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Introduction to Flipgrid

Welcome back! August has finally come around again. That means it's time to dust off that syllabus, log in to Blackboard, and start prepping for the Fall semester.

We want to share an exciting change from over the Summer with one of our favorite web tools, Flipgrid. In June, Microsoft purchased the Flipgrid platform as an inroads into the education market. Most importantly, they have made it free for all educators. That means you.
You can read about the acquisition, but we want to highlight the good stuff: what Flipgrid can do for your classroom.

Flipgrid is an asychronouns video discussion tool meaning that, just like the Blackboard Discussion Board, you can pose questions to your class in distinct forums to answer by a set time or date. Instead of typing their answers, however, students respond with a short video recorded on their computer or mobile device. These responses can be set to allot anywhere between 15 seconds and five minutes for each response. Then, students can respond to each others' posts. What you end up with is, well, a grid of responses like the one pictured below.

 A grid of student faces

We like Flipgrid because it is easy to use, and a personal touch to course interactions, and now it's free. What's more, fully functioning grids can be embedded directly into Blackboard using the provided HTML embed code. Make sure to take a look at our previous blog post about embedding HTML content within Blackboard for instructions on how to do so.

To get started, head over to Flipgrid.com and register with your Winthrop email. For help in setting up, configuring, or embedding a Flipgrid topic in your course, don't hesitate to contact us at instructionaldesign@winthrop.edu

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