FlipGrid just isn’t as good as it used to be, in my opinion. I’m struggling to figure out how to adjust the default video length in Canvas assignments to 10 minutes instead of FlipGrid’s default of 1 minute and 30 seconds.
Does anyone know of any good alternatives to Flip, ideally with solid LMS/Canvas integration?
As an educational institution, we always prefer free tools, and Microsoft’s recent changes have caused issues for my instructors who use Flip to meet federal requirements for student interactions. We’re looking for a similar product that’s free because I don’t want students paying more out of pocket.
LisaMoore said:
@LearningLeader1
The answer is VoiceThread. It’s great.
Thanks! VoiceThread looks like an option, but it seems more focused on annotating slides. As a language teacher, I need something where students can record and submit videos responding to prompts. Does VoiceThread work well for that?
@Amanda
Yes, my research partner is a Spanish professor, and she does exactly that. Students can create slides and then add video, audio, or text narration. Or, they can reply to your slides and each other’s. Check out this blog post from my research partner explaining how she uses it: https://voicethread.com/blog/elevating-online-courses-with-interactive-lectures-on-voicethread-part-1-3-2023-08-09/.
LyamGenesis said:
@LisaMoore
Just a heads up, VoiceThread isn’t free.
And it’s pretty expensive. I have 200 students!
Have you tried Padlet?
Alexie said:
Have you tried Padlet?
Padlet can work for video discussions and collaboration. We’ve even built a Flip importer and are adding more features soon. Check this out: https://padlet.help/article/chsfxo3djj-using-padlet-for-video-discussions.
@PoshTosh
Thanks for the info! I was struggling to see how Padlet could work for video discussions. Do students need an account to post videos to a discussion?
Amanda said:
@PoshTosh
Thanks for the info! I was struggling to see how Padlet could work for video discussions. Do students need an account to post videos to a discussion?
UPDATE: They don’t need an account.
@Amanda
That’s correct! No account is required. We’re also working on improving anonymous attribution so students can ID themselves without signing up. That feature is coming this summer!
Barbara said:
@Amanda
That’s correct! No account is required. We’re also working on improving anonymous attribution so students can ID themselves without signing up. That feature is coming this summer!
Has that feature launched yet? I want to use it in my course to track student contributions without them needing to create accounts.
@Oseah
Yes, it’s live! You can test it by opening a Padlet in incognito mode. Just ensure the Padlet is set to ‘secret’ or ‘password’ mode. You’ll be prompted to choose a name before posting, or you can change the randomly assigned name when publishing a post. Let us know if you run into any issues!
Has anyone tried the free version of Screencastify? It says you can only create 10 videos, but does that limit apply to student video submissions too?
Edit: This page seems to say you can use it indefinitely without saving anything: https://www.screencastify.com/blog/prioritizing-student-voice-try-submit-to-replace-flip. It also integrates with Canvas.
TomHarris said:
OffTech is a new LMS worth checking out: https://offtech.io/.
Isn’t that just a Figma design at this point? Is it live yet?
The only similar option I’ve seen is VoiceThread, though I haven’t used it myself. I’d love to know if there are other alternatives too. I currently use Flip without Canvas integration.