Level up your Zoom game with filters

All the cool kids are doing it

Now that my 72-year-old dad has figured out virtual backgrounds on Zoom, it seems like just about about everyone knows about it. The glitter is probably wearing off and kids are about as impressed as they would be if we shipped them brand new iPod Shuffles.

Lucky for us, the makers of Snapchat are here to help us level up with Snap Camera. The use case is simple: tons of tons of lens filters like those found on the popular Snapchat app available to users for web conferencing on platforms such as Zoom and Twitch.

Unlike Snapchat, it offers video tutorials and guides!

Before you freak out at the mention of Snapchat, a few important points to know about:

• It’s a simple download. No user name. No password. No logging in. Just social, no social media.
• Unlike the app, it comes with instructions and tutorials!
• For Teachers interested in pushing students from consuming into producing, Snap Camera allows users to create their own lenses.
• On the caveat side: at this time, it only works on Mac and PC (so access issues because no Chromebooks, phones or tablets yet)

Getting started

Much like Snapchat, Snap Camera is really easy to use. There is help on the site but if you want to move quickly, here’s how:

1. Go to https://snapcamera.snapchat.com/ and download the app.
2. Follow the prompts to install it.
3. Open the Snap Camera program.
4. Find a filter you like. Click on it to apply it.
5. Now open your web conferencing tool (my example is for Zoom)
6. In the bottom left, click the menu next to the video icon. Switch the camera selection to Snap Camera:

And now you’re ready to impress, annoy, distract and make jealous everyone who’s not yet as in the know as you are. Enjoy!

PRO TIP: Save filters you like by hovering over them and clicking the star icon in the top left corner. This will add them to a Favorites library for quick access.

“I’m not the reason you can’t find toilet paper!!!”

What tips do YOU have for helping students more increasing engagement in online learning experiences?

Thanks for reading. If you liked this post, please click to 👏👏👏 and recommend it to others! If you have thoughts to share about this, I hope to learn from your own response post! And check out Samara Spielberg’s vid showing off the lenses:

In addition to following Noah Geisel here on Medium, you can find him at SenorG on Twitter. Some other posts you might like:

5 Ways to Bring Joy to Distance Learning (aka Keeping the Social in our Social Distancing)

What teachers need to know about Snapchat

Using Snapchat’s Snap Maps to Get a Finger on the Pulse