I have been truly amazing and also excited to have seen the reaction this past week to the Snapchat virtual session I for #Freberg16 with a few of my former students.
As I have expressed to many of my colleagues and fellow professors who have been asking me how I decided to use Snapchat for this session, I wish I could have said that this was my plan all along.
However, due to the snow we had this past week, I couldn’t hold my social media class, and thanks to social media, I was still able to have class. As I mentioned before in a previous post, the results on my very first Snapchat virtual chat session was more than I would have ever expected it to be. It off very well even though it took less than 24 hours to plan and organize it all.
This past week, I have been asked by many colleagues what were some of the takeaways I had from this Snapchat virtual chat experience, what I would have done differently, and what else can we do in the classroom when it comes to Snapchat?
Here are some of my thoughts on what I have learned from this first experience:
Take the time to prepare and properly make sure everyone is comfortable with using Snapchat this way.
I am very thankful both my former students and current students were comfortable with Snapchat, but this may not be the case in some classes. Making sure everyone has some guides and resources to help in preparation for the chat ahead of time would be beneficial.
Having more than 24 hours to announce the chat.
As I mentioned before, I had not planned on doing this at all this past Friday. However, when Mother Nature comes and brings forth a big snowstorm, you have to sometimes go with Plan B. This is where my former student Nick (who is a big fan of Gary Vaynerchuck) proposed this idea. In less than 24 hours, were were able to post announcements via email, Blackboard, and Twitter to the class about this change. Would it have helped to have had a few extra days and discussions in class about this to answer any questions about this? Absolutely.
Instructions and Snapchat etiquette policy in hand
It’s always good to be prepared and have everything ready to go. One thing I think would be helpful to have when you decide to use Snapchat is to have an etiquette guide. I have a general social media and email guide myself, but not one specifically focusing on Snapchat. If you decide to do one that is specific to a platform, you may want to have this in hand and share this with the class and guests as well.
Also, making sure to communicate to those (especially the guests) to save their videos, images, and snaps related to answering questions for the virtual chat to Twitter (if you decide to use this as well for your class) is good. My former students did this, but it was one thing I realized that needed to have been communicated and explained at the very beginning.
It’s okay to experiment and explore a new platform
I have been talking to several people who were honest with me and said that they really “didn’t get Snapchat” and “they didn’t see the point of it.” I agree – I would have put myself in this category as well a few years ago. I have seen that in certain cases, certain situations, and in certain classes – it works. What I found by using this for my social media class is the fact that the feedback I received from students was very positive. They were happy to see a professor come to their platform and they were able to teach and practice reverse mentorship.
Plus, I think when it comes to social media, professors have to be willing to explore and experiment to see what works and what doesn’t. We do this in research, so why are we not doing this for our assignments and classes and sharing this more with our fellow colleagues? I think this type of experience illustrates the benefit of this.
Possibilities and Next Steps
I’ve had a few requests from fellow colleagues and professionals to come up with a guide or step-by-step on how to do a virtual chat session via Snapchat. Well, I wanted to do not only that, but also brainstorm some other potential ideas that could be implemented in the classroom for students and professors with Snapchat.
[slideshare id=57668022&doc=snapchatforprofessors-160130005113]
Let me know what you think and if you have tested this out in your classes as well!
Hope you all are having a great day.
Best Wishes,
