In the modern world, social media has taken center stage in enhancing our experience across all aspects of our lives. Educators have increasingly embraced social media platforms as teaching tools, which has seen numerous positive outcomes in the education sector. Using social media in the classroom allows the trainers to create an empowering learning environment.
One of the notable benefits of using social media in the classroom is promoting student participation and interaction. Instructors can moderate discussions or share educational materials and projects. While social media in the classroom has numerous positive outcomes, educators should be cautious to avoid misuse. For instance, some learners may use the platforms to bully their colleagues or spread propaganda.
Different Ways to Use Social Media in the Classroom
- Sharing information with students: One of the ways you can use social media in the classroom is by sharing relevant information with learners. Educators can create social media pages dedicated to the purpose. The key benefit of using social media pages is that instructors can provide real-time information or feedback to learners. Students also will not have to attend their classes to access learning materials and other relevant resources.
- Allow seamless discussion: Classroom discussions remain essential in harnessing the learner’s understanding of concepts learned in class. In many institutions and fields, students are required to post discussion posts as well as peer responses for grading. Instructors could utilize social media platforms to promote student participation and contribution to class activities. However, they should be cautious to ensure learners do not misuse the platform or use it for other things not related to class work.
- Ease of Access to Learning Materials: Since social media platforms allow the posting of different types of files, instructors could utilize them to share course materials with learners. It becomes easy for the learners to download the notes and other resources as well as stream or access them online at their convenience. Undoubtedly, most people currently spend most of their time online, especially on social media platforms. If managed properly, teachers and students will have an extremely easy engagement.
- A platform to engage colleagues: Social media platforms create an avenue for trainers to engage other professionals online. As an instructor, creating networks is essential for not only harnessing training experience but also for career development and growth. They could join social media communities where they can access digital media in addition to engaging with professionals who share similar interests. Since things are rapidly changing, engaging professionals from your specialization ensures you gain more knowledge for better outcomes.
- Students to showcase their mastery of the content studied: Allowing one to showcase how well they understand the course contents is one of the many benefits of social media for students. As CustomWritings experts from capstone project writing service explain, motivation is a great determinant of how well learners perform. Getting congratulatory messages or recognition for excellent performance would motivate learners to perform better.
Instructors have a wide range of ways they could utilize social media platforms in the classroom to create a more positive learning environment. It is vital, however, that they evaluate the pros and cons. They should create clear guidelines on the use of the platforms and the consequences of not following the policies.
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Key Considerations for the Effective Use of Social Media in College
Based on the numerous benefits, instructors must ingrain social media platforms to transform their teaching methodologies. With its numerous benefits come some setbacks that could cripple their effectiveness, especially to help college students contribute to classroom activities, such as discussions. Therefore, before embracing social media in class, there are several considerations to make.
- Learning outcomes: A significant consideration for teachers is the purpose of using the social media platforms for the course and the expected end goals. The instructor should ensure the use of the social media platform aligns with the anticipated outcomes. Clear goals and explanations of outcomes allow the instructor to control the activities of the students.
- Online safety: The instructor needs to ensure that the privacy and safety of each learner is guaranteed. To do so, they will need to share clear policies on what and what not to do. As a professor, you should emphasize what people should share on the platform. The policies should focus on protecting personal data to ensure that online interactions are safeguarded.
- Appropriateness of the platform: The different social media platforms have unique features, which determine their suitability in different settings. For example, if you are training statistics and want to share graphs and charts, it would be easier to present them on Instagram, which supports visual media more than most other social media platforms. More importantly, consider the age differences to ensure the platform is age-appropriate.
- Etiquette: Another essential consideration is how well the users interact with each other. The instructor is responsible for setting ground rules and showing students how to use social media in the classroom. Reiterate what is expected of each student. Create guidelines on how members should address each other. Ensure that every participant understands the kind of language accepted in the discussion forum.
- Accessibility: Ensure that the social media platform you choose is accessible to all students. University and college students come from diverse backgrounds. Your class might have learners with disabilities. With the increasingly innovative technologies, some platforms have ingrained assistive tools to ensure no one is left behind. Ensure that all your learners can access the platform of your choice with ease.
- Supplement traditional approach: another consideration should be whether the social media platform can supplement the traditional teaching methods. Remember, the purpose of ingraining social media in the classroom is not to eradicate the traditional teaching methods but rather to make education more interesting and learning seamless. You must acknowledge that not every student would prefer learning through social media. Finding a balance between social media and traditional learning will cater to their needs.
- Ascertain the effectiveness of the platform: Once you have chosen a platform, ensure you regularly evaluate its effectiveness in helping learners improve their studies. You can track the performance by assessing writing skills before and after adopting social media. A student’s essay communicates a lot about how well learning is taking place.
Signing Off
In today’s world, social media has become a part of us. Corporations are leveraging it to enhance productivity and marketing. Learning institutions should also leverage the same to improve the learning experience. For instance, social media platforms could be excellent for providing materials that guide learners in writing exceptional papers. This would minimize the time used discussing the same in class. With better plans, policies, and structure, social media will remain key in the education system.
