Having been a technology integrationist for over a decade now, I have seen the rise and fall of many different tools and platforms. Whether it's a restrictive paywall, being bought out by a mega corporation, or simply going away, all we can do is adjust and find alternatives. 

This year, we've heard about a couple tools that we use in the district that are going away. Below includes some details about the changes coming and suggests alternatives you could use to replace those tools. As always, if you have questions or want some help with these new tools, contact the Shakopee Blended Learning Coordinators: blc@shakopee.k12.mn.us. 

Microsoft Flip (formerly Flipgrid):

Microsoft Flip is moving away from being a standalone app to being a feature built into Microsoft Teams. I could write a novel on this particular topic, but for now I will just let Matt Miller from Ditch That Textbook sum it all up. The iPad apps and Canvas Integration will be gone as of September 30th, 2024 so we thought it would be best to let everyone know now in case you are doing summer planning/curriculum writing. 

As of the writing of this blog post, there is not a perfect tool to replace Flip. Here are a few things you could try:

Secondary Option: Canvas Discussion

Students can record video through Canvas Studio, upload from their computer, or record directly in the Rich Content Editor. If students are on iPads, they could use Clips to record their video, which has a lot of similar functionality to Flip. Once students upload their video to a Canvas Discussion, other students could watch and comment on their videos. 

Elementary Option: Seesaw

There is a tool built into Seesaw called Blogs. Students can record their video in Seesaw or another tool like Clips or iMovie and then upload it to their class's Seesaw Blog. Teachers then can approve their posts so other students can view and comment on their classmate's work. 

Jamboard:

Jamboard, a popular tool during COVID for collaborative whiteboarding, is going away. As of December 31st, 2024, it will be gone for good. In the announcement that they were ending the tool, Google mentions Figjam as a great alternative. You can even migrate your Jamboard files to a Figjam file. The tools are not the same, but I will say that Figjam is a very powerful tool with tons of features that Jamboard did not have. 

Figjam: This is the best alternative to Jamboard. Check out the video tutorials below to learn how to import your Jamboards and transition to a new tool with more features!