Flipgrid held their annual Flipgrid Live event this week to announce new features coming to the popular app.
First up, was the new Camera features that include:
- Adding Backdrops to Videos, where you can remove your background and choose from a library of images or upload your own, OR choose content from your screen or browser and move yourself around the screen!
- Adding Background Songs and Music, where you can choose “moods” from a library of songs
- New Stickers and Filters
Before I move onto the next set of updates, I really liked that Flipgrid pointed out why these updates are coming out for next school year. When I wrote about the Google updates last week, I imagine some teachers, especially those that used Google Meet this past year, would have liked to have seen these great new features earlier in the year. But tech takes time to create.
Flipgrid shared the timeline from the production team and I think it’s good to remember this statement from one of the team members, “that users have different devices and it takes time to make sure everything works across those devices”. It absolutely does! Coming up with the coding as mentioned in the tweet above, is only one step in the process. So while the tech may not have come at the exact time we needed it, I appreciate that so many of these educational companies, like Flipgrid, were working to still make things better for now and in the future.
Next up was some news about re-designs:
- New Look in Groups, a more visual way to view groups as well as topics
- Android and IOS apps, users can create a group and topic on any device now
Then some news about new integrations with other apps:
- Integration into Minecraft
- Assign Flipgrid through Microsoft Teams Assignments
There’s also going to be more support:
- When you contact the Support Website, at https://help.flipgrid.com
- More professional development sessions
- When you use the hashtag #Flipgridforall on social media to get support from the global community
Then the BIG REVEAL, the introduction of FLIPGRID LENSES.
Honestly, the above video doesn’t tell me all that much about what this new feature is. My best guess was that it was filter related. I had to go over to The Merrills blog to learn that this new feature is really Artificial Intelligence (AI) related and will automatically place you into a scene, add a transparent image over your face or turn you into a new character.
And last, but not least, Flipgrid announced their Educator Innovation Week, July 12 – 16, with special events. After going to the website to find out more, I realized it’s really the whole month as they have special PLCs going on the entire month, plus virtual sessions during the 12-16 at 11AM CT, and a special 24 hour Global PD event on July 27th. Each session lasts for 15 minutes every hour on the hour starting at 12:01am CT. Here’s the schedule below:
Ms Priester EDU 