This is not good news to those of us using Flip Video Cameras with our students — Cisco has just announced they’re shutting the business down. Read about it at Farewell, Flip Camera over at Read Write Web and at Tech Crunch’s post, Cisco To Shut Down Flip Video Camera Business; Will Give Pink Slips To 550 Employees.
Cisco says “… it will support current FlipShare customers and partners during a transition plan” — whatever that means.
Smartphones that can take video have killed Flip, but that really isn’t going to help many of us who have students who still can’t afford Smartphones….
You might want to check-out “Could This Be The Best Alternative To Flip Video Cameras?”
I should be getting several Flip video cameras in time to try them out with my summer school class of Beginning English Language Learners. In preparation, I went looking for some resources that might help me get prepared for using them.
The first section deals with the mechanics of using them, while the second relates to ideas on how to use them in the classroom.
Here are my picks for The Best Sources For Advice On Using Flip Video Cameras:
Since I’m fairly incompetent technologically, I found some good sites that provide step-by-step instructions:
There’s a good video on YouTube on How To Use A Flip Video Camera.
How To Us A Flip Camera is a simple guide with screenshots.
David Pogue of the New York Times has a good review/description on using a Flip, and also has a video.
Here are some tips on how to edit your videos after you’ve shot them.
Here are some places to get ideas and tips on using them with students:
Thirty-Nine Interesting Ways* to use your Pocket Video Camera in the Classroom is a great online presentation from Tom Barrett.
7 Things You Should Know About Flip Camcorders is a good overview on using them in education.
Classroom 2.0 has a good discussion on its Forum about using Flips. I believe you can access it without being a member but, if not, it’s free and easy to join.
Richard Byrne has started a collaborative project with teachers sharing Many Ways to Use Flip Video Cameras in the Classroom.
A few Tips & Tricks for Student filming in the Classroom is another great post over at the Langwitches blog.
Feel free to share additional suggestions.
If you found this post useful, you might want to look at previous “The Best…” lists and also consider subscribing to this blog for free.
Am in England at the moment and decided to buy a Flip camera as they do not sell them at home (in Thailand) and Amazon will not ship electronics to Thailand.
After some online research I decided just to buy from one of the local high street shops. But the top of the range HD 4GB 1hour was not in stock so decided to buy online (Amazon UK) and have it have sent to my temp UK address.
Fortunately a review comment on amazon.co.uk mentioned that a new 8GB 2 hour HD had been released in the USA.
So off I went to Amazon USA (amazon.com) …. and there was the new model …. cheaper than the 4GB model even when including import tax to UK.
So I ordered from USA … the model not yet available in the UK … at a price cheaper than the older UK model …. and it arrived in 56 hours.
Moral of this story …. think Global … it can save you money.
> Since I’m fairly incompetent technologically…
You gotta be kiddin’ me…-)
So glad to see this out on the twitter-sphere today. We’ve been shooting with our Flips for about a week and I was beginning to look for resources today for editing and dealing with the incoming gigs! Thanks for another great collection!
Could I be so bold as to suggest my own site?
http://www.myflip.co.uk
There’s a tonne of content and interviews with Flip moviemakers. I’ve also got a free shooting tips e-book for download.
By profession I am a TV Director/Cameraman so I’ve tried to put my own spin on it.
jules
I’m not usually big on self-promotion – but I have got some resources on using Flip-style cameras on my blog:
classroom201x.wordpress.com/2010/05/03/integrating-edtech-into-lessons-an-example/
This is an example lesson plan, using Flip cameras
classroom201x.wordpress.com/2010/02/07/using-digital-video-recording-with-esol-students/
This is a report of an action research project that I carried out using Flips
classroom201x.wordpress.com/2010/07/10/natecla-presentation-using-digital-recording-with-esol-students/
This is a Prezi from a conference presentation I gave on the same theme.
Hope they can be useful
What a great article compiling all these helpful resources into one place!
For educators looking to get multiple Flip cameras for their classrooms at a great price, Digital Wish has partnered with Flip to offer two Flip cameras for the price of one ($150)! They also offer campaign ideas and teacher submitted lesson plans for how to obtain and utilize technology in the classroom.
More information on this offer and other helpful educational tools can be found at digitalwish.org. Hope this helps more teachers and classrooms connect with this awesome educational tool!
Thanks for the post. I love flip video cameras and I’ve been using them for a while, both for personal and educational use. But I recently got a Sony Bloggie camera. The Bloggie it’s cheaper than a Flip and with many more features that would be very useful for a class environment.
Please see my review of it here http://paulinobrener.com/review-of-the-sony-bloggie-camera
If you want to master your flip, kodak zi8 or iphone4 for video then have a peek at my training site.
http://pocketvideopower.com