In the words of Evan Spiegel, co-founder and CEO of Snapchat:
We have made it very hard for parents to embarrass their children. It’s much more for sharing personal moments than it is about public display.
That being the case, how then can this mobile messaging app, popular for its short, disappearing photos and videos enhance better and more involved communication between students and teachers, with the students still maintaining their privacy?
Some school educators are creatively using Snapchat for educational purposes. According to Aaron Plas, assistant principal of York High School, Nebraska in the United States:
We got on it a few months ago and the reason behind it was that we wanted to try to reach our students on the social media platform they are using the most.
They thought it would be a great avenue to showcase things happening at school, and to provide reminders and announcements. About 40 students followed the account right away and they have been gaining more followers each week.
And while they started the account with students in mind, surprisingly, a lot of parents have followed their Snapchat account as well, says Mr Plas.
But Snapchat is not only useful for information dissemination, take Katelyn Gilroy as an example, a library media specialist at Peters Township High School in McMurray, Pennsylvania; she created a library Snapchat account after noticing that many of her students were using the app.
Her school allows students to bring their own device, and she was looking for a way to connect using social media. But it even gets better for students who desire to keep their school and personal lives separate.
She snaps things like library news and information, new books and different events they host as Snapchat Stories. Unlike snaps sent to individuals, stories and other content can be viewed by anyone following a Snapchat account for up to 24 hours.
At the time this story was published, she had about 30 followers. Getting the word out more, and consistency in using Snapchat form her strategy for getting more students on board.
Besides this, they also plan their content carefully to make it ever more appealing, often using filters and lenses – these are amusing overlays that change the look and feel of the content – when creating snaps.
In the words of Katelyn Gilroy:
As the librarian, I need to constantly grow my library program and also grow kind of with the times. So if they start using a different app, I could definitely see myself incorporating that into the library as well.
A fun way of using Snapchat, yes? So, what plans do you have for your school, whether you are a student or educator? Do fill us in!
Source: usnews.com
