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.
These guidelines apply to teacher and organization profiles, profile photos, and profile videos. For images used on class listings or in class marketing, review Class Image Guidelines for Teachers.
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. This field has a 50-character limit and should not include special characters or emojis.
Headline: A short phrase that appears alongside your display name. Use your headline to show your teaching strengths to families, such as “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: Your teacher or organization profile photo. Review the profile photo requirements below before choosing an image.
Video: A short introduction that represents you as a teacher or represents your organization and its teachers. Review the profile video requirements below before recording or uploading your video.
About Me: A paragraph of 100-200 words describing your background, teaching experience, and interests. Families use your About Me section when searching for classes, so this section should be free of spelling and grammatical errors. Do not include links to social media accounts, external websites, or personal contact information. Keep communication with families on Outschool.
Profile URL: Your profile URL is a unique link that leads to your profile, such as outschool.com/teachers/catbot. All teachers receive an automatic profile URL, but you may request a custom link at outschool.com/help. As with your display name, a custom profile URL must contain your full legal name or a variant of it.
Writing Your About Me Section
Use your About Me section to explain your teaching background, approach, and areas of expertise.
Describe Your Background and Qualifications:
Write a concise and engaging “About Me” that highlights your teaching experience, qualifications, and areas of expertise. Organizations should include the names, backgrounds, and qualifications of their teachers.
Demonstrate your passion for teaching and emphasize what sets you apart from other teachers and organizations.
Explain Your Teaching Style:
Clearly define your teaching style to help learners and parents understand your approach to instruction. Organizations should explain the teaching styles of their teachers and identify each teacher by name.
Highlight any unique methodologies, techniques, or teaching philosophies you incorporate into your classes.
Use specific examples to illustrate your teaching style or the teaching styles of your organization’s teachers and their benefits.
List Your Areas of Expertise:
List the subjects, age groups, and areas of expertise you are qualified to teach. Organizations should include each teacher’s name and areas of expertise.
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 photo and video are important visual introductions for families. Follow the requirements below to create a professional and accurate representation of yourself or your organization.
Choosing a Teacher or Organization Profile Photo
Use a clear, high-resolution photo that accurately represents you. The picture should be professional, visually appealing, and appropriate for all age groups.
Organizations may use a company logo, group photo, or images of their teachers. The photo should accurately represent the organization’s classes, services, or mission. Do not use a photo showing only the organization administrator or one teacher, as this may confuse families about who teaches the organization’s classes.
Avoid blurry, pixelated, or heavily filtered images.
Make sure the photo is centered, well-lit, and in focus.
The photo should not contain explicit, offensive, or inappropriate content.
Do not include personal websites, social media handles, or other contact information in the photo.
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 sunglasses, hats, or anything else that obscures your face.
Use a recent photo that reflects your current appearance.
Individual teachers should be the only person shown in their profile photo. Organizations may use a company logo or photos of their teachers.
Note: Your Outschool profile photo and your Zoom display photo are separate. You can update your Outschool profile photo directly from your account settings at any time. To update your Zoom display photo, please contact Outschool Support.
Creating a Teacher or Organization Profile Video
You will also be required to submit a short profile video between 10 seconds and 5 minutes long. Videos between 30 and 90 seconds generally work well.
You can create your video using a computer or smartphone. Record it using Outschool’s recording feature or upload a separately recorded file. Outschool supports profile video uploads of up to 1 GB. Compress the video before uploading it if the file is larger than 1 GB.
Note that the purpose of the profile video is to introduce yourself as a teacher and is not intended as a demo lesson. Here are some guidelines to follow when creating your profile video:
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 or philosophy.
Mention the topics you will be teaching and what makes you qualified to teach them. Be personable and connect with families. You may also share a relevant interest or fun fact about yourself.
Profile videos should not include teacher or organization contact information, personal websites, or social media handles.
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.
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.
Remember, profile videos should personally and authentically represent you as a teacher. While being on camera is not required, please avoid using AI-generated voiceovers, characters, or generic advertisement-style videos, as they lack the personal connection families look for.
Recording a Clear Profile Video
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 may use tools such as iMovie on a Mac or a video editor on a PC to combine 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. When recording on a phone, film horizontally so the 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. You may feature multiple settings if you 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.