Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Edpuzzle is an engaging tool you can use to transform videos into interactive, self-paced instructional tools for blended or traditional lessons. Choose relevant clips or full videos and add your own voice narration or discussion throughout the video or at the end. For accountability, you can also see if students have viewed the videos and how often they repeat certain sections. You can upload your own videos to use or use videos from YouTube, Khan Academy, and other sites.

 

Applying the Triple E Framework

The Triple E Framework, created by Dr. Liz Kolb, is built on the belief that “effective technology integration begins with good instructional strategies and not fancy tools” (tripleeframework.com). Dr. Kolb wrote a book on the topic, Learning First, Technology Second (ISTE, 2017) that lays out the three main uses for technology in education: to Engage, Enhance, or Extend learning goals. We can use this framework to decipher why we are using specific tools in the classroom. Here is a rubric based on the Triple E Framework you can use to evaluate whether Edpuzzle (or any other technology) is a good fit for your learning goals and whether you should use it in your lesson.

• Engage in learning goals: Edpuzzle helps students focus on learning goals with fewer distractions by using video clips to guide students through key concepts. The tool also motivates students to begin the learning process because they can view the content in an organized manner designed by the teacher. Students are more focused on the task because they are working at their own pace as they view video clips and answer questions. The extra features within the videos, such as viewing notes from the teacher, answering questions, and hearing the teacher’s voice, also enable students to become more active learners.
• Enhance learning goals: Edpuzzle enhances learning goals by using video clips with audio instructions and/or interactive questions to highlight key points, helping students scaffold their learning. These features also help deepen students’ understanding of the content, as the video and questions offer the information sequentially and in easy-to-digest chunks. Students use higher-order thinking skills to organize their thoughts and tasks when completing the open-ended questions posed by the teacher.
• Extend learning goals: Dr. Kolb describes extended learning as an opportunity for students to learn, connect, and collaborate outside of the regular school day and as a bridge between the school day and real-life experiences. Edpuzzle offers an easy way to blend or flip lessons, allowing students to learn outside of the typical school day. We’re preparing our students for a world that doesn’t exist yet, but most jobs do require independent motivation and knowledge of technology. Edpuzzle offers real-life experience by requiring students to navigate a web tool and learn computer skills that will be helpful in possible career paths and future classes.

 

SAMR Connection

The SAMR Model, by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, suggests that technology implementation has four levels. We can use this model as a guideline to analyze how we’re using technology tools in the classroom. Edpuzzle can be used at the level of Modification.

• Modification: At this level, technology allows us to significantly change the tasks associated with an activity, meaning the activity could not be done without technology. With Edpuzzle, educators take something that already exists (videos) and modify it for their own use, allowing students to engage while watching videos. The integration of this technology allows teachers to create video clips and add narration and questions to formatively assess the students during the learning process.

 

Don’t miss Part 2 of the Tech Tool of the Month: Edpuzzle, where we’ll provide step-by-step instructions for using the tool and introduce ways to use it in the classroom. In the meantime, let us know in the comment section below how you have used Edpuzzle in your education setting.