Advantages of Using Social Media in Education
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There are many advantages of using social media in education. One the most important is to encourage interaction between students. This is especially helpful in college environments where having students create a bond with the institution can increase retention rates.
1. Social Media can increase student collaboration. Students become friends with their classmates on social media and are more likely to collaborate on projects. This can lead to higher retention rates as students become more connected to the institution.
2. Faculty can use social media as a way to get students to participate. Many students are naturally shy in person, and many may not speak up in a classroom, but that may not be the case on social media. Today’s students grew up on social media and for many it is the natural way to interact. Faculty can ask questions on social media such as Twitter and students can answer those questions, by including a specific hashtag. This not only allows the faculty to find the student answers but also allows other students to see what others are answering and create a dialog. Many learning management systems incorporate a discussion board to accomplish this same educational pedagogy but are just as useful if not more by using a social media platform.
3. Social Media can be useful for team projects. Many colleges stress the importance of the soft skill of working in groups. Social Media sites can be helpful to increase this ability as the students can hold meetings in real time and work on their projects. This increases the likely hood that they will also spend time together working on projects and