Snapchat Vox Zero*
*As in patient zero.
Wednesday. March 30. 5 Seconds. Snapchat Revolution .... well, for me at least. It turns out that Colleges and Universities have been using Snapchat to showcase student life and promote their brand for years. Education bloggers have been writing about Snapchat's usefulness for quite some time, but, as Wired said so bluntly,
"... [I] couldn’t really figure out what Snapchat is supposed to be used for. And so [I] turned [my]back on Snapchat. [I] shrugged and thought Well, it’s for those damn Millennials...."That was until Snapchat Vox Zero, by Sarah Thomas, hit the Edumatch Voxer group. I'll be honest, the transformation was not immediate. I did not download the app right way. I did not set up my account immediately. I don't think of myself as a naysayer, but my first reaction was Nah! I couldn't really see an educational use for an app that is known for disappearing, silly and often inappropriate pictures. Here's how I went from Nah! to OMG!
Two hours later Cynthia Day forwarded a Vox by Daniel Bauer (aka alienearbud) describing educational applications of Snapchat. There seemed to be a reason to pay attention to this Voxer conversation. On Voxer, we continued to discuss problems - It's blocked at school. What if we receive inappropriate Snaps from students? There was a serious security concern in the past. Legitimate concerns.
Later that day Sarah posted her Snap Ghost! I wanted one too. A few hours later, she posted a Snapped video with a filter and a sticker. Then there were filters with rainbows and zombies. Basically, she let us watch her learn how to use the app. Within 24 hours, I had my Snapchat account up so I could start exploring too.
It's awesome ==> Watch me play ==> Come play too
At some point, Toutoule Ntoya invented the phrase Snapchat Shenanigans* and we all just jumped in to play and learn the app. As the play ensued, ideas for using Snapchat in our classrooms, our buildings and our districts emerged; ideas that we couldn't imagine until we started using the app.
* Shenanigans is Toutoule's trademark word.
Eight days later, I am definitely at OMG about the possibilities. I've practiced making and downloading stories and I can't wait to use Snap Stories to share what's going on inside our schools and classrooms. I've even submitted a Geofilter to Snapchat for approval. Then, this weekend, I had the opportunity to talk about Snapchat at EdCampSpark held at Discovery Place Studio in Charlotte, NC and the learning and ideas grew even more. We have a Google Doc with our ideas here that you are welcome to add to or just read through for inspiration.
