As you may know, I have tried to stay off screens for several weeks now as I recover from a concussion and so I missed the flurry of invitations and excitement around the iOS app, Clubhouse. Since last week was Spring Break, I used my screen time to jump in and check it out.
I noticed I had a few followers whose names I recognized so I followed them back. I looked at their profiles and realized that I needed to update my bio and follow other people I know. I then proceeded to jump into a random conversation led by a business professional I didn’t recognize. In fact, I didn’t recognize a single person and I also realized I knew absolutely NOTHING about the platform. I assumed they couldn’t hear me and the “leave quietly” button was just that–a way to leave the conversation.
It was then I decided that if I wanted to learn about Clubhouse I needed to create a room and play (that is just how I learn). And so I proceeded to create a room. I called it A Family Media Plan (more about that later) and Learning about Clubhouse. I was by myself for a few minutes. I talked to myself and pushed a few buttons. Then, Tisha Poncio,(@tishaponcio) Don Sturm (@sturmdon) Chris Nesi (@mrnesi) and Sandra Chow (@watnunu) joined me and it was AWESOME because I got to hear the voices of these PLN friends I have not seen in person in years (dang you Covid)!!
The app is completely synchronous and audio-based. There was something so cool about meeting across time zones in real time. Tisha and Don are Club house pros. Over the course of our conversation and their suggestions, I learned:
- The experience (like any social media) is created by who you follow
- You can start a room, and grant moderator status to others to join if you wish for them to join in the conversation with you (aka control their own audio) .
- When you turn your mic on & off quickly, you are basically applauding an idea
- If you want to contribute to the discussion you raise your hand and the room owner or a moderator may invite you to speak
- You can quickly change your icon to say “Just listening” if you don’t want the group moderator to bring you into the conversation (I just found a selfie on my camera roll and added text to it in Snapchat–you can also just create a quick sign in Canva. You tap on your image to change your icon and then refresh)
- When you are done sharing, you explicitly say, “I am ___ and I am done speaking” to cue others
- Turning Notifications off is always a personal choice, but like any social media app can be overwhelming (I never have notifications turned on for anything)
- You can listen to the conversation while doing other things on your phone
Monica Burns had an awesome session featuring Al Thomas and I mustered up the courage to participate in the conversation about Creativity in the Classroom. I couldn’t believe how nervous I was to share. More than any other app, I felt that I needed to listen carefully (how awkward to just jump in with your opinion without building on the ideas already shared). I am always working on active listening, so I find this app really great for this!
If you are interested in learning more about this tool, connect with Lisa Dabbs, Tisha Poncio and Monica Burns on Tuesdays at 5 pm EST on Clubhouse where they share tips for using Clubhouse as an Educator and read this post, 15 Clubhouse Tips for Educators on the App.
Rachelle Dene Poth is also a Clubhouse superstar who has offered me so many tips. Check out her post, Joining Clubhouse: Innovative PD for Educators or listen to her share about Clubhouse in her podcast. She uses an iPad (Clubhouse is only available on iOS right now she has an android phone)
Clubhouse is currently available by invitation only. Send me a message if you would like an invite (please note I only have 5 invitations)
Family Media Guidelines
Why I jumped into Clubhouse to begin with, was to get ideas from people about what they include in their Family Media Contract/Guidelines.
Here is the template I created for the Chapter Resources for my upcoming book, Raising Digital Leaders in case you would find it useful. (13+ version)
PS I am currently booking into May and June for Raising Digital Leaders Parent Workshops. Details here.
