Periscope into the world of Social Media Education for Cisco Network Engineers

Andrew Smith – The Open University @OUCisco

Periscope first appeared early 2015, firstly for the Apple iPhone, then released for Android SmartPhones late May 2015. Owned by Twitter Periscope is a focussed ‘live streaming’ app. Armed with smart phone and a tripod, a series of short single subject technical sessions have been delivered on topics across the domain of internet routing technologies.

Adapting mLearning and creating a paradigm for student motivation – the activity follows the notion that “Newer technologies, such as social networking Web sites, instant messaging, blogs, and Web sites with user created content all have the potential to be used to enhance student engagement and educational outcomes” (Junco and Timm 2008, pp118).

The @OUCisco social media channel is already being used as for asynchronous social media teaching (Smith 2015) – the use of Periscope allows for immediate an immediate synchronous following and post-broadcast viewing for up to twenty-four hours. After which the saved video is easily shared on alternate platforms.

For initial sessions – we varied the time and day of delivery. Each periscope session is tweeted in advance with an info graphic and date/times. Using the pre-existing @OUCisco social media community on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+, having an estimated reach of between 900-1200 at any moment.

Each subject/session attracted over a twenty-four hour window around 100-140 viewers with over 90% watching synchronously. Some occasionally used the chat facilities, the majority observed. Some tweeted, others retweeted or favourited the sessions.

From October 2015, a weekly Periscope session is being periodically offered in tandem with existing weekly social media output, reaching both University and external students. Different sessions are being devised and delivered, with follow up short form questionnaires to gauge community preference.

References
Junco, R., & Timm, D. (2008). Using emerging technologies to enhance student engagement. New directions for student services. Issue #124. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Smith, Andrew (2015), Creating a pre planned social media teaching experience. In ALT-C 2015, Conference Proceedings, 8-10 September 2016, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.