Edpuzzle.com :Teaching Tool

In an era when technology and screentime is often blamed for distracting students and keeping them from the important work of learning, it is refreshing to see a whole slough of resources that embrace the ubiquity of the internet. One tool that impressed me is the website edpuzzle.com As a firm believer in student-centered education, I appreciate how this website uses a students interest to develop content that looks a lot like youtube, but adds formative assessment throughout. I have approximated this approach to showing educational videos to my students, pausing every so often to see if they are paying attention, and highlighting important points. While I would pause and ask the class "what were they just talking about? Or did you. all catch that? Why is this important?", Edpuzzle has this built into the video, so that students can watch and respond individually. This creates more accountability, because those students that are not paying much attention can't rely. on a classmate to bail them out and answer my questions.

My introduction to Edpuzzle was simple, and after using my google account to sign up, I was immediately intrigued by the amount of content. Having no background on what the site was or how it worked, I was surprised to be peppered with questions about what I had just watched. I found that knowing I might be asked a question and naturally wanting to succeed, I paid closer attention, than if I was just absent mindedly watching a youtube video. In a way the video and the questions trained me to be a more. attentive viewer. Additionally, the videos available were well made and focused on a wide variety of topics that ensured students could find something they were curious about. I have one student that is particularly interested in sharks, and I was excited to find a video produced my national geographic about sharks right on the home page. Click on the video below to see it in action. 

(The embedded quiz questions do not work in this blog, but I will continue to explore how I can add the html to include the quiz questions)

Teaching social studies to sixth graders, we study democracy, and I emphasize voting and student choice.  Often, I give them the channce to vote on reading the textbook or watching videos. Watching videos wins every time, and I think that can often seem like the "easy" way. Using this tool, I can not only pull from the library of videos with imbedded questions, but I can also upload content and add my own questions. This way students can do this work individually, I can ensure that they are paying attention, and those that prefer reading the textbook, can still learn from the textbook.

Additionally, the sidebar options on edpuzzle contains edpuzzle videos aligned with specific grade level learning standards, making it easy to find a video aligned specifically with their learning targets. Edpuzzle also syncs with my school email address, and shows me other teachers with an edpuzzle account, and makes it easy to see what content they have created. 

All of this is easy to navigate, and explore. This cursory exploration revealed what a useful tool edpuzzle can be, and I'm sure with more time and experience, I will find even more ways to incorporate it into my teaching. Click on the link at the start of the blog to explore how this tool works and all the great resources available.

via GIPHY