We Keep Losing Good EdTech
We Keep Losing Good EdTech
The Flip News Continues A Disturbing Trend.
The news that the Microsoft Flip website is going away hit teachers hard. Flip will only be available in Microsoft Teams. That means that Google Workspace schools who used Flip’s sign-in with Google to access this tool will lose it.
The news reminded me of three other apps we have lost during the pandemic. In November 2020, Google announced Google Expeditions and Tour Creator were going to the graveyard. In September 2023, Google announced Jamboard was meeting the same fate. And now Microsoft is killing the Flip website.
What are possible replacements? What lessons can we take from losing these apps?
Author’s Note: I have partnered with Figma on projects and will do so again at ISTE this month. This post is not part of that partnership. Figma has not seen, approved, or compensated me for this post.
Google Expeditions and Tour Creator
In November 2020, Google announced that Expeditions and Tour Creator were going away. Teachers used Expeditions to lead students on 360° VR tours.
Tour Creator was even better because this web-based tool allowed teachers and students to create 360° VR tours from Google Street View. Losing Tour Creator just two-and-a-half years after its launch stung. What a heartbreaker.
As for Expeditions, it was valuable as an iPad app. Leading Expeditions with students using iPads was so easy. Instead, Google emphasized the Expeditions kits, which were cumbersome.
In 2020, Google said, “... We're migrating most of them to Google Arts & Culture.” Expeditions on the web are fine. Teachers can use them with students. Unfortunately, only 416 of the more than 900 Expeditions made it to Google Arts & Culture. Teachers in premium Google Workspace districts can add them to Google Classroom classwork tab posts so students view them directly in Classroom.
There is no one-for-one replacement for Tour Creator using Google Street View to create VR tours for free.
I have recently discovered that Google Street View embeds in FigJam. That recaptures a little of the magic these tools provided.
Google Jamboard
In September 2023, Google announced that Jamboard was turning down. I was an early fan of Jamboard. Playing with the mobile Jamboard app with features such as AutoDraw had me giddy in June 2017.
Jamboard came to the web in 2018, but the web app never achieved parity with the mobile app’s features. For a web app, it lacked:
Hyperlinks
Comments
YouTube videos
Ability to embed in websites
When Google announced Jamboard’s sundown, I was more than a year into using FigJam for collaborative whiteboarding.
FigJam has the features Jamboard lacked and more. I wrote a guide to transitioning to FigJam and partnered with Figma to create Jamboard to FigJam quick tutorial videos.
Flip
In 2018, Microsoft acquired what was then Flipgrid and said, “...It [Flipgrid] will retain its brand, rather than get pushed into Teams.” We know how that ended last week.
The outpouring of sadness on social media demonstrated how beloved Flip was by teachers.
A not-quite 1-to-1 replacement is the Vimeo Record FigJam plug-in. That allows students and teachers to screen record and record from their webcam without leaving a FigJam.
Lessons Learned
I take the following lessons from the demise of Flip, Expeditions, and Jamboard:
Consider what you would do if a favorite EdTech app went away. I am currently doing this with Google Keep. I am open to your suggestions!
When changes occur with EdTech apps, do not take big tech companies at their word. Verify important claims.
FigJam is versatile if it replaces Jamboard and provides elements of Expeditions, Tour Creator, and Flip.
Teachers need not have brand loyalty. Be discerning. I am so happy I switched from Jamboard to FigJam in 2022.
When you notice a lack of updates, as I have recently with Google Keep, consider alternative apps.
Continuing The Conversation
What do you think? How are you addressing the losses of Expeditions, Jamboard, and Flip? Comment below or Tweet me at @TomEMullaney.
Does your school or conference need a tech-forward educator who critically examines EdTech, AI, and pedagogy? Reach out on Twitter or email mistermullaney@gmail.com.
Post Image: Photo by Jacub Gomez on Pexels.
AI Disclosure:
I wrote this post without the use of any generative AI. That means:
I developed the idea for the post without using generative AI.
I wrote an outline for this post without the assistance of generative AI.
I wrote the post from the outline without the use of generative AI.
I edited this post without the assistance of any generative AI. I used Grammarly to assist in editing the post. I have Grammarly GO turned off.
There are no generative AI-generated images in this post.
I wrote a draft of this post in Google Docs without using Gemini.
I think this is a good post, but I think the part that is missing is the community between teachers that Flipgrid created. This post very focused on functionality here, but not as much on people. People weren't sad because they lost functionality. I mean if we're talking about strict functionality, Seesaw will do the functions of Flipgrid, but it cannot duplicate the content, outreach and community that the Flipgrid education team spent YEARS building. That's what drive the frustration and sadness on this one. That and Microsoft's corporate greed and breaking it's word.
I knew the Education team and how devoted they were to outreach with teachers, students, and partners. They built community within and between schools and educators. They worked with partners like museums, National and California Parks to bring special events and content to teachers and student all over the globe. They held events at schools with what must have been tens of thousands of students. They supported teachers like crazy throughout the quarantine.
What Microsoft wrecked when they broke their promise to the people who founded Flipgrid and all the educators all over the WORLD who helped build Flipgrid into the amazing platform it became was a vast community and a ton of educational partnerships the opened up new worlds and perspectives to students all over the world.
FigJam+vimeo is great. But functionality is the easy part. Community is hard. To me the takeaway here is that all the dewey-eyed optimism in the "purpose" and "mission" of the large edtech companies who made us feel like we were part of something and that they wanted us there a decade ago is all gone. They have shown they true colors and what and whom they really care about. Your point in brand loyalty is spot-on.
In 2018, Tom Greenwood wrote a really great article about who is really the product and who is the customer. And while I wonder if 2024 Tom Greenwood would still agree with is his 2018 conclusion, there is a part of the article that sticks with me, and applies here:
"A phrase that’s been around for years and that has been used a lot in relation to this latest Facebook scandal is, “If the product is free, then you are the product.” It’s an eye opening statement and reflects an obvious truth, that if a company is making billions of dollars and you never have to pay them a penny to use their services, then you are not actually their customer. "
(https://www.wholegraindigital.com/blog/you-are-not-the-product/#:~:text=A%20phrase%20that's%20been%20around,are%20not%20actually%20their%20customer.)
As educators, we need to wake up to this and stop calling vendors "partners." We need to remember if it's free it could go away and, thanks to late stage capitalism, probably will in it's free form.