Creative, Active, Responsible Students in the Digital World 1 | Page 16

CO-FUNDED BY THE ERASMUS + PROGRAMME OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
Social Media in the Classroom
By Ludmila Smolova
Zakladni skola Zamberk, 28.rijna 581, Czech Republic
Social media includes web-based and mobile based technologies which are used to
turn communication into interactive dialogue among organizations, communities, and
individuals.
Why Use Social Media?
Social media engages students. It encourages participation as students have the chance
to express themselves through media they feel comfortable using.
Social media enhances student collaboration. Students can easily interact and share
information, work together on projects, and communicate freely and easily.
Social media allows the teacher to share resources like images, worksheets and
websites effortlessly and effectively.
Social media has tremendous potential for creative and engaging homework tasks.
Social media helps keep parents and family members in your group. Groups may
share class activities, post photos and publish their work online.
Disadvantages of Using Social Media in the Classroom
It is necessary to supervise student activity, and monitor comments and posts for
inappropriate content, remarks or even cyber bullying.
Social media can be a huge distraction. Students may stray from the tasks at hand and
use social networking sites for personal interactions or to play online games, for example.
Social media relies more heavily on written, rather than spoken, interactions.
Students’ ability to interact face to face may be affected.
Here are some fun tips for social media in the classroom:
Snapchat: Yes, you can use Snapchat. They like sharing pictures and videos, and
they also like watching them. What about mini learning videos at any time of the day? You
can share mini lessons or photos from your daily life that are related to a classroom topic.
Instagram: Create a photo project about your lesson topic. For history, your students
have to discover the ancient city and photograph special historical places and buildings.
Another fun idea is to let your students introduce themselves with Instagram.
Facebook: Create a Facebook group for your class. Students will share more and ask
way more questions. You can post interesting video books, polls and many more. It’s very
important that students know the rules of this group.
Twitter: One of the simplest ways to use Twitter in the classroom involves setting up
a feed dedicated exclusively to due dates, tests or quizzes. As a result, students get a small
reminder of the upcoming due dates and assignments. You can also use Twitter for setting up
a field trip.
YouTube: You can let students make their own YouTube video about a lesson topic
instead of a PowerPoint presentation.
Advantages of Using Social Media in the Classroom
1. Social media sites can increase student collaboration
CREATIVE, ACTIVE, RESPONSIBLE STUDENTS IN THE DIGITAL WORLD
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