Recently I discovered a wonderful site, http://edpuzzle.com. With EDpuzzle I can now crop any YouTube, Khan Academy, Learn Zillion, Vimeo or other video, insert my own audio notes, narrate over the video, and best of all insert questions at any point in the video to create quizzes multiple choice or short answer quizzes.
I can even use some of the video-lessons created by other teachers from EDpuzzle’s amazing video collection.
In my classes I can now assign such edited videos and collect data as my students interact with the videos. My students can watch the videos over and over again until they feel comfortable that they can answer the questions correctly. This site is particularly useful in my Spanish classes, as I am able to assign difficult videos in the target language and insert numerous comprehension questions throughout the lessons. Just the other day my Spanish III class watched a video on the legend of La Planchada and upon completion of the video, my students had a very good understanding of this very scary Mexican legend. Also, my Spanish II students were studying the imperfect tense last week using edited videos created by Sr. Jordan. As Sr. Jordan explained the tense in a three part series, I inserted quiz questions for my students to stay engaged and to pay attention. This very effective method of presenting my grammar content will definitely pay off at test time.
A very useful function EDpuzzle offers is a Chrome extension. Once it is downloaded on the computer, every time one opens a YouTube video, there is an option to “edit with EDpuzzle.” A teacher can then decide to crop it, insert notes, record over the entire video, and/or insert questions for students to answer. The video is then saved on EDpuzzle and ready to be assigned to different classes, which are easily created by providing students with a join code. This allows teachers to receive their students’ results for grading.
Another option for using EDpuzzle is to project the edited videos on the Promethean or Smart Board for whole group viewing and having students complete the questions on paper. Teachers can then use the EDpuzzle videos as lecture videos in the classroom. Students can take turns coming to the board and answering the built in questions.
Students love creative class projects that allow them to demonstrate their technology skills. They can use EDpuzzle to create their own video lessons, which in turn they can share with other classes, or even globally on class blogs or during international videoconferences. I am planning to have my students share their projects with our friends in Sweden on our joint Edublog.
In conclusion, http://edpuzzle.com provides teachers with a great way to edit videos to keep students fully engaged during their lessons in any content area. The easy-to-use features can be mastered in only a short time, and students can greatly benefit from the enhanced lesson videos created by their teachers. Best of all, EDpuzzle is completely free.
