10+ Video Apps to Energize your Classroom

Video. I can’t think of anything hotter than using video in your classroom. Not just the ordinary documentary or short video. A trendy video! There are tools that can do much more with video than you probably know.

In this blog post, I’ll show you some of these apps. Use them to make introduction videos, entertain students or create explainer videos.

1. EDpuzzle

EDpuzzle is an easy and effective way to deliver videos in your classroom. And it’s not just a video distributor. With EDpuzzle video comes to life. Add audio-notes and questions to your video.

EDpuzzle makes it easy to add comments to videos and the questions make the video more interactive. When should you use EDpuzzle? You can use it to empower critical thinking when students watch a video. It’s also well suited for flipped classrooms.

Students can download the app and receive video-assignments directly with questions, so they can check their understanding through the video.

The EDpuzzle app is compatible with iOS, Android and Chrome.

2. BookWidgets

An alternative website to EdPuzzle that can help you make interactive videos is BookWidgets. Take a look at the example below to witness its transformative impact on interactive learning. Also, check out this blog post with 10 interactive video quizzes that will inspire you and show off all the different possible question types (=36!).

3. Green Screen

Do you know what a “green screen” effect is? It’s used in movies (and for the weather forecast) to make it look like the actors really have landed on an alien planet.

Green screen lets you “clip out” people from their background. This makes it possible to put yourself or students in front of another adapted background image or video.

Green screen by Do Ink lets you combine photos and videos from the camera roll with live images from your iPad or iPhone’s camera.

You only need a green screen, blanket or wall, the app and your iPad or iPhone. Take a look at this video tutorial to get a hang of the basics:

4. Binumi

Binumi is a great tool for teachers and students to create videos anywhere and at any time on any device. Binumi has a large library of royalty-free footage, editing tools and the ability to publish.

Let students create their own video clips and explain the events. Binumi is a fun tool for speaking exercises.

You can also combine Green Screen and Binumi. Take a look at this nice example about the tiger habitat, made by 8 year olds.

5. Explain everything

Explain Everything helps to take presentations to a whole new level. There’s nothing wrong with PowerPoint, but presenting a subject can be more interactive and way cooler!

Explain Everything is an interactive screen casting whiteboard. This means that you can make a presentation, and record everything you are drawing and saying.

It lets your students document their learning by capturing photos, creating videos, designing presentations and making books.

Record everything you do within the app (even yourself when using the front-facing camera) to create high quality, creative, and meaningful content for others to learn from. you can make easily explainer and instruction videos and send it to your students. A great app for flipped learning in a flipped classroom!

6. Adobe Express

Adobe Express is an intuitive app that lets you create animated videos in minutes. Choose a video layout, import your videos and images, add text and choose your music. That’s it!

In this video creator/editor, you can easily add and trim video clips to make your videos stand out on social media or in your classroom.

You can choose an image from their library that has over 25,000 beautiful iconic images or add your own photos to highlight what you have to say. Adobe Express automatically adds cinematic motion to your story so you don’t have to be a pro in video editing.

Use Adobe Express to teach a short lesson with visual learning aids. Ideal for microlearning! Just insert your slides and add short videos (explainer or instruction videos from Explain Everything!) and you’re done! This app can also help students with their presentations and speaking exercises and you can use it for flipped learning.

7. Tellagami

Tellagami helps you bring your messages to life. By combining photos, voice, 3D characters and personality on a mobile platform, they help you communicate in a way that’s never been possible.

Choose a character and personalize it. Then choose a mood (sad, happy, neutral, silly, angry,…). Change the background and record your voice. It’s as easy as it sounds.

The app is only available for Apple, though. But that doesn’t make it less cool. You can still share the video with your students via mail or social media. Here’s a tutorial that explains you the basics:

How could you use Tellagami? Well, that’s easy. Make students more engaged by an original video or explain a concept when everyone is ready for it. Students just have to consult the video. This way, you don’t have to explain everything more than once and students can work on their own pace.

8. Knovio

Knovio is another app that lets you make compelling video content.

Use the built-in recording capability of your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch to add your own personal commentary and narration to slides and images.

Explain a concept, pitch an idea, document a procedure, teach a course – there are literally thousands of ways to use Knovio.

So is Knovio something like Explain Everything? Not really. Explain Everything lets you record a whiteboard and Knovio lets you record your own slides.

9. MySimpleShow

Looking for a fun way to introduce a topic? Then, you should take a look at MySimpleShow. MySimpleShow is a simple online tool that empowers anyone to make professional videos.

Just like all these video apps, MySimpleShow is also very easy to use. You can write your own video script, or you can even upload a PowerPoint file.

The first option lets you write your story and suggest some suitable images you can choose from and use in your video. At the end, you record your own voice, or you choose between voiceovers that are given.

MySimpleShow has some educational templates available. Here’s an example of a typical “MySimpleShow’ video.

10. Rooclick

Video is swift and quick. When you don’t understand something, you have to deal with that. Video is visual, yes, but most videos are also limited to the basics.

Have you ever seen products or actors appearing in a video and wished you could obtain more information about them? I bet your students have.

RooClick videos become interactive when viewed through the Roo Player app or website. Roo Player allows definition, people and terms to be “clickable” when they appear on the screen.

If a student wants more information about something explained in the video, he can just click on the information button. A web page will appear with more information. This way, you enhance learning with videos.

11. Gif Brewery

When you want to stand out in the classroom, you should definitely use GIFS. It’s very popular with teens nowadays. GIF Brewery lets you easily create gifs from any video you want.

But how can you use this in your classroom? I would just use it in my communication to the students and in some of my presentations. Engaging students with humor works. Take a look at GHIFY. Here you can find gifs for every subject. It’s really funny!

Wrap up

By integrating these educational video apps into your teaching, you can energize your classroom and create a dynamic learning environment. For more insights on teacher development and valuable educational resources, follow us on Twitter or join our Teaching with BookWidgets Facebook Group. And don’t forget to connect with me on LinkedIn.