Heidi Hayes Jacobs with me at NAESP15

Periscope to your YouTube

I’ve had this thought on my mind, for a while. The thought is that I’ve been using Periscope in my work since May and want to see how a new and pre-service teacher might begin thinking about using it. First, let’s talk a bit about YouTube.

A few years ago, I started the New Teacher First Year YouTube channel as a way to reach out to new teachers. The purpose in starting the channel was to provide year-long feedback to new teachers on how to get through the first year of teaching. It was meant to have frequent monthly tips shared by teachers around the world. I’ve since found that keeping the channel populated with videos can be challenging, but I’m up for it. Think about how you could set up your own YouTube channel with your students, parents, and colleagues. It’s fun, and easy to do. Give it a try.

Now, how does Periscope fit in? I want to encourage you to try sharing your classroom using Periscope. This fairly new application, created by the folks at Twitter, is providing educators a chance to share a window into their work and support others to connect to them in real-time. You can follow me @teachwithsoul on Periscope.

It’s easy to log on and begin to view some great broadcasts. You’ll need to start by downloading the App for your Smartphone or tablet. Then you can log-in using your Twitter account or start a brand new one.

Once you log in, search out your friends on Twitter and follow them on Periscope. When you follow someone, you can set up an alert to know every time that person broadcasts. But, feel free to shut that feature off! While on Periscope you can watch the broadcast live or watch it on replay for up to 24 hours later. Beyond 24 hours, it disappears.

Periscope broadcasts are interactive in that you can type in comments as the video is live streaming and the broadcaster can respond! You can watch the broadcast while on Twitter by clicking on a tweeted link which will take you to the web view. You can also tap the screen of your device and you will be able to send hearts that are viewed by all. A fun way to let the broadcaster know that you are enjoying the feed.  Just know that on the web view, you aren’t able to comment.

Here’s how it will look on Twitter:

A tip for when you are getting ready to share out: be sure to get your Periscope title ready to go ahead of time. I like to create mine in Evernote and then cut and paste to the Periscope broadcast. I include a title, Twitter handle of friends that are in the video and hashtags, of course. This helps others to have a better idea of your content and peaks their interest to want to view. It’s a great way to create new connections!

Upload to YouTube

One of the beautiful things about this app is that once you complete your broadcast, you have 24 hours to capture your feed to your camera roll. Then you can take that feed and upload it to your YouTube channel. So awesome!

Here is an example of a recent Periscope interview that I did at NAESP15 with Heidi Hayes Jacobs.

It was filmed by a colleague, who forgot to save her Periscope to the camera roll. But, no worries…within the 24 hour period, I grabbed it off her Periscope feed, while viewing on my iPhone, did a bit of editing and uploaded it to my YouTube channel. Here’s a hack on how to do that (in case you forget to save it).

The power of having this real-time streaming app is that when you link it to your Twitter account, it will broadcast to your followers as you are LIVE on Air!

As a new teacher, I think you’ll find it fun to use! Sharing your lessons, classroom design, featuring students at work and play, and interviewing parents and staff are all activities that educators will enjoy viewing. (Be sure to get permissions to video, and share your students faces, whenever you are photographing or filming them.) If you don’t yet have a classroom, play around with it as you do classroom observations or ask your University Professors to let you share out during your classes. Might be fun to highlight some sessions or talks. Or use it casually while on a trip, or walk around town. Get a feel for how it can be used and don’t be afraid to experiment. Several educators, like me, are using it to share out while at conferences or creating their own professional development with Periscope. I plan to start creating a few Periscopes for new and pre-service teachers around our next back to school, New Teacher Chat series, called the New Teacher Academy.

So what do you think? Does the idea of sharing your classroom with Periscope sound intriguing? I challenge you to give it a go! Need more info? For ideas on how to use Periscope, check out this Google Doc and this tutorial. You can also follow the hashtag #periscopeEDU to connect to others who are using it. I’d love for you to let me know what you think, by leaving a comment.

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