Customizing and Adding Interactivity to Videos with EdPuzzle

Educators can use videos for a wide variety of purposes:

• ​​Easy demonstrations of concepts
• Analysis of performances, ads, speeches, and other media
• Differentiated content for individualization
• Review of previously discussed ideas. 

These reasons, among many more, are why so many teachers are using videos more and more in the classroom. With so many resources on YouTube, Khan Academy, and other sites, video use is getting easier and easier. 

Sometimes snags arise as teachers try to use videos. They only want a few minutes of a much longer clip. They like the demonstration but think they might explain it better. They want to add some kind of assessment to the viewing but are unsure how to connect the assessment to the video. The video is blocked! 

EdPuzzle​ seeks to assist teachers with these issues, giving the teacher more control over use of videos with students. Below is a brief overview of EdPuzzle.

So, why create a video through EdPuzzle?

• ​For published videos, you can use just the parts you want to suit your teaching goals. You can also upload videos you created. You can add your own comments and audio to support the video, allowing you to clarify something in the original video or frontload an idea. 
• You can add assessments and open response questions at any point in the video, making the video watching more interactive and giving you real time feedback on how the students are doing.
• Your videos are hosted and assigned within your EdPuzzle account, meaning videos are all in one place and only accessible by people in your class. 
• Automated assessment allows you to quickly guage understanding, while also allowing you to individually assess open response questions. 
• All of this is free and simple to use. 

If you're considering a flipped or blended learning approach or perhaps you simply want to start adding more videos to your classroom, EdPuzzle might help  you make better use of these resources and enable video use, like YouTube, that was much more difficult otherwise. Be sure to watch the demonstration video on the EdPuzzle homepage​. And give it a try; it's free!

(Previously posted 2/7/14 in Spartanburg 2 Sharepoint. Moved and updated to Blogger)