EVALUATING K-12 LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES:
Edmond Lee
LTEC 641 Fall 2015
What is Periscope?
Periscope is a live streaming app, owned by Twitter, that allows you to share and watch live video broadcasts from your mobile device. Periscope is a "visual pulse of what’s happening right now." It lets you "discover the world through someone else’s eyes." As Periscope's inventors Kayvon Beykpour and Joe Bernstein describe it, they wanted to "create the closest thing to teleportation as possible." Periscope is so new (acquired by Twitter in January 2015) that the full legal, educational, and security ramifications are still being explored. Something resembling Periscope might very well be the future of educational interaction as more classrooms adopt an online or hybrid model, especially with the growing preeminence of mobile devices with high-speed data plans and high quality video cameras.
Why Use Periscope?
As more students in traditional classrooms get access to powerful mobile devices that are essentially handheld computers with always-on internet, teachers need to change their paradigm about the role of mobile devices in the classroom. Currently, the majority of schools subscribe to the "absolutely no mobile devices" during classtime model. However, mobile devices are an integral part of most of our lives. They contain our contacts, our emails, our social network feed. We use them for internet searches, to record notes, to take pictures and videos, and to use invaluable apps. For a school to have standards that promulgate "21st century technology" and "ethical user of technology" while instituting a wholesale ban on mobile devices is simply ludicrous. Periscope is simply a very easy and powerful way to "share the moment."
Transparency is important in the classroom. In addition to being able to show parents and other teachers what learning is happening in class, Periscope is a great way to document learning over time to share with students when it comes time to reflect at the end of the year. The video footage coupled with their portfolio work will give a very full picture of what has changed over the course of time. Furthermore, Periscope combined with other social networking apps like Google+, Twitter, Facebook, etc. allow students to literally share their experiences with a global audience.
Periscope: Broadcast vs Watch
There are two basic things you can do on Periscope:
1. broadcast or
2. watch others broadcast.
For broadcasters, Periscope is a great opportunity to share your experiences with others.
Press a button and you are live. Not only that, but your followers will be instantly notified you are broadcasting, so you’ll be directly connected to your audience.
For viewers, Periscope will give you an opportunity to discover the world the way you never could on your own. And you are not just a passive viewer either. You can interact with the broadcaster, ask questions, and encourage them by tapping the screen to send hearts.
How to Get Started with Periscope
1. Download the Periscope app:
From Google Play (for Android)
Google Chrome Add-On (Watch Only!)
2. Log in with Twitter or your phone number
When you open your Periscope app, you’ll have two options: log in with Twitter or your phone number. Integration with Twitter is a great feature and will probably be the one you want to pick unless you have a particular reason to avoid Twitter
3. Here’s what you’ll see first thing after you log into Periscope
Tech Blog The Verge gives their take on Periscope
Celebrities Are Loving How They Can Engage Their Fan Base With Periscope And Twitter
Dottotech's Excellent Tutorial On How To Use Periscope For The First Time
4. There are three basic things you can do on Periscope:
1.Watch
2. Broadcast
3. Find people
Periscope’s Watch Tab (the TV icon in the bottom left corner) is your default Periscope home page.
Periscope’s People Tab (in the bottom right corner) is where you can find and edit your user profile. Under your profile, you can also see:
-Your followers (and follow them back)
-People you are following (and unfollow them)
-People you’ve blocked (and unblock them)
-Your broadcast replays (and watch them or delete them)
Blocking Users On Periscope
Because Periscope is a live-streaming app that uses your location, you may want to block users. When you block a user on Periscope, that user will not be able to follow you or view any of your broadcasts, chats, or hearts in the app.
You will also be unable to follow or see that user’s broadcasts, chats or hearts.
To block a Periscope user:
1. Tap the username you’d like to block.
2. Tap ‘Block User.
You can also unblock a user at any time, via your Profile.
To unblock a user:
1. Tap ‘Blocked’ in your Profile to view the list of users you have previously blocked.
2. Select the user you would like to unblock by clicking into their profile.
3. Tap “Blocked” to bring up the option to “Unblock User.” Tap this option.
Find Someone to Follow
As with any social media platform, what you get from Periscope will definitely depend on who you choose to follow.
When you follow someone on Periscope:
1.You will be invited to join their public broadcasts via push notifications, if your push notifications are enabled.
2. Their broadcasts will appear in your Watch Tab for 24 hours.
3. They can invite you to watch other people’s public broadcasts.
4. You can chat in their limited broadcasts.
5. Anyone you follow can invite you to their private broadcasts.
How do you know whom to follow on Periscope?
Ideally, people you follow should:
-Do Periscope broadcasts.
-Share similar interests
Follow People Others Are Following
The best way to find people to follow is to check out whom others follow.
For instance, if you are into marketing, find a marketer you already like and see whom they are following.
Here’s what you do:
1. While in ‘People’ section of Periscope, search for someone.
2. Follow that person.
3. Tap on their name to see their profile.
4. Tap on the people they are following.
5. This allows you to follow any of their followers
What Are Periscope ‘Hearts’?
The way Periscope ‘measures’ popularity is by the number of ‘hearts’ (likes) any given Periscope user has.
The more hearts you have, the higher up you’ll go on Periscope ‘Most loved’ list.
A few quick pointers about hearts (this is how I believe they work at the time of writing):
-You can earn hearts on both live broadcasts and replays
-Hearts can be given during private broadcasts as well, but they won’t count towards your total;
Using Periscope To ‘Broadcast’
Periscope lets you broadcast live to anyone who wants to watch.
Once you start a live broadcast, Periscope will instantly notify your followers so they can join, comment, and send you hearts in real time.
Here are some things to consider before starting your Periscope broadcast.
Broadcast title
It needs to be short, descriptive, and enticing or "clickable." That’s what your potential viewers go by when choosing to watch (or not) your broadcast. What makes you want to click on something?
Broadcast location
You can choose to share your location (requires your permission in your device Settings).
If you broadcast location-based events, I’d recommend you do allow your viewers to see where you are broadcasting from.
Broadcast privacy
Will your broadcast be public or private? Private broadcasts don’t show up in the Watch table and only notify those followers whom you select. If you want to broadcast to specific followers, press the lock icon before going live and choose who you want to invite to your broadcast.
Limit who can comment
This is a new feature on Periscope, and it was designed to help you control the comment quality during your broadcasts.
If you choose to click on that icon, only people whom you follow will be able to comment on the broadcast. This might help to ensure that you don't receive "unwanted" or offensive comments. Keep in mind that you can also block followers.
Send broadcast to Twitter
If you know that you want to see your broadcast on Twitter then click on the Twitter bird before your broadcast and your Twitter followers will see a tweet.
What Happens to Your Periscope Broadcasts
Periscope will save your broadcasts for 24 hours and users can replay them within that time frame. Viewers can replay your broadcast with comments and hearts to relive the full experience or they can choose to hide chat befor the replay.
