Guest post – DigiLearn: Can FlipGrid get students talking?

Author: Mike Summersall (@MJSummersall) – Senior Lecturer in Business and Management at the University of Central Lancashire

I’d been wrestling with the idea about how we get students communicating more for years, I then discovered FlipGrid.  I had wanted to find a tool that reflected outside life (70% of TikTok users are between 18-25) and a platform that felt comfortable and user friendly, I was really hoping that this be the answer.  

My FlipGrid approach was threefold. 1/ Get myself upskilled via the Microsoft Community and test it out. 2/ Conduct a student related test in welcome week to see if they engaged with it and liked the functionality it offered and 3/ use it as an aid to support reflection on a year 3 project module. 

Results were mixed to be honest, I cannot sit here and say they are anything but.  I created a topic, entitled who I am, and asked students to introduce themselves and highlight one thing about themselves.  18 responses at year 1, 5 at year 2 and 3 at year 3 (cohort in each year is around 100).  Maybe it was what I was asking and not necessarily the vehicle used?  

I then started to explore it’s usage from an assessment perspective.  On a year 3 project module, we ask students to reflect on the whole process of working collaborative on a project, produce a slide deck and then present it (more recently this has been through the PowerPoint Recorder function). I am wondering if the use of FlipGrid will support with this? Students can still create slides, but the use of FlipGrid makes it feel less presenting and more conversational and hopefully more reflective.  My thoughts are that students can use the slides as stickers, talk through them and hopefully achieve deeper levels of reflection due to a more engaging use of technology.  

It’s a formal assessment so I know I am going to get submissions, is this the right approach though? Students will gain the necessary exposure and upskilling as part of the assessment release and additional support sessions will be offered prior to submission.  

I would be really open to hearing from FlipGrid adopters across the community to learn best practices and share thoughts.  I firmly believe that FlipGrid has a place as an assessment supporter, I hope this is it. 

Photo by Kampus Production from Pexels