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Flipsnack Edu: Creative Active Learning

Phoebe DiSalvo-Harms
Syracuse University

















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Flipsnack Edu: Creative Active Learning
Introduction
Web 2.0 technologies are unique in that they depend on user contributions and
interactions as driving forces, fostering the social connectivity and collaborative
environments necessary for success for the 21
st
century learner (Hartshorne & Ajjan, 2009, p.
185).The many benefits of implementing this technology into an educational setting include
[enabling] active participation of students, [promoting] opportunities and environments for
student publication and reflection, and [fostering] a collaborative and active community of
learners (Hartshorne & Ajjan, 2009, p. 184). Below, I outline two implementations of the tool
Flipsnack Edu that I believe demonstrate the above benefits as well as support inquiry learning.

Activity 1: Tell Your Story
This activity is for 2
nd
graders in English. Flipsnack Edu acts as a medium for students to
express themselves and their learning in a creative and personalized way. The Tell Your Story
activity could be used in two different ways. One way would be for students to come to the
library and explore the collection of stories and poems to pick their favorite. Then, using
Flipsnack Edu, to practice their reading skills and comprehension, they would record a voice
over of themselves reading the piece. Afterwards, they can fill in the flipping pages of their
books with any type of image, including ones they draw themselves, to coordinate with and
emphasize the words spoken, the emotion, and the content of the story. Topical academic
language can be integrated by having students include an image at least for the rising action,
climax, falling action, and resolution of the story but also through the phrasing of the assignment,
such as Complete a reading of your chosen story. Then decide on and arrange a few images that
you think relate to your story.
Alternatively, this activity could be a collaboration between the librarian and teacher to
address a story or poem shared in class, a genre being explored, or a broader topic being
discussed to reinforce it. In the latter cases, the librarian can locate resources relevant to the
genre or topic being discussed for students to choose from. In the former case, the students could
all do the activity on the same story and perhaps gain a sense of interpretation as they can all see
how their classmates chose and attributed images to the story differently. In this situation
students could also read and record the story as a round robin so that each student individually
would have a line but they would work together to complete the entire story. Academic language
in this case can be integrated in the same above manner or by incorporating genre-specific or
topic-specific vocabulary depending on what was being covered in class.
The Common Core Standard addressed with the above activity is CC.2.SL.5
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas: Create audio recordings of stories or poems; add
drawings or visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify ideas,
thoughts, and feelings while the AASL Standard addressed is 4.1.8 Use creative and artistic
formats to express personal learning.
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Activity Two: Report Your Findings
This activity is for 9
th
-10
th
graders in Science. Flipsnack Edu acts as a medium for
students to organize and express their personal learning by relaying the results of a science lab
they created and conducted under teacher guidance. For the Report Your Findings activity,
student groups will come to the library and research a science subject of interest, based off of a
list of choices received from their teacher. Specifically, the research will be aimed at learning
about the typical characteristics or behaviors of the subject that can be tested in a lab. After
researching, in collaboration with and under the guidance of their teacher, they will generate an
experiment to test the subject and its typical behaviors. While they conduct their lab, generating
a hypothesis and testing it, they will record their methods and results through photographing,
video recording, sound recording, etc. depending on what is relevant to their experiment. When
they have finished and drawn their conclusions, they will use Flipsnack Edu to present their
subject, research, hypothesis, method, and results to the rest of the class through a multimedia
flipping book presentation, including text and charts but also photos, videos, sounds, etc. The
academic language integrated in this case would be subject specific, dependent on the type of
science class and the subject chosen for investigation but could also be addressed through the
phrasing of the assignment such as With your colleagues, gather and compile multimedia data
throughout the duration of your experiment to verify that your hypothesis is correct and your
research accurate.
The Common Core Standard addressed with the above activity is CC. 9-10 SL.4
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence
clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the
organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task
while the AASL Standard addressed is 4.1.6 Organize personal knowledge in a way that can be
called upon easily.

Conclusion
As the above activities illustrate, the implementation of Web 2.0 technologies,
specifically Flipsnack Edu, into curriculum gives students a medium through which to actively,
creatively, and logically share their knowledge with others, fostering an atmosphere of
collaboration in their learning. Students have the freedom to share and create knowledge in more
flexible, adaptable, and creative formats and, because of the ease of use and access of these
technologies, they can also contribute out of curiosity beyond the school environment. Research
shows an effective learning environment fosters collaboration among students and faculty;
allows the student to create and share new knowledge; and supports the connection of different
pieces of information (Hartshorne & Ajjan, 2009, p. 194). Flipsnack Edu does this by giving
students a polished and professional yet creative and fun medium through which to present their
findings, while the multimedia aspect enables students to draw and solidify connections between
many different types of sources. Additionally, as Flipsnack Edu is a type of publication that can
be shared, students feel more positive attitudes toward content areas, increased motivation
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levels, and increasedachievement as they are given a chance to be proud and reflective about
what they have created (Hartshorne & Ajjan, 2009, p. 185). Lastly, the ability to relate to prior
student experiences leads to positive interactions in active learning environments; thus, since
students interact with technology now more than ever, presenting curriculum through this
technology and allowing them to create with it makes the activities more relevant, interesting,
and meaningful to them and their personal experiences (Williams & Chinn, 2009, p. 172).
























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References
Hartshorne, R., & Ajjan, H. (2009). Examining student decisions to adopt web 2.0 technologies:
Theory and empirical tests. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 21(3), 183-198.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12528-009-9023-6
Williams, J ., & Chinn, S. J . (2009). Using web 2.0 to support the active learning
experience. Journal of Information Systems Education, 20(2), 165-174. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/200162738?accountid=14214