Flip
- Rob Caldwell
The Flip website and mobile apps are being discontinued September 20, 2024. If. needed, please Download your videos by September 30th.
The best alternative at this time is Padlet, or asking students to post media comments in a Canvas discussion.
About Flip
Flip is a video discussion tool. Because Flip does not require a physical classroom, it is an ideal remote learning tool as well as a powerful homework based application for students to use with each other.
Flip is designed to allow students to speak to the group but without the same fear that might constrict responses in a real-world situation. It allows students to record themselves and even include their computer screen.
Possible uses for Flip:
Video introductions
Allow students to reflect on a recorded performance
Asynchronous class presentations
more engaging discussion forum
Using Flip with your Classes
Create an Account
Just visit the Flip homepage to create a free teacher account. You can use your NCSSM Google account when creating your account and logging in.
Integrating Flip with Canvas
Flip has already been integrated with the NCSSM Canvas account, so any teacher can easily use it to create video discussions or asynchronous video assignments. You no longer need to create a Flip integration with each of your courses; the first time you create a Flip assignment or click on the Flip link in the course menu of a new course, a new Flip user group will be created for your new Canvas course automatically.
We recommend enabling the Flip link in your course menu. To do so go to course settings, click on the “Navigation” tab, enable the “Flip” link, and save your work.
If students ever receive an error message telling them the assignment is only available through Canvas, they may need to click the Flip link in the course menu and sign in prior to accessing the assignment.
Creating a Flip Assignment in Canvas
The following video explains how to create a Flip assignment in canvas.
Steps to creating a Flip assignment in Canvas:
You must create a new assignment for the integration to work.
Important: The integration won't work if you simply change the settings for an existing assignment.
On the left menu, at the top, click Assignments.
On the top right, click + Assignment.
You must fill out “Assignment Name” and “Submission Type.” All other details are optional.
Under “Submission Type:”
Click the dropdown and select External tool.
Under “Enter or find an External Tool URL,” click Find.
Scroll down to select “Flip.” This will integrate Flip to the assignment.
Next to the checkbox “Load This Tool In A New Tab:”
Check the box: If you want Flip to open in a new tab when students access Flip on Canvas.
Do not check the box: If you want students to find Flip embedded on Canvas.
At the bottom, click Save and publish.
Check to make sure the Flip topic was created successfully:
When you create a Flip assignment, Flip automatically creates a new topic for you and connects it to the assignment. If this is your first Flip assignment in that course, Flip also places the topic in a new group.
Important: You can't select an existing Flip topic and connect it to a Canvas assignment.
Depending on how you set up “Load This Tool in a New Tab” in Step 4:
If you didn’t check the box to open in a new tab: After you create the Canvas assignment, the Flip topic is embedded in the Canvas assignment page.
If you checked the box to open Flip in a new tab: After you create the Canvas assignment, to open Flip in a new window, click “Load [Assignment name] in a new window.”
If this was your first Canvas assignment with Flip: You may get a “Connect Flip to Canvas” message. To connect Flip to Canvas, click Create a Course Group.
Grading Flip Assignments in Canvas
If you wish to grade student submissions to Flip assignments, you will use the built-in canvas SpeedGrader to grade student submissions. Each student’s video submissions will show in the SpeedGrader preview window.
Flip Submission Instructions for Students
To submit your Flip assignment on Canvas:
Log in to Canvas.
On your "Dashboard," select the Flip course that your educator created on Canvas.
On the left, click Assignments.
Select an assignment.
Note: If you can't find an assignment, your educator may not have created an assignment yet. Reach out to your educator for more information.
Flip automatically loads on the assignment page.
Tip: You can use Flip as you normally would directly on Flip.
To submit a video, click Record.
If this is the first time you load Flip on Canvas, you'll get a message to allow access to your microphone and camera:
To let Flip access your microphone: Click Allow.
To let Flip access your camera: Click Allow.
To properly reflect your image, on the Flip screen, at the top right, click More > Mirror video.
Tip: You can access all of Flip's camera features and effects on Canvas. You can also choose between "Create, Audio, or Video" modes. Learn more about the different camera modes:
Use Cases
Student Presentations
There is a lot of software that can enable students to record their computer screen during a presentation, such as Loom or Screencastify. However, most of these services require students to install a browser extension. This is not a problem for NCSSM students, but for Connect students who use their schools' managed laptops, it can pose a problem.
Flip allows students to record their computer screens for up to 10 minutes, and does not require any browser extensions or special software.
This is useful for asynchronous student presentations. Plus, with Flip, students can view each others' presentations more easily outside of normal class time.
Instructions to use Flip for Student Presentations
Create an assignment using Flip as the submission type. (instructions are in the Canvas integration instructions above)
We recommend you set the topic’s recording time to 10 minutes instead of the default 90 seconds; this will allow students more time to record their presentations.
Share this tutorial video with your students: Using Flip to Record your Computer Screen.
More Resources