Your teacher or organization profile is an introduction to parents and learners and is crucial in showcasing your expertise and brand. Whether you are an individual teacher or an organization on Outschool, it is crucial to maintain a professional tone in your profile, as it will be visible in your classes and serve as your personal teacher or organization profile page.
By creating a compelling profile, you can instill confidence in parents and increase their willingness to enroll their learners in your classes. Additionally, for both individual teachers and organizations, the teacher profile video can be a valuable tool for marketing yourself, allowing you to highlight your expertise and unique qualities.
Teacher and Organization Profile Guidelines:
When creating a teacher or Organization profile on Outschool, consider the following guidelines to showcase your expertise and create a compelling profile:
Name: The display name will be seen by families and our staff. Your display name on Outschool does not need to be your full name, but you are required to include at least some variant of your legal name (except for organizations). You are welcome to include details about your services or qualifications, such as the topic you teach or standard suffixes like 'Ph.D.', 'MA', or similar, in order to help build your business on Outschool. Branded content, university names, or other trademarked terms are not permitted to be used in your display name. Please note that this field has a 50-character restriction and should be free of special characters and emojis.
Headline: A short phrase that appears alongside your display name. Use your headline to show your teaching strengths to families, e.g.,”'Former High School Chemistry Teacher”
Country (Not Required): An optional location banner below your display name. Sharing your country of residence on your teacher profile can help families find classes in the right time zone.
Photo: Scroll down for tips on choosing your Outschool profile photo.
Video: A clear video that represents your brand and your teachers if you are an organization. Scroll down for more tips below for making the right video for your profile.
About Me: A paragraph (100-200 words) describing your background, teaching experience, and interests. Families use your “About Me” section to aid in their class searching process, so this should be free of spelling or grammatical errors. This section should not include links to social media accounts or other websites (remember to always keep communication with families on Outschool).
Profile URL: Your profile URL is a unique link that leads to your profile, e.g. outschool.com/teachers/catbot. All teachers have an automatic “Profile Url,” but you are welcome to request a custom link at outschool.com/help. Note that like with your display name, the custom link must contain your full name, or a variant of your legal name.
Here are a few tips to include when creating your teacher or organization profile:
Biography:
Write a concise and engaging “About Me” that highlights your teaching experience, qualifications, and areas of expertise. If you're an organization, we suggest including the names of each of your teachers in the about me section.
Demonstrate your passion for teaching and emphasize what sets you apart from other teachers and organizations.
Teaching Style:
Clearly define your teaching style to help learners and parents understand your approach to instruction. If you're an organization, we suggest including the names and teaching style of each of your teachers in the “About Me” section.
Highlight any unique methodologies, techniques, or teaching philosophies you incorporate into your classes.
Use specific examples to illustrate your teaching (or, for organizations, your teacher's) style and its benefits.
Areas of Expertise:
List your areas of expertise, subjects, and grade levels you are qualified to teach. If you're an organization, we suggest including the names and expertise of each of your teachers in the “About Me” section.
Be accurate and specific to help learners and parents find you for the appropriate subjects.
Highlight any relevant certifications, degrees, or qualifications.
Teacher and Organization Profile Picture and Video Guidelines:
Your profile picture and video are an essential visual representation of yourself as a teacher or organization. Follow these guidelines to ensure a professional and appealing profile picture and video:
Choosing a Profile Image:
Use a clear, high-resolution photo that accurately represents you. The picture should be professional, visually appealing, and appropriate for all age groups. For organizations, the picture should accurately reflect the nature of the organization's classes, services, or mission. Organizations are welcome to include a company logo, group photo or images of their teachers, just not a photo of only the organization admin, for example. If you are an organization, a photo of only one teacher is not permitted as it can be confusing to families.
Avoid blurry, pixelated, or heavily filtered images.
Ensure the image and video is well- centered, well-lit, and in focus.
The picture and video should not contain explicit, offensive, or inappropriate content.
The picture and video should be void of educator contact information, including personal websites and social media handles.
Dress in professional attire or appropriate teaching attire.
Choose a background that is not distracting and allows you to stand out.
Present yourself in a friendly and approachable manner.
Your face should be clearly visible, occupying a significant portion of the frame (avoid using sunglasses, hats, or anything that obscures your face)
Use a recent photo that reflects your current appearance.
You are the only person in the photo (unless you are an organization, in which case you can use photos of your teachers or your organization logo instead).
Creating Your Profile Video
You will also be required to submit a short, profile video of between 10 seconds - 5 minutes in length (we find that 30-90 seconds is the sweet spot, though). You can easily create a professional, high-quality video using your computer or smartphone: record your video either by using Outschool’s recording feature, or upload a separately recorded file. Outschool’s technology supports profile video uploads of up to 1GB; if your file is larger than this, you will need to compress it before uploading. Note that the purpose of the profile video is to introduce yourself as a teacher and is not intended as a demo lesson.
Create a short script and read it aloud before recording. This will help you sound more natural on camera.
Introduce yourself by name.
Briefly describe your professional background. Mention any experience or education that will help build your credibility as a teacher. Feel free to include information about your teaching style and/or philosophy.
Mention the topics that you will be teaching – and what makes you qualified to teach them. Be personable and connect with families. Tell a fun fact about yourself or what you’re interested in.
Profile videos should be void of educator contact information including personal websites and social media handles.
You don’t have to get it right on the first take. Give yourself a few chances to feel comfortable. Watch your video to check how it looks and sounds before you submit it.
Audio and Visual Tips
Audio: Make sure you can be heard clearly with no background noise. Typically, headphones or an external microphone will produce better quality sound than your computer’s built-in microphone.
Video: We recommend using either QuickTime (Mac) or Camera (PC) to record your video. If you want to edit your video to add photos, music, or anything else, you are welcome to do so, however, it is not required. The recording feature on Outschool does not support editing, but you can upload a video that was recorded and edited with your own software.You can use iMovie (Mac) or Video Editor for Windows (PC) to put together multiple clips.
Framing: Place your camera or device at eye-level on a stable surface to capture your full face and head. If you don’t have a tripod, use a stack of books or a box to achieve the desired height. Don’t hold your phone or camera in your hand as it will produce a shaky video. Make sure to shoot your video horizontally if you’re filming on your phone so that the resulting video is not too narrow.
Lighting: Your face should be well-lit either by natural light or by lamps. If you can move your lamp, place the light directly in front of you, a few feet away. Avoid sitting in front of a window or other bright light to prevent back-lighting.
Setting: Showcase your “home classroom” where you will teach classes - this will set expectations for the class experience. Make sure that you don’t have clutter or anything else unprofessional behind or around you. It is OK to feature multiple settings if you choose to edit your video.
Crafting a compelling teacher or organization profile and choosing an appropriate profile picture can help you see success on Outschool. By adhering to the guidelines outlined in this article, teachers and organizations can effectively showcase their expertise, teaching style, and professionalism. Remember, a well-crafted profile and an appealing profile picture and video can help make a positive first impression on learners and parents, increasing the likelihood of attracting learners to your classes.