When you want to hear students explain their work, a short video response can fit around work schedules, time zones, and other demands on an online class.
In Vivipod, you post a prompt and students record an answer. They can talk, sketch, or show their screen. Classmates and instructors can then leave comments, including a timestamp when feedback refers to a particular moment.
Start with one activity in your course. If you are reviewing Vivipod for a department, see the institutional review page.
Table of Contents
Prompts for your course
In our September 2026 usage review, the busiest college Spaces had a new Topic each week, with a similar task students could return to throughout the term. The examples below include introductions, reading questions, explanations, and peer feedback.
Topics that run all term
Copy a prompt into a new Topic and adjust it for your course. Each includes a recording limit and suggested settings for review and comments.
Week 190 sec Class introductions
Tell us your name and the story behind it, your year and major, and what you hope to do with the degree. Where are you right now, and where do you call home?
Posts appear to the class as soon as a student publishes. No approval step.Members can reply on a post, with @mentions and feedback tied to a timestamp.Weekly90 sec Reading check
Post one question you had about this week's chapter, or one concept that was hard to follow, and share a link, video, or tutorial that helped you understand it. Replying to a classmate's question counts.
Posts appear to the class as soon as a student publishes. No approval step.Members can reply on a post, with @mentions and feedback tied to a timestamp.Weekly90 sec Concept discussion
A correlation alone cannot tell us which variable causes the other. Take the link between low self-esteem and depression: which direction do you find more plausible, and what evidence would settle it? Reply to one classmate with a counterexample.
Posts appear to the class as soon as a student publishes. No approval step.Members can reply on a post, with @mentions and feedback tied to a timestamp.Lab90 sec Lab show-and-tell
Show us your paper airplanes. State your directional hypothesis, name the independent and dependent variables, and report the results of your flight trials.
Posts appear to the class as soon as a student publishes. No approval step.Members can reply on a post, with @mentions and feedback tied to a timestamp.Any paper90 sec Defend one decision
Pick one decision you made in your paper. What alternative did you consider, and what evidence led you to choose this one? Point to the section; do not retell the paper.
Posts wait for your approval. Until then only the student and Space admins can see them.Members can reply on a post, with @mentions and feedback tied to a timestamp.Drafts90 sec Peer feedback on a draft
Walk us through your draft on screen: the claim, the strongest piece of evidence, and the part you are least sure about. Then leave one timestamped comment on a classmate's draft.
Posts appear to the class as soon as a student publishes. No approval step.Members can reply on a post, with @mentions and feedback tied to a timestamp.Week 190 sec AI as the prompt
Ask an AI assistant to simulate how the plague would have affected your family and neighborhood. Summarize the output, then tell us what it got right, what it got wrong, and how you know.
Posts appear to the class as soon as a student publishes. No approval step.Members can reply on a post, with @mentions and feedback tied to a timestamp.Last week90 sec End-of-term reflection
Share one theory you enjoyed learning about, one you are still puzzled by, and one problem in your field you now understand better than you did in week one.
Posts appear to the class as soon as a student publishes. No approval step.Members can reply on a post, with @mentions and feedback tied to a timestamp.Text analysis5 minPlus Passage analysis
Choose a passage of three to ten verses. In three to five minutes, explain the central issue it addresses, how the author responds to it, and what it asks of a reader today.
Posts wait for your approval. Until then only the student and Space admins can see them.Members can reply on a post, with @mentions and feedback tied to a timestamp.
For the assessment side, start with asynchronous oral assessments in the age of AI.
Set up a course discussion
- Create a Space for the course or section. Open lets anyone with the link browse and sign in to contribute; Private requires approval before viewing.
- Add a Topic for each prompt. Set the recording limit to match the task and turn on post approval if you want to review responses before others see them.
- Ask students to record a Post. They can pause, draw, and switch between screen and camera while recording in the browser. Drafts save automatically, and students can retake before uploading.
- Turn on comments for the Topic if you want replies. Members can use
@mentionsand timestamps in their feedback. Each person chooses how often to receive email notifications. Comments are off by default.
Students sign in with an email code or Google. You do not need to create accounts for them.
Use it with your LMS
Keep the course roster, modules, and grades in your LMS. Add a link or embed where students will find the video activity.
- Canvas: Add a Space to Course Navigation or share its link. See Canvas and web embeds.
- Other LMS platforms: Share the Space link in Moodle, Blackboard, Brightspace, or a syllabus. Open Spaces show the prompts before students sign in.
- Grading: Review responses by Topic, use your rubric, and leave feedback on the Posts. Record grades in your LMS.
Frequently asked questions
Is this a replacement for Canvas or Moodle discussions?
You can use Vivipod for video discussion and keep the roster, modules, and grades in Canvas or Moodle. Share the Space where students would normally find the activity. Keep written discussions in the LMS when they suit the assignment.
Do students need to appear on camera?
No. The recorder can capture the screen, a sketch, or slides with voice. Many instructors let students choose.
How much time does grading take?
Start with a short recording limit and time yourself reviewing a few responses. Include scoring and follow-up, then decide how often the activity fits your course. The oral assessment guide has more advice on managing review time.
How long can a recording be?
Ninety seconds on the free plan, which fits a defense, a reading check, or an introduction. Plus raises the limit to five minutes for demonstrations and longer explanations.
Are captions and transcripts available?
Yes, on Plus. Captions are a per-Topic switch. Every video in a captioned Topic gets a CC button, and the first Space member to press it generates the captions in about ten seconds. Speech recognition runs inside Vivipod's own infrastructure, so generating captions does not send recordings to an additional provider. See captions and transcripts.
We work toward WCAG 2.2 Level AA to help more students participate. Read about our testing, known limitations, and how to ask for help in our accessibility statement.
Start with one activity
Choose one question from next week's coursework and make it a Topic. Ask students to explain their answer, leave a question on a classmate's Post, and return to answer the feedback they receive.