TeachTok: A Brief Guide to TikTok
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TikTok may have started as a lip-syncing app, but these days, it’s so much more. It’s a place where you can find not only silly dances and trending sounds, but also short lessons. There are teachers chronicling their school days and educators sharing ideas.
What Is TikTok?
As mentioned, TikTok started as a place to sing along with or lip-sync to shared audio clips. Given its musical origins, it’s also a wellspring of dance choreography. For new accounts, TikTok will show random popular videos; over time, its algorithm will share videos based on your likes and dislikes on the For You page.
While these are all typical uses of TikTok, ultimately it’s a place to share short, looping videos, be they animations, live feeds or edited video clips. Those videos can then be paired with sound, either voiceover or music, or even prerecorded soundbites that are used by other TikTok creators.
Why Use TikTok?
Before going into the professional development benefits, first and foremost: TikTok can be fun. There is plenty of creativity and silliness on the platform. Many TikTok videos are shared on other platforms like YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.
TikTok is often used as a remixing platform, where trends can rise and fall very quickly. There’s a unique audiovisual component to memes, such as shared jokes about misheard lyrics or even certain styles of video edits. Given that many students use TikTok, keeping up with these trends can be a way to connect with them.
TikTok might not seem “useful” at first, or like something you’d enjoy. The trick is to follow creators that share content you like. TikTok has a lot of videos that are educational, despite it not innately being designed for teaching and learning. For example, if you’re an art teacher, there are tons of artists sharing advice. If you’re an ELA teacher, there are authors explaining how they plot stories.
TikTok can also be a way to hear from diverse voices. No matter your discipline, you’re sure to encounter new ideas. This can be a benefit of using broad hashtags. Speaking of…
TikTok for Teachers
Like Twitter, TikTok uses hashtags (which look #LikeThis) to organize videos by topic. While some videos use hashtags as a way to try to trick the algorithm — for example, using #fyp in hopes of reaching visitors’ For You pages — others use hashtags as intended, helping viewers find content that aligns to their interests. Some teachers use TikTok both as video journals and as ways to share ideas.
One teacher hashtag to explore is #TeachersofTikTok, which often shows classroom clips. Other permutations of that hashtag exist, from #TeacherTikTok or even #TeacherTok. If you like a video you find, see what other videos the creator has made or what other hashtags they use.
If you’re looking for discipline-specific videos, search for those hashtags to see what comes up. Broad topics, like “art,” might have too many videos, so you can sometimes find other hashtag ideas by searching for “teacher tiktok” plus the discipline. (“Math” as the discipline brings up hashtags like #TikTokMathTeacher and #MathTok.)
Talking the Tok
TikTok makes it easy to go from viewer to creator. Once you have an account, you can use TikTok’s video editor and filters to share short videos. Depending on your account, you might be able to share longer videos, but most are under one minute.
You can do a lot in a minute. For example, you could recommend books for professional development. You could create a short explainer video that could then be shared with your students. You could use dual coding to visually connect words and ideas.
TikTok has auto-captions that can be hit or miss. If you’re creating educational videos, such as short lessons, it might be worth looking for a third-party tool to create open captions (ones that are a permanent part of your video). This ensures that captions stay put even if the video is shared on another platform.
Caveat TikToker
For all the fun of TikTok, it’s worth noting its downsides. TikTok is an open platform, which means that anything can be found there, especially if it’s not removed by moderators. As such, it might not be good for use with younger students, or for use during a live class session!
If you decide to become a TikToker, consider privacy concerns, particularly if you’re creating videos that feature your classroom. Be considerate of your students and pay heed to any media restrictions that your school might have. Some students might enjoy being in a TikTok video, but what if that video goes viral?
TikTok is also rife with many of the same issues of other social media platforms. The For You page is a textbook example of a filter bubble, serving up content that the algorithm thinks you’ll like based on videos you’ve liked and visited. If those videos include misinformation, then recommended videos are also likely to have it. It’s worth being mindful of the information shared — and that you yourself share.
Jesika Brooks
Jesika Brooks is an editor and bookworm with a Master of Library and Information Science degree. She works in the field of higher education as an educational technology librarian, assisting with everything from setting up Learning Management Systems to teaching students how to use edtech tools. A lifelong learner herself, she has always been fascinated by the intersection of education and technology. She edits the Tech-Based Teaching blog (and always wants to hear from new voices!).
