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Social Media in the Classroom


 

    Social media is one of the major buzzwords in today’s world. If you went on the street and asked strangers if they knew what social media was, most of them would answer in the affirmative. It is everywhere and with everyone. Lawrence defines social media as, “a variety of media platforms that allow people to communicate with one another, combining a number of mechanics such as direct messaging, user profiles, photo galleries, and comment walls” (Lawrence, 2022, p. 48). Some examples of social media are Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, Twitter, Snapchat, Reddit, and more.  Students in today’s classroom have more access to social media than ever before. It is extremely prevalent in today’s society, with more and more students having access to different forms of social media at a young age. 



While many teachers must be vigilant when promoting and educating with social media, it can be used as a great teaching tool to help enhance a classroom lesson. Teachers and schools have also used social media as a tool for communication with all parents. Many schools use Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter as instruments to get the word out about important events in the school, school closings and delays, share pictures of projects and activities, and to keep parents in the loop with what is going on in the school. 

There are many great projects where students and teachers can use social media to augment the lesson to add interest and reach more learners through visual aids and hands-on learning. Read below to find some great examples of using social media in a classroom.

Instagram

Instagram is such a quick moment in time for grabbing and maintaining the user's attention. Students are very familiar with Instagram’s format and should easily take to utilizing the platform. One great idea would be to have students create an Instagram “ad” where they need to sell a book that they are reading. They can use the technology tool as a book report, having to grab the reader’s attention in a quick snippet of a post. Students can add fun visuals or infographics to help spice up their post. Students can also create their own Instagram posts all about themselves and post it to class account. A smart idea for teachers is to set up an Instagram account that is private to only parents and students in his or her class. There students can post their Instagram book projects privately. 


YouTube

Almost every student in America these days has watched at least one video on YouTube. YouTube was relatively new in early 2000s but has taken off. “Between 2006 and 2008, there was a slow growth in publications since the YouTube platform was new. Then from 2008 to 2017, there was a rapid growth in research on YouTube. Afterwards, the trend is still upward, but with a slower pace.” (Mostafa et al., 2022). Further, "YouTube is the second most visited website on the planet, accounting for an enormous amount of traffic." (Lawrence, 2022, p. 112). So while the growth has slowed over time, it is still rising with no end in sight. YouTube may be the most prolific teaching tool in today’s classroom. While the most common use of YouTube are related to health and medical issues, a growing trend in YouTube is in education (Mostafa et al., 2022). Teachers utilize YouTube to showcase videos and information to the class that may not be found in their textbooks. Students can be assigned a project where they create a video and upload it to the site. These videos can be a fun newscast about a social studies or science topic, a recording of a skit or play that students have completed, or even have students create an informational video on how to do an activity. Teachers should also be vigilant about privacy and can create their own YouTube channel for the class that is set to private. This ensures that students and parents have access without their work being available for public consumption. 

Video by Teacher Prep Tech

Pinterest/Wakelet

Many teachers use Pinterest as a great resource for finding classroom ideas, management tips, and even great classroom set ups and design. Pinterest and Wakelet, though, can also be used as teaching tools in the classroom. Teachers can set up a classroom board in either Pinterest or Wakelet where students can pin different ideas or research when working in groups. Students can use these social media tools to collaborate within their groups, set up activities for each other, and share ideas with the class. These are also a great resource for teaching students about copyright laws on websites and images. Teachers, again, should practice good social media policy by making boards and collaborations private so that the public is not able to access students’ work.

Click on the link to explore Wakelet yourself! (Image credit: Wakelet)


While there are many negatives to social media in the world today, they are most likely here to stay. Students will have more and more access to these technology tools as they grow. Teachers can harness the students’ knowledge of social media to create fun and engaging lessons for their students that teach the learning concepts in a way that is exciting for students in today’s world.



References


Lawrence, D. (2022). Digital writing: A guide to writing for social media and the web. Broadview Press. 


Mostafa, M.M., Feizollah, A. & Anuar, N.B. (2023).Fifteen years of YouTube scholarly research: Knowledge structure, collaborative networks, and trending topics. Multimedia Tools and Applications 82, 12423–12443. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-022-13908-7


Teacher Prep Tech. (2017, Dec 2022). Student Created Videos [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX8c9p2oBh8





Comments

  1. Mary Katelyn Johnson Digital Writing BlogJuly 16, 2024 at 11:50 AM

    My own school uses Facebook for getting out messages and it is extremely useful. I think that there are definitely good and bad things that come along with social media. As you explored, in this new digital age of our world, social media is a huge part of almost everyone's life, the classroom is no exception. I know in my own classroom we are using YouTube so many times in our day and because the students are so drawn in by technology it is great to use to sometimes help with student engagement in a lesson. The quote you shared from Lawrence (2022), "YouTube is the second most visited website on the planet, accounting for an enormous amount of traffic", really sums up just how much the world uses YouTube. I am excited to further dive into Pinterest. I have never really been a part of Pinterest and really explored it as being a part of social media. This is definitely something that I am going to have to check out.

    References:
    Lawrence, D. (2022). Digital Writing: A Guide to writing for Social Media and the web. Broadview Press.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kellie IngramJuly 17, 2024 at 1:54 PM

    I really enjoyed reading your blog. I loved the ideas you shared about how to use Instagram in the classroom. What a cool idea to allow students to introduce themselves via an Instagram post! I think that parents would also enjoy seeing this on a private Instagram page. I use Instagram in my own classroom. I chose Instagram because I thought the younger parents and students would prefer it over other social media platforms. Instagram's users are much younger than Facebook, with most users being between 18 and 20 (Lawrence, 2022, p. 54). I use it to share pictures and announcements with parents. It has worked out well so far. Thanks for the new ideas! I will definitely be giving them a try.

    References:
    Lawrence, D. (2022). Digital Writing: A Guide to writing for Social Media and the web. Broadview Press.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mary Claire ShingletonJuly 17, 2024 at 7:14 PM

    I love your positive take on social media as a resource for educators! I think the tone of the text highlighted the issues that it can have for learners and consumers of all media, such as when Lawrence (2022) states that "humans are not yet equipped to deal with the complexities and nuances of digital communication" (sec. 1.1). However, I feel like your post gives a fresh perspective on how many resources there are for educators to solve problems like coming up with new ideas and sharing information with parents. My child's teacher used instagram as a way to share what they did in class this year, and I was so thankful to have those updates throughout the year!

    Lawrence, D. (2022). Digital Writing: A Guide to Writing for Social Media and the Web. Broadview Press.

    ReplyDelete

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