Written by: Alexander Dominguez, Lead Writer for EnvisionSTEM
In today's world, social media has become an important tool for educators. Not only is social media a way to connect with students and share information, but it is also a way to assess and measure student progress. In this article, we'll discuss the impact of social media on the classroom and how educators can use it to improve student achievement. We'll discuss the benefits of social media for students and how educators can use it to help them learn. We'll also discuss the dangers of social media and how educators can use it to protect students. Finally, we'll provide a few tips on how to get the most out of social media in the classroom. So whether you're a new educator or have been using social media for years, read on to learn more about the impact of social media on the classroom.
Online Interactions Have Been Proven to Have an Impact on Classrooms
Many teachers are hesitant to allow the use of online interactions in the classroom for fear of it having an adverse effect on the students. However, social media and messaging apps can have a great impact on the classroom and can be used in a positive way. One of the benefits of messaging apps is that it allows teachers to connect with students from anywhere. This is a valuable tool for teachers who want to reach out to their students any time. A popular application used by teachers and schools is Remind, which is an application designed for teachers to send messages to the entire class, smaller groups, or individuals without having to wait for a school day to interact with them. Usually, Remind would be used to keep students up to date with assignments, exams, and other activities that may go on in the classroom. As social media has become more popular, more and more students are using it to communicate with one another. This not only helps with communication within the classroom but also outside of the classroom.
The Plausible Risks of Online Interaction
Social media has become one of the most popular ways to communicate and connect with others. It has also become one of the most popular ways to learn. However, this popularity comes with risk. The risks of social media in the classroom include the potential for cyberbullying, online harassment, and other forms of mistreatment. In addition, social media can be a distraction for students. It can also lead to cheating and other forms of academic dishonesty. Therefore, it is crucial to weigh the risks and benefits of social media in the classroom before implementing it in your classroom. Consequently, we’ve created a list of popular social media applications that students might use, along with some benefits and potential risks that these applications may come with.
Applications That Students & Teachers Might Use:
Facebook:
Facebook is a popular social media today with more than half of all US teachers using Facebook in their classrooms. There are several reasons for this. First, Facebook is a relatively easy platform to use. Schools can create a Facebook group for their school, post announcements, and share videos and photos. Secondly, Facebook is a great way to connect with others, and such might be a great feature to implement communication between parents and the schools. Parents may also reach out to each other if there’s ever a concern with their children’s education. However, Facebook is an outdated application today (amongst students), as Meta created Instagram, which is more relevant to the younger generations. Parents and schools should keep in mind that almost anyone can join a public Facebook group and view messages, so it’s imperative to implement safe practices of using social media such as being careful with public vs private information.
Twitter:
Twitter, similarly to Facebook, can be used for communication between parents and students to schools. Typically, for K-12 education, schools wouldn’t utilize Twitter. However, some sports teams might have a Twitter account where they may post their victories, their teams, and more. Similarly, schools can have a Twitter account to post similar content. For the most part, colleges and universities use Twitter to post updates on their school such as awards, student-life (clubs, sports, scholarships), and more. However, Twitter is known to have the most internet trolls that can harm users with no real way to stop them.
Instagram:
Instagram has quickly become one of the most popular social media platforms for students and educators. This is due to its visual nature and its ability to engage users with short, sharable content. Instagram offers educators a wealth of opportunities for engaging students in their classes. For example, educators can use Instagram to capture photos and videos of their lessons, share resources related to their topic, and connect with other educators who might be able to help them out. Instagram is also great for promoting student creativity. For example, educators can use Instagram to share student artwork, videos, and projects, and to connect with parents and other educators about the work that their students are doing. Almost every High School today has its Instagram account. Also, clubs and sports teams may have accounts as well to share their successes. Despite the great benefits that Instagram has brought to education, instagram can have a toxic audience and educators that use the platform must know the difference between a public and private account along with posting with caution.
Snapchat:
Teachers have always known the importance of communication in the classroom. But with the advent of new technologies, such as Snapchat, the importance of communication has increased exponentially. Snapchat is a mobile app that allows for quick, anonymous communication. This app has been popular with teenagers for years and is now becoming more popular with educators. One of the great things about Snapchat is that it's user-friendly. Unlike other mobile apps, such as Facebook, which can be difficult for users to use, Snapchat is simple to use and navigate. Additionally, Snapchat is great for students communicating with one another who are reluctant to speak in front of a group. With Snapchat, students can communicate in a private manner, which can help to build trust and confidence. However, with Snapchat, cyberbullying is a major risk that can damage relationships and advocate violence.
Youtube:
Sharing videos is a major aspect of social media and one of the most popular forms of video sharing today is Youtube. The popular application is used to share videos across the world, and schools definitely love it because not only it’s easy to navigate, share and view videos, it’s user-friendly when it comes to uploading. Schools would use Youtube to share videos to the world about their successes when it comes to education, sports, and other activities. Also, teachers love Youtube when it comes to uploading a video of them explaining material along with finding material from other educators that can also benefit their students. Obviously, youtube does have negative content as well that can hinder education.
Other Applications:
Obviously, there are numerous applications that are used for messaging and social media such as TikTok, WhatsApp, Vimeo, and more. We only covered the most popular applications that are used commonly. However, with the exponential advances in technology, it won’t surprise us if there will be another popular application that schools may benefit from.
Final Words
Social media has had a profound impact on our lives outside of work. It's no surprise then that it has a similar impact in the classroom. In this article, we've discussed some of the ways social media has helped to improve the classroom and how you can use these same principles to benefit your students as well.
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