In-Class Flipping with Google Apps

I often hear from teachers, “I’ve tried flipping my class and it just didn’t go very well.” While the reasons varied as to why the flipped approach didn’t work for these teachers, the main thing I kept hearing was “the at-home learning just didn’t happen.”

In-Class Flipping

This brings me to think about the in-class flip model. If you are not familiar with in-class flipping, it keeps all parts of the flipped model at school. Teachers pre-record direct instruction and that recording becomes a station in class that small groups of students could rotate through. While students are at their stations, the teacher could work one-to-one with some students, while others students spend time doing independent activities or group work. Watch this video to learn more about in-class flipping.

Ways to Use Google Tools for In-Class Flipping

If you are looking to try out the in-class flip model, Google Apps for Education can help you along the way. Below are a few Google tools you can use:

• Movenote – With Movenote, you can create a picture-in-picture screencast with you and files from your Google Drive. If you have a lesson you uploaded to your drive or have a lesson you created with Google Slides, it is easy to add video and audio to that lesson with Movenote. Students can then watch you while also seeing the lesson you are teaching.
• YouTube – With YouTube, you can do everything from finding instructional videos for your classes to recording your own. If you want to create your own video, apps such as YouTube Capture make it easy to record your lesson straight from your mobile device. You can then take advantage of editing your video with YouTube’s Editor as well as add annotations to your video.
• VideoNot.es – With the VideoNot.es Google Drive app, students can take notes while they watch your video lesson. Their notes are synced with the video and when they click on a line in their notes, it will jump to that portion of the video. This is a great way for students to make notes about portions of the lesson they didn’t understand so they can go back and watch it again.
• Screencastify – With the Screencastify Chrome extension, you can easily create a screencast for your lesson. The extension will record all screen activity and includes audio as well. All you have to do is press record and the content on your screen will be recorded. Recorded videos can be saved or uploaded to YouTube or Google Drive with a single click.
• Google Forms – With Google Forms, you can easily upload your video lesson and add questions about the lesson. All you have to do is create the form and share the link with your students. Check out this Election Lesson created with a Google Form.

These are just a few Google tools to help you get started. There are many more, such as Google Sites, Google Classroom, and of course, there are a lot more Chrome apps and extensions for screencasting.

So, if you tried flipping and it didn’t work, don’t give up just yet. Try in-class flipping.