Here at Teq, we love hearing from our fellow educators about websites and resources used to enhance their lessons. In a recent session of our Teq Online PD course, titled Just Flip It, a member of our site shared a great resource which blew my mind — now I can’t wait to share it with you! Educanon is a free website (with paid features) that allows users to add questions and reflections to videos from various sources. Through the creation of classes, Educanon also makes it easy to share created content with students and monitor progress as they respond to these built-in questions.

With the option to search for content from YouTube, Khan Academy, TED-Ed, National Geographic, and more, teachers can input a video’s web address and start adding a variety of response prompts to check for student understanding or encourage deeper thought and class discussion. The platform is easy to use, allowing teachers to add question types like multiple choice, fill in the blank, free response, or check all that apply (among others). At selected times in the video, students will be able to respond to these questions on individual devices, providing the teacher with real-time results. The option to create classes makes it is easy to assign “bulbs” (as Educanon calls them) to your students to complete by a given due date.

A student can enter their class page at any time to review what has been assigned by his or her teacher. Once the video begins to play, students will see a menu bar pop out with questions that the teacher has added to the video at any given point. Users have the option to answer with text, images, links, and other formatted responses. Answers can then be reviewed by the teacher to monitor whole-class and individual student work. A whole class may also watch the video together to encourage group discussion. Don’t forget about the option to link additional materials into your video to gather information. For example, you may link out to a Google Doc that you want students to fill out after viewing the video. The ideas just keep on coming because Educanon gives you a lot of opportunities to get creative with your content!

If you are looking to enhance your flipped classroom environment or provide students with practice on a number of educational topics, Educanon makes it simple to assign content and receive feedback in your classroom. Students can brush up on their skills at home, and these interactive videos are a perfect way for students to be accountable for watching review material outside of class. Don’t forget about the power to have students create their own content with Educanon, as well. Look out for upcoming courses this fall on Educanon and other content creation resources through our Online PD platform. Have fun with Educanon!