Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Periscope in the Classroom

Have you heard about this new social media platform called Periscope? Well, if you haven't, Periscope is a social media platform where you can live stream videos from anywhere in the world using an app on your phone. Ever since teachers have taken over Periscope to network and collaborate with one another, I've been trying to rack my brain to come up with ideas for how to use Periscope with my students. I always feel like there is never enough time in the day! Periscope would be a great way to carry learning over to after school and build that home-school connection!

Periscope in the Classroom

The teacher could tape the students...

-giving a presentation
-during show and tell
-reading a story
-completing classroom activities
-sharing exciting news from school

Parents could tape themselves...

-reading a story as the "Mystery Reader"
-giving a presentation about their job or giving a tour of their office for Career Day
-sharing a special message with their child

(For parent taped videos, you can place a device in a center or play the video during small group instead of broadcasting it to the whole class. What's great about Periscope is that videos are available to replay for 24 hours so you don't have to watch them live.)

Teachers could tape themselves...

-giving examples of a math concept covered in class
-quizzing students from a study guide before a test
-teasing an upcoming lesson (MAJOR engagement factor!!!)
-previewing the upcoming week (instead of a weekly newsletter or blogpost)
-giving a special message to students on a holiday
-asking questions for extra credit, points, candy, etc...
-giving an answer to a question that you'll ask in class the next day (Only those that are watching will know the answer ahead of time.)
-showing a real world example of a topic you have covered in class (For example, if you're teaching your students about the life cycle of a butterfly and find a chrysalis during your evening walk you can video tape it for your students to see.)
-doing a science experiment from home
-live streaming from a trip you're on (This would be an amazing way for kids to see places they've never been!)
-sharing other scopes you think would be interesting to your kiddos (For example, many zoos around the world have their own Periscope channel. Discovery and National Geographic also have their own channels. You can make sure it's an official channel by looking for the check mark next to their picture/name.)

I hope that I've given you many ideas of how to use this exciting new social media platform in your classroom. As with any other technology, make sure you check with your administration and follow your school/district policies regarding privacy. I typed up a Periscope release form that you can find here.  I hope you can use it! :)


If you would like to use it in the classroom, you could do a mini workshop for parents or share about how to use it during open house before getting started. This might be helpful in getting parents on board. If you'd like more information about Periscope, Angie from Lucky Little Learners and Ashley from Schroeder Shenanigans in Second have great tips on their blogs!

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