teacher Dashboard. I can even share anonymous student work using Zoom's screen share functionality, so that we can discuss and analyze what the class is saying, instead of keeping the focus on just my solutions as the teacher.

The video below walks you through using Pear Deck with a web session, like Zoom or Google Hangouts.

Use the Drawing Slides to create instructional content

I can sign into the same Deck I assign students and, using Pear Deck's Drawing slides, mark up the presentation for discussion and reflection. You can do this in advance of the lesson to create a screencast, or publish marked-up notes using Pear Deck Takeaways at the end of a lesson to create a solution guide/handout.

I also frequently do this while teaching via webcast, responding to the questions alongside my students so that we can compare all responses, mine included. To do this, I create some slides that are more instructional, and I mark up the slide as we talk. While I do this, some students write on their slides to take notes, or some just watch, depending on how they learn best. Other slides are meant for students to work through on their own. After a few minutes of work time, I can choose to show responses on my Pear Deck projector view so that we can analyze the responses that students have contributed.
I've created the video below to show you how to join your lesson and mark up your own slides for live instruction or student guides.

Overall, one of the biggest keys to building trust and success in remote classrooms is ensuring that both students and parents understand the class format and expectations. I am honest with my students in explaining my why, and I also provide them opportunities to give me feedback and ideas. While it may be an adjustment at first, developing my online class has taken my teaching practice to the next level.

While remote learning may mean students are more often working alone or at their own pace, we love that Stacey finds ways to bring her students together for real-time connection. Digital technology makes it easier than ever before to provide learning opportunities outside of the classroom. Those opportunities are even more effective with the chance to learn from peers, to articulate thoughts in real-time, and to interact with one another.

In an effort to support educators and schools impacted by current closures, we've compiled a collection of resources including planning documents, communication tools, lesson templates, and content sources, available at peardeck.com/staying-connected. We are also offering 90 days of free access to Pear Deck Premium for any educator or school impacted by an emergency closure; to learn more, visit peardeck.com/stay-connected.

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Keeping Classrooms Connected with Pear Deck - Pear Deck

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How do we disconnect from the physical space of the classroom without disconnecting from the community? And how do we guide our students to maintain the expectations and codes of civility that govern our physical spaces? Pear Deck Coach Stacey Roshan helps us answer these questions and gives her bes

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Screencasting tools are a popular option for use in schools. At their most basic they allow you to record a video of what is on your computer screen, along with your voice, and depending on the program perhaps your webcam as well. Some may go further to provide you with annotation tools to write on or highlight portions of the screen while recording.

There are many tools and programs that can be used for screencasting, and better yet, there are many ways for students and educators to use such tools for teaching and learning.

In this blog post we are going to take a look at seven creative activities that can be done with screencasting. Although these activities can likely be done with many of the common screencasting tools available, for the demonstrations I have included here I will be using the free Screencastify Chrome web extension.

See below for a detailed tutorial video as well as seven examples of how your students and you can spice up learning with screencasting!

Session Resources
Tutorial Video (1 hour)

Below is the full 1-hour training video on " Super Screencastify Activities for Schools". You can watch the entire video below, or further down in this post you can watch shorter portions of the video explaining each of the seven ways to use screencasting in your classroom.

1) Instructional Videos

We will start off with what is probably the most common use of screencasting, which is to create videos to teach a concept. These could be videos to teach students subject content, how to solve a problem, introduce a new topic, or such. Or these could be videos for teachers instead, such as technology tutorials on how to use the latest features of Google Classroom. Whatever the case, there are several benefits to using screencasting to make instructional videos:

Flipping - Students can watch these instructional videos outside of traditional class time to prepare for the more hands-on application work they will do in class.

Remediation - Students the need extra help can watch videos to gain more instruction, with the option to rewind and rewatch as needed.

Enrichment - Students that are ready for additional content or challenges can use your recorded screencasts to extend their learning.

Differentiation - There is only one of you, but there can be loads of videos you have created, allowing students to explore different content as needed or desired.

Independence - With recorded screencasts students and teachers can get help on their own initiative and on their own time, without having to get face to face help for everything.

See below for the portion of my recorded webinar that specifically addresses using screencasting for instructional videos:

2) Narrating Slideshows

One of the most common questions I get concerning Google Slides is if users can record their voice to add narration to the presentation. Unfortunately Slides does not currently offer an option to record and embed audio. However, screencasting can be used to record a video of the slideshow along with you speaking.

This could be used in several scenarios:
Whatever the purpose, here are a few tips to make the narration successful:

First, use the "Publish to the web" option to run the slideshow full-tab.

To do this, click "File" then "Publish to the web" then "Publish".

You will now get a link for the presentation.

Copy that link and then paste it into the URL bar in a new browser tab.

The slideshow will now display in presentation mode filling up the entire browser tab.

You can now record your screencast while speaking and clicking through the presentation.

See below for the portion of my recorded webinar that specifically addresses using screencasting to narrate a slideshow:

3) Explain Student Understanding

When assessing student learning we try to discover what student understand and where their misconceptions are. Sometimes this can be a challenge when simply looking at a written answer on a worksheet. How much better to allow the student to explain what they know in their own words. Screencasting can be a great way for students to express their understanding.

A student can record themselves:

Sharing their thoughts on the latest chapter they read in the class novel.

Working out a math problem on a virtual whiteboard while talking through the steps.

Summarizing what they learning in today's lesson.

Explaining the main points of the essay, story, or report that wrote.

In each case you will be able to get a much clearer picture of what the student understands, identify misunderstandings, and move into higher-level Bloom's skills. This also can help address cheating concerns that are so common when working in a digital environment. It may be easy to copy the answers to a multiple-choice assessment, but it is more difficult to cheat if the assignment is to explain something on video in your own words. For more resources, see my post on " Addressing student cheating in Google Apps".
See below for the portion of my recorded webinar that specifically addresses using screencasting for students to explain their understanding:

A fun activity for screencasting is to take an existing video, mute the audio, and then re-record the video with your own narration. Dubbing a video can be used for many educational activities including:

Practice translation - Students can take a video in a foreign language and speak the dialog in their own language, or vice versa they can take a video in their native language and speak it in a language they are learning.

Interpret a story - Students could act out a scene from a movie or show verbatim. This would give them the opportunity to act out the text to express their understanding of the story.

Reinterpret a story - Or students could rewrite the original dialog in more modern language, or in simpler terms, or just in a new style. Again this would allow them to show their understanding of the purpose and themes of the original story. For example, they could write contemporary dialog for Hamlet.

Tell a whole new story - Or students could be totally creative and make up a completely new story, replacing the original dialog with a new narrative that fits the actions being shown on screen.

Create commentary - Finally students could make their own commentary track for a video. This could be them describing what is happening, or offering their critique, telling a historical backstory, or explaining a scientific concept that can be seen in the video

Whatever the reason, there are a few steps to consider when doing a dubbing activity for best results:

Pay the video full tab.

Set a start and stop time, if needed.

Mute the audio of the video, so only you will be heard.

For details on the technical steps needed to do all of that, see my earlier blog post on " Video Dubbing Learning Activities for Students"
See below for the portion of my recorded webinar that specifically addresses using screencasting to dub a video:

5) Give a Speech or Performance

Standing up in front of a class or group of students to give a speech, sing a song, or play an instrument can be a very stressful situation for students. It is very easy for their nerves to get in the way so that the student's performance is a poor representation of what they really know. One option to help with this is to allow students to record themselves with a screencast.

Although we often think of screencasting as recording your screen, most tools will also allow you to just record your webcam. Students can record themselves giving their speech or performing their music in the privacy of their own home. This can have several benefits:

The student will be much less nervous you will get a more accurate measure of what they know or can do.

The student will likely do the recording multiple times to get it perfect, encouraging lots of practice and repetition.

The student will likely gain confidence, as the screencast serves as a stepping stone to presenting live eventually.

See below for the portion of my recorded webinar that specifically addresses using screencasting for a student to give a speech or performance:

Another useful way to use screencasting is for a student to practice their reading fluency. As a teacher you can provide your student with a Google Doc or a website that has the text they need to read. The student can then record the text on the screen, along with their voice as they practice reading the content. This could be useful for young students still learning to read, as well as ELL students or students learning a world language.

A great benefit of this is the ability of the teacher to listen and re-listen to the recording as much as needed to identify errors and needs. Additionally since the recording is digital, it will be easy to share it with other colleagues for their input, or to play for parents to show student progress.

For more resources on technology tools for world language fluency see my post " 5 Fantastic Fluency Tools for Speaking World Languages".

See below for the portion of my recorded webinar that specifically addresses using screencasting for a student to practice fluency:

A final example activity for screencasting is to provide more personalized feedback on student work. This can be a teacher giving feedback to a student, or it could be students giving peer feedback on student work. Feedback is such a critical part of the revision process, but often gets left out due to the amount of time it can take.

However, by using a screencast, you can simply record the screen with the student's work displayed, and then talk as you explain the strengths of the work and what needs improvement, pointing things out with the mouse or by highlighting. When done, a link to the recording can be pasted into the student's document so they can simply click the link to view your personal video feedback.

For more resources on feedback options for student work, see my post on " Four Fantastic Feedback Tools for Google Docs".

See below for the portion of my recorded webinar that specifically addresses using screencasting to provide feedback:

As mentioned before, there are many tools that can be used for screencasting. Chances are that the activities described above could be accomplished with many of these tools. However, one tool I would certainly recommend for students and teachers is Screencastify for several reasons:

Screencastify has a free version that will do everything you need.

With the free version you can record up to 10 minutes at a time.

You can record your entire desktop, a tab in your browser, and/or your webcam.

It includes annotation tools that can be used during the recording.

When done, the video can be saved automatically to your Google Drive, but can also be downloaded to your computer or uploaded to YouTube.

To use Screencastify do the following:
Begin by installing the Screencastify extension from the Chrome Web Store: Chrome Web Store link

Note: Because this is a Chrome Extensions, you need to be using Chrome on a PC, Mac, or Chromebook to be able to use this tool.

After installing the extension, click on its icon once to set up its one-time initial configuration. Screencastify will ask for three permissions to be set.

First, Screencastify will ask for permission to use your webcam and microphone, which you will need to allow.

Next, it will ask where to save your videos. I recommend having the videos saved to Google Drive since you have unlimited storage in Google Apps for Education and the videos are easy to share with others. When asked, you will need to give permission for Screencastify to save to your Drive.

For the last permission, it will ask to be able to record your browser tabs.

Screencastify is now setup and ready for use!
See below for the portion of my recorded webinar that specifically addresses how to install and configure Screencastify:

Conclusion

Screencasting is an easy tool that can have a powerful impact on learning. Although it can be used for instructional videos, it is much more versatile and can lend itself to a variety of student projects for creativity and communication.

How else have you and your students used screencasting tools in school? Please share your ideas and experiences in the comments below.

Post by Eric Curts. Connect with Eric on Twitter at twitter.com/ericcurts and on Google+ at plus.google.com/+EricCurts1

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7 Super Screencasting Activities for School

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Overview

The Formative Assessment Slide Templates were created by our team of educators. You can add these templates to any Pear Deck lesson to help your students warm up for the day, think more deeply about any subject, reflect on the lesson, and more! They are available inside of the Template Library, and include Beginning, During, and End of lesson templates for any subject or grade level, Newsela Social-Emotional Learning templates, Math, and Critical Thinking templates. Keep reading to learn how you can add these awesome templates to your presentation!

In this article, you can learn about:

How to get the Slide Templates

The Template Types

Example Templates in Action

How to get the Slide Templates

First, make sure to create your Pear Deck account. Go to peardeck.com and click Teacher Login. You can log into Pear Deck with a Google account or a Microsoft 365 account. Finally, open the Pear Deck for Google Slides Add-on or the Pear Deck for PowerPoint Online Add-in.
If you're using Pear Deck for Google Slides...
Many of the templates can be added directly from inside of the Google Slides Add-on sidebar. Additional templates, as well as Example Decks, can viewed and copied from the Pear Deck Examples page.
If you're using Pear Deck for PowerPoint Online...
First, download the templates. Then, upload them to OneDrive. Finally, open and copy them into the presentation of your choice. PowerPoint Online users can access the Template Library in the PowerPoint Add-in sidebar, or go to the Pear Deck Templates website.

Please note: You can change the background image, text, or question type of any Slide Template that you add to your presentation! The templates are meant to jumpstart your use of Interactive Slides so that you can create amazing moments of classroom collaboration and engagement. You can change the question, font, theme, text color, background image - anything that enhances your lesson! Just make sure to keep the bar with the Pear on the bottom of the slide. If it's deleted, the slide will no longer be interactive.

Template Types
Beginning of Lesson
This group of templates can be used to introduce your lesson and get minds moving. These include easy-to-use warm-up, temperature check, and reflection slides.
During Lesson
Slides in this section could be used to prompt additional thought, discussion, or deeper engagement. Slide types include true/false, checks for understanding, summary, diagrams, maps, graphs, and more. These flexible slide types can be customized to an unlimited array of subjects.
End of Lesson
Wrap up class with opportunities for reflection and exit tickets.
Critical Thinking and Math
The Critical Thinking and Math Templates are not currently located in the Pear Deck Sidebar. But worry not! You can still view and copy Critical Thinking templates for Google Slides here, copy Math Templates for Google Slides here, and download all templates for PowerPoint Online here.

Example Templates in Action
Warm-Up Slide
The Warm-Up Slide template is a great way to get students accessing prior knowledge about the day's topic.

Slide in the editor, prior to the presentation. Students will respond by drawing on the slide.

Student View during the presentation with an example answer.
Reflection Slide
The Reflection Slide template gives students an opportunity to think about something and put their thoughts into words.

Slide in the editor, prior to the presentation. Students will be able to respond by typing into a text box next to the slide.

Student View of the slide during the presentation with an example answer.
Temperature Check Slide
The Temperature Check template is good for getting a quick read on your class. Are they getting it? Not getting it? Ready to move on?

Slide in the editor, prior to the presentation. Students will be able to respond by dragging the red dot.

Student View of the slide during the presentation with an example answer.
Exit Ticket
The Exit Ticket template lets you see what students are taking away from the lesson and hopefully helps the main takeaway sink in before they're off to the next class.

Slide in the editor, prior to the presentation. Students will be able to draw on the slide.

Student View of the slide during the presentation with an example answer.

That's it for now! You've learned about the Formative Assessment Templates in Pear Deck for Google Slides.

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The Formative Assessment Slide Templates were created by our team of educators. You can add these templates to any Pear Deck lesson to help your students warm up for the day, think more deeply about any subject, reflect on the lesson, and more!

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Mlf America April 2020

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on the app

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How to create a quiz (a kahoot) in the Kahoot! app

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You have probably already heard of Flipgrid and perhaps even started using it, at least to some degree. It definitely seems to be the perfect tool to support students in many ways, not to mention using it as a way to provide peer- and content-support to teachers.

As I have worked with teachers and administrators, though, it seems that most folks using Flipgrid aren't making the most of some great features it offers. I usually hear from educators, after sharing Flipgrid as part of a larger training, that they wish they knew about the features sooner and are stoked to start using it in even more engaging ways. You could say that they caught #flipgridFever!

Update Your Profile

Begin by making sure that your profile is updated. Don't be shy. This will allow others to better connect with you. Click on your image in the top right and select Profile. Select a photo or avatar for your profile picture. If you have a picture that has a busy background or you want to use a quick editing tool to remove the background (as I did on my bitmoji image), go to remove.bg , upload, and edit your image as needed.

Once done editing, download your image and upload it for your profile by clicking on your current Flipgrid profile image. For your account information, be sure to choose all the grades and subjects that you have experience with. Complete the most current bio description of who you are and what you do within the 256-character limit. Lastly, share how you would like to connect by providing any social media information or links. When done, click the Update Profile button. Now, let's jump into some useful tools.

1. GridPals

GridPals is, as you may have deduced, Flipgrid's version of pen pals. It's a super easy way to connect with other educators and enthusiasts to further learning and improve education.

Begin by clicking on the #GridPals link at the top of your Flipgrid screen (assuming you are on a computer). Change your status from Hidden to Active so that you and others can find each other and connect. A window will pop up allowing you to edit your profile and add the location where you are. For mine, I entered Austin, Texas, United States. Click the Next button to continue. You are now able to give permission for other GridPals to contact you. Plus, Flipgrid never shares your contact email with them until you reply, so you have complete control. Edit/add any social connections if you would like and then click the Join GridPals! button. Woohoo! You are now in the GridPals group!

So, what do you do if you don't have students? Why would you want to be a part of GridPals? Even if you don't have students, you might be asked to share with a group of students because of your job or area of expertise. It also helps you stay up-to-date on how others are using Flipgrid in the classroom, from early childhood up through college!

2. Disco Library

Yep, Flipgrid has a disco library. Well, in layman's terms, it might better be called a template gallery, but "disco library" is so much more hip and exciting!

In the Disco Library, you can access templates that other educators have created to spark new ideas of interacting with your students, as well as jump start your process. No need to start a topic from scratch if someone else has already created it for you. Flipgrid also lets you know the following when you enter the Disco Library:

No student videos will be shared when a Topic is added to the Disco Library.

You can edit Topic information before or after you share. Topics can be removed at any time.

Other Flipgrid educators will not see that you've added their Topic template and vice versa.

Using Weekly Hits

The #FlipgridWeeklyHits shares 50 topic templates that you might be interested in. You can scroll (left-to-right) through the list of thumbnails or click on the View All link to jump down to the list as a set of search results. Scrolling through the list, I have found several that spark creative ideas of how I can support students that I haven't thought of before using a specific student standard, or support teachers with a unique area to share on a particular topic that is meaningful to those like-minded teachers. It's almost like a PLN (professional leaning network) in Flipgrid!

After clicking on the View All link, you will drop down to the list and be able to see who the topic template creator identified as the audience, the subject area, how many times it has been used, and how many favorites it has. Just click on the topic template to get more information about the topic. If you want to use it, just select which of your grids you want to add it to.

Featured Disco Playlists are sets of topic templates provided by various organizations such as code.org , Wonderopolis , Hacking for STEM , and more. When you find topic templates that you like, either as part of a playlist, a weekly hit, or ones that you find by using the search feature, click the Add to Favs at the top of the descriptive window about the template. This will allow you to begin creating your own playlist of favorites to share with others.

Using the Disco Library

The easiest way to add one of your topics to the Disco Library is to go to the list of topics within the grid you want to share. If you want to share multiple topics to the Disco Library, you'll need to share each one individually. And remember, no student videos currently in your topic will be included in the template.

Right-click on the Actions button of the topic you want to share and select Add to Disco Library. Your topic will be submitted to the Flipgrid team to review for appropriateness and value. You will notice your stats near the top letting you know how many topics you've added (once they are accepted and added), how many times they have been used, and how much video engagement (hours/minutes/seconds) has been generated.

3. MixTapes

No, this isn't creating mixtapes on cassettes like we might have done back in the '80s and '90s to give to someone special. This is a whole new way of sharing - but based on the same principle.

A mixtape is a compilation of any videos that are in any of your topics, in any of your grids. Begin by adding a new mixtape, which really means creating a folder for the videos you want to add.

Once a mixtape is created, go into the various topics and locate the videos you want to add. Right-click on the Actions button of the video to add and select Add to MixTapes. Select the specific mixtape to add it to and click the Add button. Voilà! You are now on the way to being a mixtape master. Now all you need to do is go to the specific mixtape and click on the blue Share button. You can easily share you a specific mixtape via url, QR code, embed code, Google Classroom, and via Remind.

Using MixTapes

Consider making a mixtape as a study aid or glossary for your students as they review information for a major test. If you work with teachers, then consider creating a mixtape of them sharing ideas of how they are making a difference in their classroom or how they are implementing a particular strategy in their classroom that the whole campus (or district) is working on.

For example, if I'm working with ELA teachers across the district, I may create a topic in which they share how they are implementing the new ELA standards, tips or tricks they have to share for other teachers, or ways they are implementing something they learned while in our district professional development time. I could then make a mixtape of several of the videos to create a synopsis of great things that are going on, and I might share this mixtape with principals so they can get an idea of how ELA teachers at other campuses are setting an example.

4. Shorts

Shorts are brief videos, no longer than three minutes, that you (as the teacher) can create to share how-to's, introduce a lesson, provide a video note to parents, or just share an update.

Once created, you can share in a variety of ways: by url, embed code, QR code, Google Classroom, via Remind, or download and share via Google Drive or YouTube as you might normally share a video. As when students are creating a video, you can add a filter, stickers, text, draw on the video, and even make use of Live Inking on a whiteboard or blackboard.

Live Inking is great when you have a digital pen or slate (so your writing is more legible) to use and need to create a quick tutorial video on something such as how to solve a binomial equation, explain in a simple manner what cloud computing is, or some other situation where it is helpful for the person to see you illustrate the concept or skill while hearing you talk; in this instance the video isn't on you but just the white/blackboard is being recorded. And if you right-click on the More icon (the three dots just to the right of the record icon), you can upload a sticker, which could signal to the students the topic or subject area or could be used as simple branding of your videos.

How Do You Use Flipgrid?

So how do you use Flipgrid? Which feature(s) have you found to be the most impactful? Even if you haven't had a chance to use Flipgrid, have you come across an innovative way to incorporate it in the teaching and learning process or in professional development? We'd love to hear from you!

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Four Features to Make Better Use of Flipgrid * TechNotes Blog

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You have probably already heard of Flipgrid and perhaps even started using it, at least to some degree. It definitely seems to be the perfect tool to support students in many ways, not to mention using it as a way to provide peer- and content-support to teachers.

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Enhance Accessibility
Combine written and audio instructions to ensure that students understand the material and the task at hand. Students can listen to the recording several times at their own pace. If you're working on strengthening students' listening strategies (who isn't?!) you could record your voice and add interactive prompts asking students to listen and interpret meaning from your voice and tone.

Social-Emotional Checks
We're all feeling the pain of physical separation right now. Try using Add Audio to leave students a message of encouragement and support. It means a lot to students to hear a trusted teacher's voice.

Instruction and Guidance
Add Audio can help you narrate your lesson, showcase solutions, or explain answers. In Student-Paced Mode, you can even use audio files to differentiate whole-group instruction! Start your lesson by setting general expectations on a single introductory slide and then break students into groups with instructions to start at different points in the Deck. (Group 1 go to Slide 2, Group 2 go to Slide 8, etc.) You can use audio instructions to help get students started on their unique assignments.

Read a Story
Younger students are probably really missing story time and the sound of your voice! Try reading one of your classroom's favorite books so they can listen at home. Students can download the audio file and listen later, too!

Guide Pronunciation
Help students learn new terms and make sure their pronunciation is on point! No matter what the subject, we all teach vocabulary. Make sure students aren't tripped up by tricky words by modeling new terms in an audio recording.

Add Audio is built into Pear Deck for Google Slides. Just open the Google Slides Add-in and look for the Add Audio to Slides button in the Sidebar. Students will see the option to listen or download the audio file on their Student View. You can learn more about this new Premium feature in our Knowledge Base article.

We can't wait to hear how you're using Add Audio in your remote lessons! Share with us on Twitter by tagging @PearDeck - we're all 👂!

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Enhance Remote Lessons with Audio - Pear Deck

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Enhance Accessibility Combine written and audio instructions to ensure that students understand the material and the task at hand. Students can listen to the recording several times at their own pace. If you're working on strengthening students' listening strategies (who isn't?!)

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Kahoot! Study | Flash cards, study groups and presentation layouts

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Kahoot! Study. Power your group study or self-learning at home, school, or on the go. Create and share kahoots, flashcards, and test yourself.

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Flipgrid - A Social Learning Platform

Guest Post by: Joe Merrill

Flipgrid is a social learning platform that allows educators to ask a question, then the students respond in a video. Students are then able to respond to one another, creating a "web" of discussion.

Now, you might ask..."Why can't they just talk to one another in person?"

The moment I knew that Flipgrid would change my classroom was when I was reviewing geometry with my first graders. I asked the students to show me what halves of various shapes look like. The students were using whiteboards to complete the work, then recording themselves on Flipgrid. One particularly bright student made a simple mistake, and I caught it monitoring the responses. However, before I could even walk over to her (30 seconds), 5 students had already responded with, "you might want to go back and check your work." Think about the potential of this for a moment...you have 18 students working on a math problem and they're sharing their thinking on Flipgrid. As they monitor each other's responses, they're exposed to 18 different ways of thinking - instead of just the one way that you might teach them. Flipgrid automatically elevates the academic level of the class, simply by asking students to use their voice.

Getting started with Flipgrid is easy. After you sign up, here are a few things that you should know:

A grid is your classroom or community of learners. If you're a middle / high school teacher, you may want to use "Period 1" or "Period 2" as grid titles. If you teach multiple courses, you can create grids for each class. If you're a general education teacher, you may just want to create one grid (example: "Mr. Merrill's Class") and use that to "host" all of your questions. After you name it, set the security settings. Only those with the grid URL can find your grid. PRO TIP: You can change your grid code to anything that you want! As long as the URL is available, you can use it!

Think of topics as questions your students discuss. When creating topics, you can upload a video, images, emojis, or even gifs. PRO TIP: Use these features for young learners who may have difficulty reading. This way, they'll be able to identify your question easily.

"What is the hype behind student voice?" The whole idea behind Flipgrid is to enhance student voice. The fact is simple...Flipgrid gives that kid in the back of the class a chance to have his / her voice heard. Not one person can dominate a class discussion on Flipgrid. That's because you have the ability to control video lengths. You can set permitted response times from as little as 15 seconds to 5 minutes.The result is a healthy dose of collaboration from your students.

"I heard Flipgrid merged with Microsoft. Do I need a Microsoft account?" Flipgrid recently merged with Microsoft. However, ALL educators can access Flipgrid for FREE. It doesn't matter if you're a Microsoft or Google district. Perhaps you don't have either? Everyone can sign up and use it!

If you're looking for a simple way to get started, I recommend checking out the "Discovery" library. There are thousands of activities that you can add to your own grid, with just a few clicks.

Nothing on Flipgrid is public until you make it public. Only those with your class code can obtain access. PRO TIP: If you'd like to share video responses with parents, I recommend selecting the video response, then tapping "share," and "generate a private response." By copying/pasting the generated URL, this provides a link to that video response ONLY. If you copy / paste the topic url, parents will be able to see other student's responses - which you may not want.

"I have shy students...help!" We all have shy students. If you have someone who is reluctant to go in front of the camera, here are a few options:

1. Have them record their work, and then voice over their thinking.

2. Try App Smashing (where students create something in one app, then upload it into another). If you're curious about how to get started with #appsmashing, check out my free e-book available or clicking on the image below.

The #FlipgridFever community is an incredible group of educators. They're ready and willing to share ideas - all for free. If you're on Twitter, just tweet out to #FlipgridFever and tag @Flipgrid in your post. Chances are, you'll have an answer back before you know it!

!

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How to use Flipgrid Social Learning Platform in the Classroom. Learn how students can amplify their voice and collaborate with one another through a web of video!

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Getting Started with Pear Deck to Make Your Google Slides Presentations Interactive

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If you are a teacher, we realize how busy you are adjusting to the new schedule of distance learning! Every month, we put together a list of resources for teachers like you to help you save time and make your schedule a little easier.

Read on for some tips and tricks!

Teacher's best practices for engaging distance learning

We're truly impressed with all the creative ways teachers around the world use Kahoot! to engage their students when schools are out

Read how Ashley Kollar extends learning into a virtual setting with student-paced Kahoot! Challenges. She combines them with Google Hangouts Meet so students can play from home even if they only have one device.

Reserve your spot in our free webinar series

New to distance learning? Join our free webinars where our ambassadors and EdTech gurus share best practices for using Kahoot! outside of the classroom. If you can't attend, we're also sharing recordings of all webinars.

Teacher makes virtual instruction awesome

Read this inspiring story where a science teacher and academic coach from China shares how he switched to distance learning. He made this new way of instruction work with Kahoot!, Zoom, and other web-based tools.

Distance learning resources

Engage students with these kahoots anywhere, anytime

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A roundup of resources of all things Kahoot! for schools and teachers | Kahoot!

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If you are a teacher, we realize how busy you are adjusting to the new schedule of distance learning! Every month, we put together a list of resources for teachers like you to help you save time and make your schedule a little easier. Read on for some tips and tricks!

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video- create a backchannel on Google Classroom

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Create a Backchannel in Google Classroom

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Join the Peartember celebration for giveaways, exclusive templates, and more! Learn more >

EFFORTLESSLY BUILD ENGAGING INSTRUCTIONAL CONTENT, RIGHT FROM GOOGLE SLIDES

The fastest way to transform presentations into classroom conversations

Imagine if you could engage every student in your class, every day. What if you could instantly see who's confused and who's ready for more? That's the power of Pear Deck. And now, with the Pear Deck for Google Slides Add-on, you can add the magic of formative assessments and interactive questions to your presentations right from Google Slides.

Design brilliant slides & engage your class

Open up Google Slides & the Pear Deck sidebar

Design a new presentation or open an existing one in Slides. Just getting started with Google Slides? Upload your PowerPoint or Keynote lessons to Google Slides and get going!

DROP IN FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS

Our team of educators created a library of templates to support learning objectives typically found at the beginning, middle, and end of a class. Think: bell ringers, checks for understanding, exit tickets, and more. Simply drop in one of these templates for instant engagement and watch your class transform.

Create custom questions

You can always create your own custom activity or question from scratch. Use Text, Number Response, Multiple Choice, and Web Slide questions to engage students. Or upgrade to Pear Deck Premium to add Drawing and Draggable™ response types.

ADD AUDIO TO ANY SLIDE TYPE

With the Pear Deck Add-on, you can leave audio instructions, descriptions, or examples for your students to hear while they read the prompts and respond to Interactive Questions in your Pear Deck Slides presentations. Make a new recording instantly or upload one from your computer. The recordings you insert will play in the Student View of your live presentation Sessions, so it's perfect for any remote learning lesson!

Present with Pear Deck

Start your presentation and students will join your Session from any device with a web browser. As you advance your slides, students will be prompted to answer your questions! Students' answers can be displayed anonymously on the classroom projector, so instead of worrying about getting the right answer and feeling silly in front of peers, your students are putting ideas out there in a safe, anonymous way, discussing, and learning from each other.

GO DEEPER WITH THE tEACHER dASHBOARD

As an instructor, you can quickly see what each individual thinks on the Teacher Dashboard. Noticing a lot of wrong answers? Adapt! Take a pause, back up, re-explain. But don't forget to help the learners help each other: Why did some people choose this while others chose that? How can we find out the right answer? What else do we need to know?

INVITE TEACHERS TO YOUR SHARED tEACHER DASHBOARD

This feature enables teachers using Pear Deck Premium to share Session controls and valuable student insight with other designated educators, including student teachers, special educators, co-teachers, or even substitutes. With a real-time view of individual student work and the ability to guide and provide direct feedback, educators teaching together can better support the diverse needs of learners everywhere!

Using Videos, Animations and GIFs in your Pear Deck? Get ready to Power-up!

Want to show a video about the Mars Rover in your Pear Deck presentation? Need to carefully layer in information on a slide to reduce information overload? Found a perfect GIF of a plant emerging from its seed? If you want your videos, animations, and GIFs to play at full resolution when you present with Pear Deck, install the Power-Up Google Chrome extension.

The Power-Up is a free Google Chrome extension. Installing it ensures that videos, animation, and GIFs embedded in your Pear Deck slides play at full-resolution on the projector and student devices - exactly the way they should!

Install the Power-Up from the Chrome Web Store on the device you use in class. Now when you present with Pear Deck, the Power-Up magically enables the display of your videos, animations, and GIFs.

Get the Power-Up

Learn Pear Deck for Google Slides

Watch a video for self-guided Google training:

Or, dive into a self-paced Pear Deck for Google Slides practice deck:

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Pear Deck for Google Slides is the #1 Slides Add-on, making it effortless for educators to add interactive questions and formative assessments to their presentations.

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Formative Assessment Tools_ FLIPGRID_ April 2020

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Overview

Welcome to Pear Deck! If you use PowerPoint Online and you want to automatically collect responses from your students, this is the article for you. Keep reading to learn how to get the Pear Deck for PowerPoint Online Add-in. If you are a Microsoft Office 365 Administrator, click here for a guide to installing the Pear Deck Add-in for users at your school. Please note that Pear Deck is only available in the Online version of PowerPoint (not in the Desktop version) at this time.

1. Open any PowerPoint Online presentation.

2. Click on the Insert tab.

3. Click on Add-ins. To see Add-ins, you may need to click on the three-dots menu button or expand the browser window.

4. The Office Add-ins menu opens. Find the Pear Deck Add-in and click Add to install it. The Add-in is free, but there are some special features available with Pear Deck Premium.

5. Going forward, click on the Home tab. Then click on the More Options (3-dots) button and select Pear Deck to open the sidebar. With the Pear Deck sidebar, you can add Custom Interactive questions to any slide. You can also download pre-made Slide Templates from the Template Library and upload them into any presentation. Learn more about building slides here!

Can't find the Pear Deck Add-in?

If you followed the steps above but could not find the Pear Deck Add-in, your Office 365 site administrator may still need to deploy it for you. Please click here for instructions your site administrator can use to enable your access Pear Deck.

If you still have questions, please email help@peardeck.com.

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Welcome to Pear Deck! If you use PowerPoint Online and you want to automatically collect responses from your students, this is the article for you. Keep reading to learn how to get the Pear Deck for PowerPoint Online Add-in.

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How to start recording
Once you've installed the Loom recorder, visit these quick guide on getting started with the Chrome extension and the desktop app.

Both will produce a great recording result, but there are differences in their functionality. For quick, easy recordings made from For a side-by-side feature comparison, check out our
Should I record with the desktop app or Chrome extension?
within your browsers, you can record with the Loom Chrome extension. If you'd like some added features, such as HD recording and drawing tools, swap to the Loom desktop app.pricing page.

👉

How to share your videos

Simply copy and paste the video URL link into an email or another platform you use to communicate, like Google Classroom. Think of it as sharing the link of a news article or a YouTube video. You can paste the link anywhere and anyone can click the link to watch it, as sign-up is not required to view.

👉 If a recipient claims they need permission to view your video, you may have accidentally added a privacy setting to your video. For a full list of sharing options click here.

How to record a presentation

You can record presentations with Loom using the Chrome extension or the desktop app. However, the Chrome extension will not populate the camera bubble, so if you're recording a Keynote or PowerPoint presentation you'll want to use the Loom desktop app.

👉 This article will show you how to record your presentation with both applications.

How to use the drawing tool
The drawing tool is a great way to provide feedback and make quick markings on your screen as you narrate. Please note that markings will disappear after a few seconds. This is the intended behavior to keep your screen clear and clutter-free.

👉 This article will show you how to use the drawing tool. This is only available on the desktop app.

🎓 FAQ
Can I meet with colleagues or students in a real-time video session?
No, Loom is an asynchronous communication tool. With Loom, you can record your camera, microphone, and desktop simultaneously. However, the ability to conference call and conduct live video sessions with multiple people is not possible with Loom. If you'd like to meet in real-time we suggest using Zoom, Google Hangouts or Skype.
How can I flip my camera so I can read the text in my video instead of a mirror image?
For the desktop app: Open the recording menu, click on the three little dots in the upper corner, click on preferences, and toggle on or off the 'flip camera' option for your desired effect.

For the Chrome extension: Open the recording menu, click on the 'show advanced options' and check or uncheck the flip camera box option for your desired effect.

For visuals and steps for both applications, check out this video!
I submitted my Education email to be verified, but I haven't heard back.
Thank you for submitting your education email to us, we're working diligently to respond to all users as soon as possible. We currently have a backlog of emails to review, but we're getting back to most users within 1 week. We will send you an email confirmation once your domain has been whitelisted. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding.
I don't see a feature that I'm looking for. 🤔
If you don't see an available feature, it's likely that we're in the process of developing it. If you're wanting to edit subtitles, video uploads, etc. Then please submit your to our Feedback board here. We use this to determine what to build next!

Happy recording! 🎥😄

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If you're new to Loom, follow these steps to get up and running in no time. 👩‍💻👨‍🏫 Here we've pulled together some best practices to help you teach lessons, record presentations, and give feedbac...

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Ready to share your voice!? Submitting your video to the Grid can be done in just a few easy steps. Students and participants can record their videos by entering their Flip Code at Flipgrid.com or on the free Flipgrid mobile apps. Don't have a Flip Code? Contact your teacher.
How to submit a video to the Grid:
After selecting the green plus, complete these 4 easy steps to submit!

1. Tap to record
Tap the record button on the bottom to start. Add fun stickers, filters, text, and more. Tap the arrow on the bottom right to advance.

2. Review your video.
Trim, rearrange, or add more. Tap the arrow in the bottom right to advance.

3. Take a selfie!
The selfie will be the cover image for your video. Tap the arrow in the bottom right to advance.

4. Submit your video!
Edit your name, add a title, or attach a link. Then submit!

Students can also import a custom video they recorded outside of Flipgrid.

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Ready to share your voice!? Submitting your video to the Grid can be done in just a few easy steps. Students and participants can record their videos by entering their Flip Code at Flipgrid.com or on the free Flipgrid mobile apps. Don't have a Flip Code? Contact your teacher.

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Overview

This article focuses on how to create each of the five Interactive Slide types. We also show you how the responses look when you display them on the Projector View.

Create an Interactive Slide

First, use the editing tools in Google Slides or PowerPoint Online to put a question, prompt, equation, list, image, etc. on the slide. Next, use Pear Deck to configure how students will respond on the Student View. When you present your Session, the slide and/or interactive response will show on the Projector and Student Views.
Pear Deck Interactive Slides help you stoke creativity and encourage critical thinking. When you ask a question with Pear Deck, each student answers on their own screen. Answers are automatically saved, so you can display them in real time on the during class, and evaluate them later with the Teacher Dashboard, Takeaways™ (both Premium features), or the spreadsheet export.
Response layout guide

In this article, we show you how all of the interactive response types display on the Projector View with different layouts. To change the layout type, choose an option in the top left corner of the screen:

Draggable™ Response

Students respond by dragging icons over a slide. For example, they can drag map pins to the places listed on the slide.

1. Add your question, instructions, and/or image(s) directly onto your slide. Students will be able to see the whole slide and drag objects over anything you put on it.

2. Open the Pear Deck for Google Slides Add-on or the Pear Deck for PowerPoint Online Add-in. In the sidebar, scroll down to the Ask Students a Question section. Click on the Draggable™ option.

3. In the pop up menu, use the drop-down arrows to select the icons you want to use. Click on the color boxes to change the colors and drag the slider to adjust the size. When you're finished, click Update slide.

During your presentation Session
When you present the slide and collect responses, the default display is the Overlaid Layout, which displays each student's Draggable(s) on the same background slide. You can also display each student's answer individually with the List or Grid Views by changing the layout option in the top left corner of the screen. Responses are always anonymous on the Projector View. Use the grey buttons in the top left corner of your Projector or Dashboard View to change the response layout.

The Overlaid Layout shows all responses at once:

The Grid Layout shows thumbnails of the responses

With the Teacher Dashboard, you can see each answer with the student's name. You can also select which type of icon you want to show on the projector. In this example, only the red pins have been selected:

Drawing Response

Students respond by drawing on a canvas or background image. For example, they can graph a line.

1. Add your question, instructions, and/or image(s) directly onto your slide. Students will be able to see the whole slide and drag objects over it.

2. Open the Pear Deck for Google Slides Add-on or the Pear Deck for PowerPoint Online Add-in. In the sidebar, scroll down to the Ask Students a Question section. Click on the Draw option.

During your presentation Session
You can display each student's answer individually with the List or Grid Views, or use the Overlaid Layout to display all of the answers on the same background slide. Responses are always anonymous on the Projector View. Use the grey buttons in the top left corner of your Projector or Dashboard View to change the response layout.

The List Layout, as seen in the private Dashboard View, where you can see also students' names

The Overlaid Layout

The Grid View

Free Response: Text

Students respond by typing text. For example, you could ask which character from To Kill a Mockingbird this quote belongs to.

1. Add your question, instructions, and/or image(s) directly onto your slide. Students will be able to see the whole slide and drag objects over it.

2. Open the Pear Deck for Google Slides Add-on or the Pear Deck for PowerPoint Online Add-in. In the sidebar, scroll down to the Ask Students a Question section. Click on the Text option. That's it!

During your presentation Session
Students can type into a text field on the Student View. The anonymous aggregate view that you share on the Projector will show student answers in the form of a feed. You can display them in a list and scroll through it, or you can show answers in a grid.

List Layout

Grid Layout

Free Response: Number

Students respond by typing a number. For example, students can solve an equation and leave a number response.

1. Put your question, example, or equation directly on the slide.

2. Open the Pear Deck for Google Slides Add-on or the Pear Deck for PowerPoint Online Add-in. In the sidebar, scroll down to the Ask Students a Question section. Click on the Number option. Voila!

During your presentation Session
Students can type a number into their Student View. You can display their answers in two ways on the Projector View. One is the Grid Layout which shows all of the individual numbers students entered. The second (and default) display is a Box and Whisker Plot. The grey dotted line goes shows the median answer, and a grey box surrounds half of the answers. This lets you see the range of answers and where the majority of answers fall. The thin black lines demarcate high and low answers. If there are extreme outliers, you can use the magnifier tool to zoom in, leaving out the outliers so you can analyze the rest.

Grid Layout

Overlaid Layout (Box and Whisker Plot)

Multiple Choice

Students respond by selecting one of your predefined answers. Depending on the question, it can be a great idea to supply multiple defensible answers to make the question more challenging and spark discussion. For example, students can fill in the blank with the correct use of the word comer.

1. Put your content directly on the slide.

2. Open the Pear Deck for Google Slides Add-on or the Pear Deck for PowerPoint Online Add-in. In the sidebar, scroll down to the Ask Students a Question section. Click on the Choice button.

During your presentation Session
The anonymous aggregate view that you can share on the projector display your students' responses as a tally. You can also display each answer choice individually with the Grid View.

Overlaid Layout (tally)

Grid View

There you have it, the five Interactive Questions you can ask your students! For further guidance or questions, please email help@peardeck.com.

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This article focuses on how to create each of the five Interactive Slide types. We also show you how the responses look when you display them on the Projector View. Create an Interactive Slide First, use the editing tools in Google Slides or PowerPoint Online to put a question, prompt, equation, list, image, etc.

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How to use Loom and record your lesson for Remote and Online learning

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examples of flipgrids

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Welcome to the Pear Deck Orchard! We invite you to explore our growing collection of templates, quick-start activities, and ready-to-teach lessons developed in collaboration with content partners.

Every template pack is editable and adaptable, allowing you to tailor each lesson for 100% student engagement. All Pear Deck templates for Google Slides can also be found in the new Content Orchard - an easy-to-access library located in Pear Deck Home. Just log in to get started or visit our Help Center to learn more.

EiE® by Boston Museum of Science

Engage students in a standards-aligned STEM curriculum with lessons from EiE®, The Boston Museum of Science's award-winning curricula division.

Newsela Daily Decks

Explore Newsela's adaptive news articles while building literacy and critical thinking skills, powered by Pear Deck.

ThinkCERCA

Spark courageous thinking with ThinkCERCA's collection of CERCA Slides, designed to improve literacy skill development.

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Welcome to the Pear Deck Orchard! We invite you to explore our growing collection of templates, quick-start activities, and ready-to-teach lessons developed in collaboration with content partners. Every template pack is editable and adaptable, allowing you to tailor each lesson for 100% student engagement.

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tutorial by a teacher

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9 New Ways to Use Flipgrid in the Classroom

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The popular tool has features that teachers in any subject can use to help students connect with each other and share their learning.

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Overview

The best practice for presenting Pear Deck is to hook your computer to a Projector, just like when you present a normal PowerPoint or Google Slides presentation. The slides show up on the big screen (Projector View), and you can flip through them on that view. When students join your Pear Deck presentation from their devices, they can see the same slide content on their own devices (Student View).

You can also open the Teacher Dashboard (a Premium feature) on a separate device. Unlike the Projector View, this View shows students' names next to their answers and lets you control the slides from anywhere in the room. You can open it on your own computer or tablet privately so participants don't see it!

It's all a matter of how you have your devices arranged. In this article, you can see how to arrange your computer and projector based on the devices you have available:

I have my computer connected to a projector - that's all

I have a computer connected to a projector AND a separate tablet

I have a Chromecast

I have my computer connected to a projector - that's all

Great. The key here is mirroring. You will want to make sure you have display mirroring turned off.
What the heck do you mean?
Normally when you hook a computer to a projector, the projector displays exactly what's on your computer screen. That is, it mirrors your screen.

BUT!

You can make the projector display a different window than the one you are looking at on your computer. Just turn off mirroring.

How do I turn of mirroring, then?
On a Chromebook

Find Manage Displays and extend your desktop. There are also keyboard shortcuts to speed this up. This Google help article will guide you.

On a Mac

Open System Preferences and then click on Displays. Under the Arrangement tab, there is a little check box that says Mirror Displays. Un-check that box.

On a PC

Go to Display Settings and choose Extended Desktop. Windows support can help guide you.
Now What?
Once you have mirroring turned off, your desktop just expands across both the projector and your computer. That means you can drag a window from one screen to the other. So you can follow these steps:

1. Start presenting your Pear Deck. The Projector View with the Join Instructions opens immediately.

2. Drag the Projector (presenter) View that just opened to your projector screen.

3. Open another browser window on your personal computer or tablet.

4. Go to peardeck.com/dash

5. The Teacher Dashboard will open and students won't be able to see it!

I have a computer connected to a projector AND a separate tablet

Perfect! This will be easy:

1. Start presenting your Pear Deck on the computer that is connected to the projector. The Projector View with the Join Instructions opens immediately.

2. Next, open a browser window on your tablet and make sure you are logged into the same account you used to present the Session in step 1.

3. Type peardeck.com/dash

4. The Teacher Dashboard of your most recently launched Pear Deck will open up. You can control the slides from anywhere in the room.

I have a Chromecast

What?! Really?! This will be total cake then!

1. Start presenting your Pear Deck on the computer that is connected to the projector. The Projector View with the Join Instructions opens immediately.

2. Chromecast the Projector View to your big screen for all students to see.

3. Open a new window and type peardeck.com/dash to see individual student responses and control the projector privately from your own screen.

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Use the Projector View and Teacher Dashboard at the Same Time

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The best practice for presenting Pear Deck is to hook your computer to a Projector, just like when you present a normal PowerPoint or Google Slides presentation. The slides show up on the big screen (Projector View), and you can flip through them on that view.

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teacher sample

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What do competencies and outcomes look like in our course?

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Unmodified image attribution @karlymoura @seanjfahey @snej80 through NonCommercial ShareAlike license

What is Flipgrid?

In short, Flipgrid is a free, education-focused platform to create and share short videos.

The embedded guide further below provides a much more detailed overview of how Flipgrid works, but the short version is that users create videos around topics, then upload those videos to a 'Grid' for sharing, feedback, and topic-based 'response videos.'

But what features make Flipgrid it unique? It's really about ease of use (through 'Topics') and privacy (through 'Grids'). So what this about Flipgrid's Topics vs Grids?

Topics are what they sound like they'd be: prompts or discussion questions.

Grids are like classrooms or learning communities.

The former is what the videos are about while the latter is where they're shared and who they're shared to and with.
Quick Overview: How Flipgrid Works Using Topics in Flipgrid
From Flipgrid's help section: "Topics can simply be text-based or include a resource such as image, video, giphy, emoji, and attachment. Check out the Topic Discovery Library to find ready-made topics and add to the Grid. All educators can add unlimited Topics to their Grids. Sharing a Grid with someone will give them access to everything on the Grid."
Using the Grids in Flipgrid
As mentioned above, while students create short videos around Topics, the primary structure of Flipgrid is the Grids themselves. Grids are like groups-you can create one for a class, a school or district and 'close' them or make it open and 'global.' You can create Grids via the following methods and community types:

1. School Email where students join the Grid using their Microsoft or Google school email

2. Student ID where you create a list of student IDs to join your Grid (not in the European Union)

3. PLCs & Public where you share your Grid with the public or some other 'closed circuit' group.
Privacy for Grids in Flipgrid
You can add a password so that your Grid can't be joined and videos can't be viewed with the password. Anyone with the Flip Code and Grid password (if activated) can join and view the videos on the Grid. Also, to record a video, participants will verify their email using Microsoft or Google.

You can also choose whether or nor the Topic is moderated or not, as well as other privacy levels, and 'Launch/Freeze' dates for your Topic, and more (including documents and links).
What Are Flipgrid's Other Features?
Acquired by Microsoft in June 2018, Flipgrid has a variety of features that make it a useful tool for teaching and learning, including video downloads, video feedback options, stickers and drawings for videos, custom assessment rubrics, video feedback, MixTapes, topic invites, private share links, Vibes, and more-including:

1. A discovery library where educators share topics for a variety of grade levels and content areas.

2. Video Format including back-to-school intros, book talks, reflections, expert Q&As, showcase STEAM ideas and more. Students can use their natural voice to verbalize and share the process of learning and reflection or simply what they believe they already know and understand.

3. Privacy features that allow students to reply to each other's videos while educators are in control with video moderation, access controls, and more.

4. Camera and editing options that allow students to capture widescreen videos, pause while recording, add more after reviewing, and trim.

5. 'Any platform access' so students can share anywhere by using any Surface, Chromebook, laptop, iPad, iPhone, or Android device. (There is also an app for Windows 10.)
The Educator's Guide To Flipgrid Table Of Contents
The following user guide (from which the featured image at the top of this post was taken) is available on Microsoft's Flipgrid blog and was created by Karly Moura, Sean Fahey, and Jennifer Saarinen. Give them a follow on twitter and thank them for their effort or suggest other topics you'd like to see covered.

Meanwhile, you can see the Table of Contents to the Flipgrid Guide for Teachers below, and the guide itself embedded below that.
Section 1: Getting Started
Flipgrid Lingo
Creating your Account
Creating a Grid
Adding Topics
Responding to Topics
Ideas
Spark and Vibes
Student Feedback
Section 2: The Flipgrid Community
GridPals
CoPilots
Discovery Library
Explorer Series
Hashtags, Chats & Follows
Section 3: Resources
Blog Posts and Grid Tips
Webinars & Videos
Guides for Students
Appsmashing
Section 4: Next Level
Certified Educator
Ambassadors
Presenting Flipgrid
Section 5: Updates (Since 8.1.18)
MixTapes
Immersive Reader
Guest Mode

You can read in greater detail about these and more options in the guide you can find here.

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How To Use Flipgrid: A Guide For Teachers

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What is Flipgrid? In short, Flipgrid is a free, education-focused platform to create and share short videos. The embedded guide further below provides a much more detailed overview of how Flipgrid works, but the short version is that users create videos around topics, then upload those videos to a 'Grid' for sharing, feedback, and topic-based 'response videos.'

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When you're done creating your interactive Pear Deck slides, you can present your lesson. Presenting a Deck starts a new Session. Students join the Session by going to joinpd.com on their own devices and logging in with the Join Code from your Projector View.

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sample/tutorial

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Overview

Pear Deck is often used to engage students in a lesson in real time. But with Student Paced mode, you can extend any lesson by letting students work through your slides at their own pace, on their own time.

Student Paced Mode is especially beneficial for:

Remote learning

Flipping your lesson

Differentiating or scaffolding instruction in the classroom

Giving quizzes

Assigning homework

Assigning the lesson to a student who missed class

Substitute teaching

This article covers the following topics:

Video Introduction

How to Start Student Paced Mode

You can turn on Student Paced Mode at any time from the following locations:

The Session Launchpad

Inside a Live Presentation

Your Sessions Menu

The Session Launchpad

1. First, launch your Session from one of these places:

Your Pear Deck Home. Click on the Deck you want to present. When the Deck modal window (below) opens, click Start Presenting.

The Pear Deck for PowerPoint Online Add-in:
The Pear Deck for Google Slides Add-on:

2. In the Session Launchpad, choose Student-Paced Activity:

For the teacher who has Premium access, the private Teacher Dashboard opens automatically so you can see students names next to their responses and who is on each slide. Teachers who have the Free plan will be directed to the Projector View, where you can see the responses anonymously.

Inside a Live Presentation

1. Scroll over the bottom of the slide to open the Navigation Bar.

2. On the Navigation Bar, click the More Actions (three-dots) button.

3. Click Turn on Student-Paced.

Your Sessions Menu

1. Start presenting your Slides Deck. This opens a new Session.

2. Go to Pear Deck Home.

3. Go directly to your Sessions menu and find the active Session.

4. Make sure it is Live. If it's closed, click the three dots menu next to it and Reopen Session.

5. Click on the More Actions button and click Turn On Student-Paced. You can click Turn Off Student-Paced when you're done.

6. Now students can join the Session and work through it anywhere, as long as they have a stable internet connection and the Session Link or the Join Code. You can even close your browser or turn off your device. To verify that it's in Student Paced mode, you can look at your Sessions menu. Here's a Session that is ready for students to join and work through on their own:

How to Stop Student Paced Mode

You can stop Student Paced mode at any time. For example, you may want draw students' attention to the front of the room by syncing their screens up to your Projector View again. Or maybe you want to end a homework Session or a take-home quiz. Here are a few ways to do it:

Go to the Navigation bar and click Stop Student-Paced. This stops Student-Paced mode, but keeps the Session active and gives you control of the slides again.

Stop Student-Paced mode in your Sessions menu. Find the Session, open the three-dots menu next to it, and click Turn Off Student-Paced.

. Or, simply click END. End the Session entirely. This keeps students from having access at all. Open the More Actions Menu and click End This Session

See what students are doing

When you turn on Student-Paced Mode, students can suddenly flit through the slides on their screens. This can make it hard to know where each student is or if they might be stuck. Fortunately there are some special tools in the Teacher Dashboard ( a Premium feature) to help you keep track of what each student is doing.

When Student-Paced Mode is active, students have a simple Navigation Bar at the bottom of their screen. They can move through all of your slides at their own pace. They can see all of the slides and the Interactive Questions you added to them. Here's an example of the Student View in action:

Open the Dashboard to view the Progress Bars and number of students on a slide. At the bottom of each slide thumbnail, a little green progress bar shows you roughly how many students are done with a slide. In the example below, I can see that most of my class is done with the top slide. The blue person icons tell you the number of students currently on a slide.

Open the Dashboard and click on the blue person icon to see who is on each slide. This is helpful for seeing who is struggling with a slide or speeding ahead. Now you can check in on them.

At the end of the lesson, you can review responses in the Dashboard, publish Takeaways, or export responses to a spreadsheet.

FAQs

What is the difference between Instructor Paced and Student-Paced modes?
In an Instructor Paced Session, you have control over the slides. When you move to a slide on the Projector View, the students' screens sync up. However, if you want them to move through the lesson at their own pace, turn on Student-Paced mode, and students will be free to move forward and backward through the slides and answer all of the Interactive Questions on their own screens.

How do I save my students' responses?
All responses are saved automatically in every single Pear Deck Session. You can review them by opening the Projector or Dashboard View of the Session in your Sessions menu.

Can any kind of Session be in Student-Paced mode?
Yes, you can make any Pear Deck Session Student-Paced.

Can students use this at home?
Absolutely. Just start your Session, turn on Student-Paced, and make sure students have the Session Join Code or the Session URL. Click here to learn more about how students join a Pear Deck Session.

Is it okay to turn Student-Paced on/ off in the middle of a lesson?
Yep. You can toggle Student-Paced mode on or off at any time, whether students are currently logged in or not. No data will be lost! If students are moving at their own pace and you turn Student-Paced Mode off, their screens sync back to whatever slide you're looking at on the Projector View. If you Student Paced-Mode on again, each student will be returned to the slide they were on previously.

Do students' responses show up on the Projector in Student-Paced mode?
While Pear Deck still saves responses automatically, the responses will not be displayed on the Projector View during a Student-Paced activity. If you want to show the answers to the class later, simply turn off Student-Paced, go back to the slide, and show responses.

Can I see what my students are working on in Student-Paced mode?
You can see which slide students are on with the private Teacher Dashboard, a Premium feature. Check out the See what Students are Doing section above to learn more.

Will it still work if I close my browser or turn off my device?
Yes, you can close your browser or even turn off your device and it will still work! You choose when to end Student-Paced mode. To verify or manage the Session status, go to your Sessions menu and click on the 3-dots button.

Can I add voice recordings or audio instructions to my slides?
At this time, Pear Deck doesn't have a specific way to insert audio clips or instructions into the Student View. However, there are still ways to do this:

To give audio instructions in a Pear Deck presentation, make a website slide and insert a URL with your audio or video recording (from Edpuzzle, YouTube, soundcloud.com, etc.) . This is especially helpful in Student-Paced Mode, as students can listen to the instructions one slide, then answer an interactive question on the next slide.

You can play an audio clip on the Projector View (not the Student View) when you present with the Pear Deck for Google Slides Add-on. Here's how:

Open your Google Slides presentation.

Add a pre-recorded audio clip.

Before you present, install the quick, free Power-Up Chrome extension. This allows you to play audio, video, GIFs, and animations on your slide, on the Projector View, during your presentation.

If you have questions, please reach out to help@peardeck.com!

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Pear Deck is often used to engage students in a lesson in real time. But with Student Paced mode, you can extend any lesson by letting students work through your slides at their own pace, on their own time.

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How to Use Loom - A Free Screen Recorder that records your screen, camera, and microphone.

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flipgrid

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Topic Guest Mode: Adding Guests in a Topic in Flipgrid

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Overview

Pear Deck Takeaways™ are individualized notes documents that you can publish for students at the end of a Pear Deck Lesson.
Please note: Takeaways are a Premium Feature and are only available for users logging in with a Google account as this time. In this article, we cover the following topics:

Quick Facts about Takeaways

Example Takeaways

Using Takeaways to Extend the Lesson

Enabling Takeaways

Publishing Takeaways

How to find Takeaways after they are published

Quick facts about Takeaways

A Takeaway is a Google Doc that lives in Google Drive.

When you publish Takeaways, each student who joined the Session gets their own copy in their Google Drive.

In the Takeaway, students see each slide from the Session and all of the answers they provided to the Interactive Questions. Each student only sees their own document and answers, not those of their peers.

The teacher has ownership and editing rights to each student's Takeaway. That means you can open a student's Takeaway and leave comments for them. You can also share a Takeaway with other teachers, parents, or mentors via the Google Drive share interface.

In addition to having slides and responses from your Session, Takeaways are editable and contain space for notes and reflections.

Each time you publish Takeaways, you get a Blank Responses Copy. You can share it to a student who missed class so they can work through the lesson!

Takeaways can be published only once per Session, but you can run unlimited Sessions with Pear Deck.

Takeaways are individualized Docs. If you looking for a way to see all of your students' responses in one document, try exporting responses to a Google Sheet.

Example Takeaway

The image below is an examples Takeaway. Notice that it contains the name of the Session, the name of the Deck, the name of the person who presented (Señor Avila in this case), and the publish date.

Using Takeaways to Extend the Lesson

When you publish Takeaways, you give students an easy way to go back and review the lesson later.

BUT THERE'S MORE!

You can also use Takeaways to extend the lesson beyond the classroom. For example, you could assign Takeaways as homework and ask students to reflect on what they learned in the spaces provided. You could ask them to reflect on another student's answer that differed from theirs, or to describe their thought process as they unpacked certain questions. These kinds of reflection questions help students think about their learning process in a metacognitive way.

Because you have access to the Takeaway with Google Docs tools, you can leave comments for students, giving them specific feedback on their answers.

Enable Takeaways

Before you can use this feature, make sure to enable Takeaways:

Publish Takeaways

There are two ways to publish Takeaways:

When you end a Session

From a Sessions menu

When you end a Session
When you are done presenting, click the End button on your Navigation Bar.

A box will appear to let you name your Session. You might call it something like "World History Period 1." Once you name it, you can check the box to publish Takeaways. Finally, click Save & End Session.
From a Sessions menu
In any Pear Deck Sessions menu, click on the More Actions menu button to publish Takeaways. The Session must be closed in order to publish Takeaways. Also, Takeaways can only be published once per Session. So, if you've already published Takeaways for a particular Session and you click on this button, you will receive a link to the Takeaways in your Google Drive.

How to find Takeaways after they are published

When you publish Takeaways at the end of a Session, you get a link. For you, this link leads to the list of the Takeaway documents for the Session. For a student, the same link will open the Takeaway made specially for that student.

When you publish Takeaways, they are automatically stored in Google Drive. Both teachers and students can find Takeaways directly in Drive, too.
In addition to following the link, here's how a student can find their own Takeaway:

Open Google Drive

Click on Shared with me. The student's own document will be listed there.

In addition to following the link, here's how the teacher can find Takeaways:

All of the Takeaways documents you published will be there.

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Use Takeaways™ to Extend your Lesson and Give Students Feedback

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Pear Deck Takeaways™ are individualized notes documents that you can publish for students at the end of a Pear Deck Lesson. Please note: Takeaways are a Premium Feature and are only available for users logging in with a Google account as this time.

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For checking understanding during instructional videos

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One way to review student answers after class is to export them to Google Sheets. Exporting student responses to a spreadsheet allows you to see the Text, Multiple Choice, and Number responses next to each student's name. Please note that at this time, only users signing in with a Google account are able to export responses.

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How to use Loom and record your lesson for Remote and Online learning

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Overview

With the Teacher Dashboard (a Premium feature) you can review students' answers any time after your Session is closed. Session data, i.e. the responses you collect during a Session, are saved automatically in Pear Deck.

The benefits of reviewing answers in Pear Deck

You can easily get insight into whether or not individual students are engaging with and grasping the lesson. First, open the Dashboard. In the Dashboard, you can scroll through all of the answers, or change the layout in the top left corner of the screen to see an aggregate view. By the way, you can also do this on the Projector View, where responses are always anonymous by default.

With the List Layout (default) you can review responses in depth, one slide at a time.

Choose the Grid Layout to get a quick sense of everyone's level of comprehension

With the Overlaid Layout, you get a quick aggregate view of the answers all on one slide image, so you can see how well the class understood the material as a whole.

How to find and review answers after class

When class is over, you can leave the Session open and simply close the screen, or you can end the Session. Ending the Session closes your presentation so students can't make any changes. To end the Session, click the More Actions (three-dots) button or the END button.

When you're ready to review answers, go to your Pear Deck Home and reopen the Session. You can open a Session from the Sessions menu, or from a Deck Menu on your Home page.

From the Sessions menu. All Pear Deck Sessions are saved automatically, and you can find them all in your Sessions menu. You will see a list of every Session you've presented in the last 30 days. Click on the Archived tab (in grey) to find archived Sessions. Here's how to find the answers:

Find your Session.

Click on the Dashboard icon (with Premium) so you can see the responses with students' names.

You can also open the Projector View to review responses, but responses are anonymous on that View. If you want to open the Projector View, you'll first need to click on the More Actions button and reopen the Session. The status will change to Live and the Projector icon will become active. Students will be able to join the Session again and change their responses when you move to a slide.

From a Deck menu on your Home

Go to your Pear Deck Home and scroll down to the Present a File section.

Click on the presentation title. This opens a separate menu containing the Sessions you've run.

Click on the More Actions (three-dots) button to reopen the Session. The status will change to Live.

Click on the Projector or Dashboard icon.

Can't find your presentation on your Home Screen? No worries! Your Pear Deck Home Screen only shows your most recently opened files. Fortunately, all of your presentations are automatically saved in Google Drive or OneDrive, depending on what type of account you used to create them.

If you log in with a Microsoft Office 365 account, scroll through recent files or click Open OneDrive to search all files:

Similarly, if you log in with a Google account, you can scroll your most recent files or click Open Drive to access all of your files.

In that window, double-click on the file or select the file and click Open.

The presentation modal menu opens, giving you the option to open a past Session, Start Presenting a new Session, or edit the file.

The file chooser window opens. Search for the name of your presentation. Select and open it.

Questions? Write us at help@peardeck.com!

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With the Teacher Dashboard (a Premium feature) you can review students' answers any time after your Session is closed. Session data, i.e. the responses you collect during a Session, are saved automatically in Pear Deck. The benefits of reviewing answers in Pear Deck You can easily get insight into whether or not individual students are engaging with and grasping the lesson.

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Dashboard

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Pear Deck for Google Slides Add-on *New*

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Getting Started with Pear Deck to Make Your Google Slides Presentations Interactive