In almost every lesson I ever taught, it seemed like there were students who hadn’t quite caught up to the rest of the class. Maybe they were sick that day, or maybe they hadn’t mastered the previous skill, or perhaps they were still learning the vocabulary (or the language) and it just took a little longer for them to listen and then comprehend my speech. One thing we find in education, in every grade level and in every subject area, is that some students just need more time. But how do we offer that extra teaching time in an already overwhelming day? Who has that kind of time?

In comes Edpuzzle. Edpuzzle is a huge clearinghouse of educational videos that include an interactive step – a point where the video stops and students have to respond, record an answer, take a quiz, or in some way prove their understanding. Edpuzzle is FREE. Edpuzzle’s content comes from Khan Academy, National Geographic, Numberphile, Crash Course, YouTube, and more, as well as from any video you record yourself. Plus, videos can be shared between teachers in the same school, so your team can produce instructional videos that can benefit more than just your class.

As students watch a video on Edpuzzle they are restricted from “fast-forwarding”. In addition, if they open a new tab, the video pauses. And, here’s the big one, you can view exactly how much time your students spent watching each video, and can tell if they watched certain sections more than once, and can see how they answered every question or quiz. Imagine having a student tell you that they watch the video you assigned as homework, and then being able to pull up the report and show that they viewed the first thirty seconds and then stopped. And your videos can easily be shared on websites, through email, in Google Classroom, with a QR Code, or any other way you get your work out to your students.

History and Social Studies teachers often want to add videos and music to enhance lessons and make them more enjoyable for the students. This makes history not just facts to memorize, but human events and interactions to understand and appreciate.

In traditional classrooms, the more vocal students get most of the teacher’s attention. These students ask questions, answer questions, and set the pace of the lesson, even if this pace is too fast (or too slow) for the quieter students. While some students answer all the questions, you rarely hear from others.

Edpuzzle tracks every student’s progress during each lesson. This allows you to “flip” your class by creating your own videos to cover simple concepts and walk through sample problems. By using Edpuzzle you can easily insert questions and comments to check your students’ understanding, as well as get feedback from students when they don’t understand something.

As much as we love it when students follow the lesson and are confident in the subject, some students need more time to grasp a concept. As a teacher, it can be difficult to move on to the next topic when some students are still stuck. Edpuzzle empowers students to keep up with class even if they learn at a slower pace.

The collection of videos available ranges from special ed, to ELL, to all school subjects and grade levels, and from preschool through high school (and beyond). As an Edpuzzle teacher you have access to all of these videos, plus the ability to edit the questioning throughout the video in any way you wish.

I can think of many incredible way teachers may wish to use Edpuzzle:

• To reinforce and reteach concepts
• To share a story, with comprehension questions throughout
• To show a science video that provides a greater understanding through illustration
• To provide review opportunities
• To introduce a new topic
• To share with families so they understand what you’re teaching
• To give additional resources you don’t have time to cover in class
• And so much more!

An additional tool that may be helpful in checking out Edpuzzle is this great blog post by Vicki Davis. It provides a step-by-step guide for using Edpuzzle in your classroom: http://www.coolcatteacher.com/Edpuzzle-review/

When you create your account be sure to use your school email address, and connect to Park Rapids Schools so you have access to all of the content available. Please let me know how I can help you utilize this excellent resource.