One of the easiest ways for us to share content and information with students when we are online is through video, whether it be something we found on YouTube or a presentation we have recorded. Videos are great because they can house all of the content we would normally share with students in the classroom and can easily be shared by emailing students a link or posted it in Google Classroom. One of the downsides of watching videos is that it can be a passive learning experience if students are not being asked to interact with the material being presented. We can give students a worksheet to complete, but that still does not make the video very interactive for students. This post will look at three different tools you can use to make interactive videos for your students. This means that they will be able to interact with the material as they are watching the videos which can help students engage with the material and will hold the students accountable for actually watching and completing the videos.
Like many educational sites and applications, EdPuzzle has a paid version and a free version to access. With the free version, you can create up to 20 videos and gain 3 more videos with each teacher you refer to the site. Fortunately, if you need more space, your school district can pay for EdPuzzle accounts for all teachers in the district. If your district is not interested in getting EdPuzzle, teachers can upgrade their accounts themselves for $9.50 per month to get unlimited storage. However, the only difference between the basic account and the free account is the storage space you will receive.
Google Forms are a free tool that comes with the G Suite for education, so you will not need to worry about cost. The only downside to using Google Forms for interactive videos is that it will take time and work to format it the way you want. If you want to section off the video and have questions for each section, you will first need to cut up the video into portions. This can be done in video editing software and even PowerPoint! Forms can easily be reused for different classes and results can be saved to analyze student performance and engagement at a later date.
1. EdPuzzle
EdPuzzle is a site that allows you to upload your own videos or link videos from YouTube and place questions throughout it for students to answer. EdPuzzle will allow you to create different classes within the cite, each which can be synced to a distinct Google Classroom. Students can also create their own distinct account so you know when they complete videos.
 |
| Image from www.edpuzzle.com |
EdPuzzle allows you to search for videos by grade level and content if you want to use videos created by another person. This can help if you are trying to find the right tool for a specific standard you want to teach. Within the EdPuzzle site, you can edit videos you may want to use, add voice overs, and add questions that students will interact with while they watch the video. When adding questions, you will have the option of adding multiple choice and open ended questions, as well as notes. EdPuzzle will grade the multiple choice answers you put in the videos too. However, it will not autograde the short answer questions. EdPuzzle will pause the video where you place each question and give students a chance to review the session if they are not sure. Additionally, there are options to prevent skipping to ensure that students answer each question before moving on.
2. PlayPosit
Like EdPuzzle, PlayPosit allows you to make interactive videos that can be easily accessed by students. This site can be linked directly with your Google Classroom, so grades from your videos can auto-populate your gradebook. PlayPosit has many more in-video features than EdPuzzle, and refers to student responses as "bulbs."
 |
| Image from go.playposit.com |
In order to add questions and other features to videos, you must create templates for interactions. Doing this, you can add many different elements to your videos including other videos, poll questions, a space for student notes, free response questions, and multiple choice questions. Additionally, you can add a discussion option that allows for a live discussion while students are watching the video, which is great for online learning. This can be easily linked to Google Classroom for students to interact with.
Like EdPuzzle, there is a limited free version of this site. When you sign up for the free version, you are limited to 100 bulbs per month, which means you can only have 100 student responses each month. This is only really helpful if you are in elementary education and only have 30 students responding at a time. Secondary teachers may want to look into having their district supply PlayPosit so all of their students can respond to multiple videos. If your district is not interested, you can always upgrade your account for $12.00 per month and get unlimited bulbs, allow students to create bulbs, and be able to directly upload video.
3. Google Forms
Google Forms is usually used to create survey or class quizzes, but is fully capable of being used as an interactive video. You have the options to import videos from your drive or YouTube into the form and add questions to it. This is a great way to turn the video and a worksheet assignment into a completely digital project.
As mentioned previously, you can add all of the questions you want students to answer about a video directly below it in a Google Form. If you want to have questions that focus on certain parts of a video, you can edit the video into segments and section off the Google Form so they watch a specific section and then answer your questions. You can set up these sections so that they must be completed before moving forward to the next part of the video. If you want to grade this assignment, you can set it up as a quiz in Google Forms so point totals are being tallied and sections of it could be auto-graded for you. Like any Google Form, you can also input this information directly into your Google Classroom gradebook.
Comments
Post a Comment