Floop - Detailed Review
Education Tools
Floop - Product Overview
Introduction to Floop in Education Tools
Floop is an innovative web app designed to streamline and enhance the feedback process in educational settings. Here’s a breakdown of its primary function, target audience, and key features:
Primary Function
Floop’s main purpose is to facilitate fast and effective feedback on student work. It enables teachers to provide feedback up to four times faster than traditional methods, which helps students receive the guidance they need promptly.
Target Audience
The primary users of Floop are teachers and students. The platform is built to support educators in giving timely and constructive feedback, while also empowering students to take an active role in their learning process through peer review and self-assessment.
Key Features
Fast Feedback
Teachers can use drag-and-drop comment banks and feedback anchored to specific places on student work, significantly speeding up the feedback process.
Peer Review
Floop allows students to engage in guided peer review, helping them learn how to give and receive feedback effectively. This is facilitated through scaffolded prompts that help students gain proficiency in the language of feedback.
Self-Assessment
Teachers can set custom prompts for student reflection and self-assessment, making it a part of the assignment. This helps students develop feedback literacy skills and take agency over their own learning.
Ease of Use
The platform is user-friendly, allowing teachers and students to create accounts quickly and start using the app with minimal setup.
Overall, Floop is a valuable tool for educators looking to enhance student learning through timely and meaningful feedback, while also fostering a culture of student-led learning and feedback literacy.
Floop - User Interface and Experience
User Interface Overview
The user interface of Floop, an education tool aimed at facilitating feedback and peer review, is designed with a focus on simplicity and functionality to support both teachers and students.Visual Design and Layout
Floop has undergone a significant visual redesign, making the interface more modern and user-friendly. The new design ensures that all existing classes, students, and assignments are still accessible, but now within a more aesthetically pleasing and consistent framework.Key Features
Submission and Feedback
Submission and Feedback: Students can submit their work by taking a picture of their assignments or uploading documents from their devices or Google Drive. Teachers and peers can then provide feedback linked to specific parts of the assignment. This feedback can be in the form of comments or digital mark-ups.Peer Review
Peer Review: Floop includes a double-blind anonymous peer review system, where students do not know who is reviewing their work or who gave them feedback. This system is scaffolded to help students develop feedback skills.Read Receipts
Read Receipts: Teachers can see if students have read their feedback, which helps in ensuring that feedback is not ignored. Students, however, do not see these read receipts.Ease of Use
While Floop is generally easy to use, new users might need some time to figure out the interface. The tool features a comment bank that is fast and easy to use, and students can reply to comments seamlessly. However, some users have noted that certain features, such as leaving personal comments on submitted work or adding live links to feedback, could be improved.User Experience
The overall user experience is enhanced by the interactive and digital nature of the feedback process. Students can engage in peer review, self-assessment, and respond to feedback through dialog and resubmissions. This interactive approach helps in building feedback literacy skills and promotes student engagement and reflection.Feedback Literacy Curriculum
Floop also offers a Feedback Literacy Curriculum, which includes surveys, rubrics, and lesson plans to support the development of feedback literacy skills. This curriculum helps in integrating Floop effectively into classroom practices and promotes a culture of feedback and growth.Accessibility and Privacy
While Floop is accessible on all platforms and does not feature advertisements for students, it lacks a clear accessibility statement or policy. The privacy policy is transparent, outlining how user information is used and shared, and Floop complies with COPPA and FERPA regulations.Conclusion
In summary, Floop’s user interface is streamlined for ease of use, with a focus on facilitating effective feedback and peer review processes. However, some aspects of the interface may require a brief learning period for new users. Floop - Key Features and Functionality
Floop: An Educational Tool
Floop is an education tool that focuses on streamlining the feedback process between teachers and students. While it is not explicitly AI-driven, it offers several key features that enhance teaching and learning.
Student Submission and Feedback
Floop allows students to submit their assignments by taking a photo of their work and uploading it to the platform. This can be done using any device with a browser, making it accessible for various learning environments, including in-person, remote, and hybrid settings.
Teacher Feedback
Teachers can provide feedback directly on the uploaded work, similar to how they would on Google Docs. This feedback can be anchored to specific places on the student’s work, making it clear and targeted. Floop also saves previous comments, enabling teachers to drag and drop common feedback, saving time and effort.
Peer Review
Floop facilitates peer review sessions that can be fully anonymous, allowing students to learn from each other while giving teachers the ability to track the process and intervene if necessary. This feature promotes social learning and helps students develop skills in giving and receiving feedback.
Self-Assessment
The platform includes tools for guided self-assessment. Teachers can create custom prompts that encourage students to reflect on their own work. These prompts can be set as required parts of the assignment, giving students agency over their learning and helping them improve based on their own evaluations.
Comment Banks
Floop’s comment bank feature allows teachers to save and reuse common feedback comments. This saves time, as teachers do not have to type out the same comments repeatedly. It also ensures consistency in feedback across multiple students.
Integration and Accessibility
Floop can be integrated with learning management systems like Schoology, making it easier for teachers to manage their classes and assignments. The tool is browser-based, so it can be used on various devices, although the interface may take some time to get used to.
Pricing
Floop offers a free version (Floop Basic) that allows up to 10 active assignments. For unlimited assignments, there is a premium version available at $10 per month or $84 annually. Schools and districts can also inquire about group rates.
Conclusion
While Floop does not integrate AI directly into its features, it significantly enhances the feedback loop between teachers and students through its efficient and interactive feedback mechanisms. This makes it a valuable tool for improving student learning outcomes without relying on AI technologies.
Floop - Performance and Accuracy
Evaluating the Performance and Accuracy of Floop
Evaluating the performance and accuracy of Floop, an education tool focused on feedback, involves examining its key features, benefits, and any identified limitations.
Performance
Floop is praised for its ability to streamline the feedback process, making it significantly faster for teachers to provide feedback on student work. Here are some key performance highlights:
- Speed of Feedback: Floop allows teachers to give feedback 4x faster than traditional methods by using drag-and-drop comment banks and feedback anchored to specific places on student work. For instance, a teacher who previously spent about 12 minutes per submission can now provide detailed feedback in just 3 minutes.
- Guided Peer Feedback: The platform facilitates guided peer review, enabling students to learn how to give and receive feedback effectively. This is achieved through scaffolded prompts that help students gain proficiency in the language of feedback.
- Self-Assessment: Floop supports student reflection and self-assessment by allowing teachers to set custom prompts that can be made required as part of the assignment. This helps in integrating self-assessment into the learning process.
Accuracy
The accuracy of feedback provided through Floop is enhanced by several features:
- Specific Feedback: Feedback is anchored to specific places on student work, ensuring that comments are relevant and targeted.
- Structured Peer Review: Peer review sessions are structured with specific criteria set by the teacher, ensuring that feedback is focused and constructive.
- Research-Backed: Floop’s feedback systems are informed by research, such as the work of Dr. Naomi Winstone, which adds to the accuracy and effectiveness of the feedback provided.
Limitations and Areas for Improvement
While Floop offers several benefits, there are some areas where it could be improved:
- User Base and Class Size: The efficiency gains from using Floop might be more pronounced in smaller class sizes. Teachers with larger classes may still face significant time commitments, although the tool does reduce overall feedback time.
- Technical Dependence: Like any digital tool, Floop’s effectiveness depends on reliable technology and internet access. Technical issues could hinder its use in some settings.
- Initial Setup: While creating an account is quick, setting up the feedback systems, prompts, and criteria might require some initial time and effort from teachers.
- Feedback Perception: The platform could benefit from additional guidance on how to present feedback in a way that is emotionally positive for students. For example, avoiding the use of red font in feedback, as it can be perceived negatively.
Additional Resources
Floop also offers a “Feedback Essentials Course” that helps teachers improve their feedback practices. This course covers topics such as teacher feedback, peer feedback, self-feedback, and strategies for creating assessments with feedback in mind. This additional resource can help teachers optimize their use of Floop and improve the accuracy and effectiveness of the feedback they provide.
In summary, Floop enhances the performance and accuracy of feedback in educational settings by providing a fast, structured, and research-backed feedback system. However, it may have limitations related to class size, technical dependencies, and initial setup, which users should be aware of.
Floop - Pricing and Plans
Floop Pricing Structure
Floop Essential
- This plan is free for all teachers.
- It includes basic features that support teaching and learning, such as tools for peer review, feedback, and classroom management.
- Teachers can use this plan without any cost, making it accessible to everyone.
Floop Premium
- This is a paid tier that offers additional features beyond what is available in the Essential plan.
- It includes advanced tools for teacher and peer feedback, read receipts to track student engagement, and other enhanced features to support more comprehensive learning and feedback processes.
Schools & Districts Plan
- This plan provides unlimited access to all of Floop’s Premium features.
- It also includes additional site-wide support, which is beneficial for larger educational institutions.
- This plan is ideal for schools and districts looking to implement Floop across their entire organization.
Summary
Floop Edu offers a free Essential plan for individual teachers, a Premium plan with additional features for a fee, and a Schools & Districts plan for institutional-wide implementation with full support. This structure aims to make Floop accessible and beneficial for educators at various levels.
Floop - Integration and Compatibility
Integration and Compatibility of Floop
Platform Compatibility
Floop is compatible across various platforms, including all major desktop operating systems such as Windows, macOS, and Linux, as well as Chrome OS. Since it is a browser-based tool, it can be accessed from any device with a supported web browser.Browser Support
Floop does not specify the exact browser versions it supports, but given its browser-based nature, it is likely to work with modern browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Opera.Integration with Other Tools
Floop integrates well with popular educational platforms. For instance, it allows roster integration with Google Classroom or Clever, making it easier to manage student rosters and assignments. This integration enables seamless synchronization of student data and assignments, streamlining the feedback process.Device Accessibility
While Floop is primarily designed for desktop use, it can technically be accessed on mobile devices through a web browser. However, the user experience might not be as optimal as on desktop devices due to the limitations of web technologies on mobile operating systems.Feedback and Assignment Management
Floop supports the upload of various file types, including images, PDFs, and Google Docs. This flexibility allows teachers and students to work with different formats, enhancing the feedback and review process. The tool also features guided peer review, reusable comment banks, and the ability to add co-teachers or collaborators, which further facilitates collaboration and feedback management.Data Export and Management
For those who need to manage and export data, Floop’s Premium plan offers features like exporting grades to CSV and exporting student work and feedback to PDF. This ensures that teachers can easily manage and analyze student performance data.Conclusion
In summary, Floop is highly compatible across different platforms and devices, integrates well with other educational tools like Google Classroom and Clever, and offers a range of features to enhance feedback and assignment management. However, for the best user experience, it is recommended to use it on desktop devices. Floop - Customer Support and Resources
Customer Support
For any questions or issues, users can access Floop’s support section on their Freshdesk platform. Here, you can search for specific information or submit a ticket with your query. The support team is available to help with various aspects, such as getting started with the platform, enrolling students, creating assignments, and using specific features like peer review and self-assessment.
Resources for Getting Started
Floop provides a comprehensive “Getting Started” guide that walks users through the process of setting up classes, enrolling students, and creating digital assignments. This guide includes detailed steps for using Google assets like Slides, Docs, and Sheets, as well as integrating with other educational platforms like Canvas, Schoology, and Clever.
Feedback Essentials Course
Floop offers a “Feedback Essentials Course,” a 5-hour self-paced online course that covers various aspects of feedback in education. The course includes modules on feedback overview, teacher feedback, peer feedback, self-feedback, and strategies for creating assessments that encourage student engagement. Upon completion, participants receive a certificate of completion and contact hours.
Community and Team Support
The Floop team, which includes educators and developers, is actively involved in supporting users. The team provides updates on new features and product enhancements, such as the recent integration with Canvas. You can also connect with Floop through their contact email (team@floopedu.com) for any general inquiries or feedback.
Additional Tools and Features
Floop’s platform includes tools for rapid, anonymous, and scaffolded peer review sessions, which can be completed within a single class period. The platform also supports guided self-assessment with custom prompts set by teachers, helping students develop feedback literacy skills.
By leveraging these support options and resources, users can ensure a smooth and effective implementation of Floop’s feedback tools in their classrooms.
Floop - Pros and Cons
Advantages of Floop
Floop offers several significant advantages that make it a valuable tool in educational settings:Efficient Feedback
Floop enables teachers to provide instant and individualized feedback on student work, whether it is written, typed, or a combination of both. Students can submit their assignments by taking a photo of their work and uploading it, allowing teachers to comment directly on the submissions.Time-Saving Features
Teachers can save time by using Floop’s feature to save previous comments. This allows them to drag and drop comments when appropriate, reducing the need to type or write the same feedback multiple times.Peer Review and Self-Assessment
Floop facilitates anonymous peer review sessions, enabling students to learn from each other while giving teachers the ability to track the process. It also allows students to assess themselves, promoting agency over their own learning and encouraging them to improve their work.Integration and Accessibility
Floop is a browser-based tool that works on all platforms, including phones, tablets, and other devices. It can be integrated with Learning Management Systems (LMS) like Schoology, making it versatile for in-person, remote, and hybrid learning environments.Feedback Literacy and Curriculum Support
Floop provides a Feedback Literacy Curriculum to support its use, helping both teachers and students develop their feedback literacy skills. This curriculum is designed to promote growth, revision, and mastery learning.Compliance and Privacy
Floop complies with COPPA and FERPA regulations, ensuring student data privacy. The platform does not feature advertisements for students, and its privacy policy clearly outlines how information is used and shared.Disadvantages of Floop
While Floop offers many benefits, there are some areas where it may fall short:Learning Curve
New users may find the interface tricky to navigate at first, requiring some time to figure out how to use the tool effectively.Accessibility Limitations
Despite its versatility, Floop does not have a clear accessibility statement or policy, which could be a concern for users with specific needs. The accessibility rating is relatively low, indicating potential challenges for some users.Dependence on Pedagogical Knowledge
For Floop to be effective, it needs to be combined with strong pedagogical knowledge of how to facilitate good feedback and a good background in the content being addressed. This means it is not a standalone solution but part of a broader educational strategy. In summary, Floop is a powerful tool for enhancing feedback processes in education, but it may require some initial learning and careful integration into existing educational practices to maximize its benefits. Floop - Comparison with Competitors
When comparing Floop to other education tools in the AI-driven and feedback-focused category, several unique features and potential alternatives stand out.
Unique Features of Floop
- Instant and Individualized Feedback: Floop allows teachers to provide immediate feedback on student work, whether it is written, typed, or a combination of both. Students can submit their work by photographing it, and teachers can comment directly on the uploaded images, similar to how they would on Google Docs.
- Comment Banks and Efficiency: Floop saves teachers time by allowing them to save previous comments and drag-and-drop them onto student work, reducing the need to type the same feedback multiple times.
- Anonymous Peer Reviews: Floop facilitates anonymous peer review sessions, enabling students to learn from each other while giving teachers the ability to monitor and intervene if necessary.
- Self-Assessment: The platform includes features that allow students to assess their own work, promoting self-reflection and agency over their learning.
Potential Alternatives
Gradescope
Gradescope is another digital grading and assessment tool that uses AI to assist in grading and provide analytics. While it shares some similarities with Floop in terms of digital feedback, Gradescope is more focused on grading and rubric development. It does not offer the same level of peer review and self-assessment features as Floop.
Smart Sparrow
Smart Sparrow is an adaptive e-learning platform that uses AI to personalize learning and provide real-time feedback. However, it is more focused on interactive lessons and real-time feedback within the context of adaptive learning, rather than the specific feedback mechanisms and peer review features of Floop.
Querium and GradeSlam
These AI-powered tutoring platforms provide personalized learning experiences and real-time feedback but are more oriented towards one-on-one tutoring and assessing students’ strengths and weaknesses. They do not offer the same classroom-based feedback and peer review functionalities as Floop.
Key Differences
- Focus on Feedback Mechanisms: Floop is specifically designed to optimize the feedback loop between teachers and students, including peer reviews and self-assessments, which sets it apart from tools like Gradescope and Smart Sparrow.
- Integration with Various Work Types: Floop’s ability to handle both written and typed work, and its ease of use across different devices, makes it versatile for various learning environments (in-person, remote, and hybrid).
- User-Friendly Comment System: The drag-and-drop comment feature in Floop is unique and helps teachers save time, which is not a highlighted feature in the other tools mentioned.
In summary, while other tools offer various forms of feedback and assessment, Floop’s focus on instant, individualized feedback, peer reviews, and self-assessment makes it a standout in the education tools category.
Floop - Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions about Floop
What is Floop and how does it work?
Floop is a web app designed to help teachers provide efficient and meaningful feedback to students. It allows students to submit their work by photographing their assignments, which teachers can then comment on directly. This tool supports both written and typed work and can be used in in-person, remote, and hybrid learning environments.How do students submit their work on Floop?
Students submit their work by creating an account using a teacher-provided class code. Once logged in, they can see their assignments listed, take photos of their homework, and upload their work according to the teacher’s instructions.Can Floop be used on various devices?
Yes, Floop is a browser-based tool, which means it can be used on any device with a browser, including phones, tablets, and other devices.How does Floop facilitate peer review?
Floop allows for anonymous peer review sessions where students can learn from each other’s feedback. Teachers can track the process live and step in if necessary. This feature helps students engage in social learning and develop feedback literacy skills.How does Floop help teachers save time?
Floop saves previous comments made by teachers, allowing them to drag and drop these comments when appropriate. This feature helps teachers avoid typing or writing the same comment multiple times, saving them significant time.Can students assess themselves using Floop?
Yes, Floop has a feature that allows students to assess their own work. This gives students agency over their learning, encouraging them to improve their work based on their own expectations and take control of their education.Is Floop free to use?
Floop is free for individual users. However, schools and districts may have custom pricing arrangements.How does Floop ensure privacy and compliance?
Floop complies with COPPA and FERPA regulations, ensuring the privacy and security of student data. It also features a high level of privacy, with options for anonymous peer reviews.Can Floop be integrated with other learning management systems?
Yes, Floop can be integrated with other learning management systems, such as Schoology. Teachers can sync their Floop classes with these systems to manage their classes more efficiently.What kind of support and resources does Floop offer?
Floop provides curriculum and professional development resources for both teachers and students to develop their feedback literacy skills. The website also features articles and tips to help users learn how to use the tool effectively.How easy is it to get started with Floop?
Creating an account on Floop can be done in under 4 minutes, and it is relatively easy to start using the tool. However, new users may need some time to familiarize themselves with the interface. Floop - Conclusion and Recommendation
Final Assessment of Floop
Floop is a versatile and effective educational tool that streamlines the feedback process, making it a valuable asset for both teachers and students. Here’s a comprehensive overview of its benefits and who would most benefit from using it.
Key Features
- Efficient Feedback: Floop allows teachers to provide feedback quickly and efficiently. It includes features like comment banks and the ability to drag and drop comments, saving teachers a significant amount of time.
- Peer Review: The platform facilitates rapid, anonymous, and scaffolded peer review sessions, which can be completed within a single class period. This helps students learn how to give and receive feedback, enhancing their feedback literacy.
- Self-Assessment: Floop enables students to assess themselves through custom prompts and structured guidance, giving them agency over their own learning and encouraging them to improve their work.
- Integration and Accessibility: Floop integrates with various Learning Management Systems (LMS) such as Canvas and Schoology, making it easy to use across different educational platforms. It is accessible via any browser and can be used on multiple devices.
- Ungrading Support: Floop supports alternative forms of assessment, such as using emojis and symbols, aligning with the ungrading philosophy. This fosters a feedback-forward model where students continually improve their work rather than focusing on grades.
Who Would Benefit Most
- Teachers: Floop is particularly beneficial for teachers as it saves them time in providing feedback. The comment bank feature and the ability to reuse feedback comments make the feedback process more efficient. Additionally, the platform’s integration with LMS systems and its ease of use make it a practical tool for classroom management.
- Students: Students benefit from the immediate and targeted feedback they receive. The peer review feature helps them learn from their peers, and the self-assessment tools give them more control over their learning. This approach encourages continuous improvement and fosters a collaborative learning environment.
Overall Recommendation
Floop is highly recommended for educators looking to enhance the feedback process in their classrooms. Here are some key reasons:
- Time Efficiency: Floop significantly reduces the time teachers spend on giving feedback, allowing them to focus on more in-depth and meaningful interactions with students.
- Student Engagement: The platform promotes active learning by engaging students in peer review and self-assessment, which are crucial for their growth and development.
- Accessibility: Being free and easy to set up, Floop is accessible to a wide range of educators and students, regardless of their technical proficiency.
- Alignment with Educational Goals: Floop supports educational philosophies like ungrading and mastery learning, which focus on continuous improvement and student growth rather than grades.
In summary, Floop is an excellent tool for educators who want to create a more engaging, feedback-rich learning environment. Its features are well-suited for fostering student growth, improving feedback literacy, and streamlining the feedback process, making it an invaluable addition to any educational setting.