The following groups of general tools have been chosen for their usefulness in setting up and running a Flipped Classroom. Most of the tools found here are free to use although some have either a small fee or paid upgrade option. Let us know at the bottom of the page which tools you found most exciting/useful or if you know of any not listed, please share them on the Flipping Teachers Google + Community and add your ideas to the General Tools for Flipped Learning page. Have fun exploring and flipping.
Flipped Classroom Platforms
Video/Screencast/Animation (making/hosting content)
Video
Documents
URL Shortening Tools
Personal Learning and Social Networks/Blogging
Bookmarking
Referencing
Flipped Classroom Platforms
- Edmodo
Edmodo is the largest K-12 social learning network where teachers, students, and parents can connect to collaborate on assignments, discover new resources, and more. It is a free resource which teachers can use to create online classrooms where students can learn, collaborate and communicate in a secure environment. Teachers can assign homework, monitor students progress, create quizzes and other content. These spaces can be personalized through the integration of apps which are available in as both Android and iOS.
- Wikispaces
Free for teachers and students, Wikispaces is a social writing platform in which teachers can create an online classroom where students can write collaboratively, either in teams or individually, and communicate through a social classroom feed. Teachers can assign projects and manage resources while monitoring student progress, all in the one space.
- Weebly for Education
Weebly is a versatile site where you can create classroom websites, e-portfolios and project websites. It is free, although it does have a paid Pro upgrade option. You can create up to 40 free student accounts with a discounted rate for further accounts. Weebly has an easy drag and drop functionality, along with options to integrate blogs and multimedia. It allows for unlimited blog creation within the website and a setting for converstations to be public or private. Student websites can be password protected for privacy.
- Schoology
Like Edmodo, Schoology is a Learning Management System which allows for classroom creation, social interaction, assessment creation/submission, communication and collaboration. Schoology is available in app format for both Android and iOS systems as well as for the Kindle. This is a free resource with unlimited accounts available for both teachers and students.
- Google+ and Google Classroom
Google+ provides a social space in which public or private community pages can be created, allowing for online communication. Features of this platform include the ability to share Google Docs, to connect via Hangouts and to create circles of friends/teams. This platform does however, have the potential for students to become overwhelmed by the number of posts on the home page. Documents and important information can be lost amongst the chatter if they are not posted to a set location that students know to access.
Google Classroom brings together the ability to use Google Docs, Google Drive and Gmail in an easy to use classroom forum. Teachers can send announcements, create discussions as well as create and grade assignments. Students can view, complete and submit assignments, collaborate, communicate and stay organised, all from the same location.
Video/Screencast/Animation (making/hosting content)
- Screencast-O-Matic
Screencast-O-Matic is a free screen capture recording tool which allows you to make visual recordings of your computer screen with audio. This tool is easy to use and the free version has the ability to record and store a video of up to 15min in length, which can then be uploaded to youtube. A Pro version is available which is very reasonably priced. This allows for multiple recordings to be stored, unlimited recording length, the ability to publish to Google Drive or other platforms as well as password protect your recordings.
- YouTube
YouTube is a free, easy to use platform to host the videos you create. It gives the user the ability to share videos publicly on YouTube or privately via weblink as an email or document, or on a private webpage/site.
- PowToon
PowToon allows the user to create animated videos and presentations that can be easily exported to YouTube or to a personal computer for use elsewhere. It has a basic free version with limited options and a recording time of just 5 minutes. However, there are premium plans available, including an education option, that are quite economical for both teachers, students and classes.
Video
- Khan Academy
The Khan Academy site is a free website aimed at promoting self-paced instruction. It houses thousands of academic videos that can be used in guided, adaptive instruction. With a strong focus on math, the site also offers video tutorials on a variety of topics in science, economics, the arts, and computing.
- Ted-Ed
Ted-Ed is another versatile site which contains videos and lessons that can be viewed and shared through YouTube. It also gives you the option of creating your own lesson with a Ted-Ed, Ted Talk or YouTube video, coupled with resources of your making or choosing. Ted-Ed has videos spanning a number of subjects, with search options and filters for age/grade level, content type and duration. This site is free to register and use.
- SchoolTube
This site allows for both watching and uploading content. It is a free site and all content is moderated as it is uploaded. Moderation can be undertaken by a nominated school staff member. Videos on the site have been created by teachers or students for specific educational purposes and cover a wide range of topics.
Documents
- Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and Forms
This is a fantastic set of tools that enable sharing, editing and collaboration by individuals or groups from anywhere and in real time. With Google Docs, Sheets and Slides, you can edit and work with others online, using Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint. Google Forms makes creating registration forms, surveys, polls and even Flipped Learning lessons simple. Google Forms also collects responses to your surveys and provides real time response information and charts. This tool is well worth a look, as it is a simple to use tool when experimenting with Flipped Learning lessons.
URL Shortening Tools
- TinyURL and Bit.ly Often Uniform Resource Locators (URLs for short) when copied and pasted into a document seem to go on forever taking up more than one line of space. This makes them difficult to write down, tyoe in or remember. Both TinyURL and Bit.ly will shorten any URL for you automatically.
Personal Learning and Social Networks/Blogging
- Twitter
Twitter can be used in a number of different ways both inside and outside of the classroom to enhance learning, communication and networking. Twitter can be used for research, discussion, pop quizzes, collaboration with classes from around the world and much more. Visit https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/60-inspiring-examples-of-twitter-in-the-classroom for more ideas.
- Facebook
Facebook is a social forum already familiar to many. It is a free social networking site which can be used for communication between teachers, students and/or parents. It can be used in a number of different ways such as: a class information site, a project communication and collaboration point, or as a discussion forum.
- Wordpress and Edublogs
Wordpress and Edublogs are blog and website creators. These can be used to create class websites, class or student blogs, group collaboration blogs and projects.
Bookmarking
- Pinterest
Pinterest is a visual bookmarking tool which is fantastic for collating and saving bookmarks. Students can individually or collaboratively create boards of resources for a project or research assignment. Pinned site links appear as a picture attached to your pin board. The site offers a toolbar pin button which is easy to use and makes bookmarking a breeze. This is a free site.
- Diigo
Diigo helps to bookmark websites; annotate sites and images through the use of highlighters and stickynotes which stay on the webpage; take screenshots; or tag your posts, all of which are automatically added to your library. Educators can apply for a free version which gives you most features, along with the option of one public group of unlimited members and up to twenty private groups with up to fifty members.
- Scoop.it
This is another content curation tool allowing you to bookmark sites and share what you have found. Like Pinterest, it allows you to organise content into themes and share your thoughts on that content. Scoopit allows for coversations to be created around the content you post. This tool has a free version which limits the number of boards and topics you can create, with the number of daily posts also limited. This can be increased by upgrading your account to a paid option.
Referencing
- Bibme
Bibme is a free, fully automatic bibliography maker that auto-fills. You can search for books, articles, websites, or films. The maker will give you the option of filling in information it is unable to automatically detect and allow you to add an annotation. You can then save the entry and add it to the Bibme bibliography; or download your bibliography in either the MLA, APA, Chicago or Turabian formats into a Word document.
- Zotero
Zotero is a free tool which will help you to collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources. Once downloaded, it can be found at the top of your web browser. It automatically senses web content and adds reference information with the click of a button. Zotero can create footnotes, endnotes, in-text citations, or bibliographies. You can create citations in documents, presentations and emails, simply by dragging one or more references out of Zotero and dropping it into the document.
References: Poyatos, C. (2011). Rubik Apps [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/cpoyatos/5791320785/
Spencer. (2013) Flipped Learning Resources [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/runfardvs/8450019871/
Spencer. (2013) Flipped Learning Resources [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/runfardvs/8450019871/