The Role of Social Media in Education Today
In an age when technology is increasingly prevalent, it’s no wonder that schools are turning to social media as a way to connect with their students.
While there are many benefits to using social media in education, there are also some drawbacks. So, how can teachers utilize it to their advantage?
1. Boosts Creativity
Creativity is an important part of the education process. It helps students develop their own ideas and learn new skills, and it can help them solve problems innovatively.
However, some things can prevent students from developing their creative potential. For one, students often spend too much time on digital media.
Second, large-scale assessments can hurt the development of creativity. These assessments are designed to measure students’ abilities in math and science, but they don’t test their creativity or unique individual talents.
Schools can also take the opposite approach and mislead their students by using technology to support the development of creativity. For example, educators may think that videos and audios are the only tools they should use to promote creative development.
2. Enhances Communication Skills
While many associate social media with the degradation of young people’s social networks and communication skills, it actually plays a vital role in young people’s lives — delivering educational outcomes; facilitating supportive relationships; identity formation; and promoting a sense of belonging and self-esteem.
Moreover, social media provides an opportunity for students to learn new languages and cultures through cross-curricular collaboration. It also empowers them to become active global citizens.
However, it is essential that students understand the risks and benefits of using social media effectively and responsibly. For example, one school implemented a system where teachers had dashboards that enabled them to view messages sent by students and act on any they considered inappropriate.
It has been reported that the habit of overusing social media can decrease people’s ability to communicate, especially in writing. For instance, short text messages often make it difficult to convey feelings.
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3. Helps Students Stay Connected
Social media has a huge role to play in the education industry. It provides news updates and information about course activities to students, which helps them stay on top of their studies.
It is also a great source of communication for teachers. They can use these platforms to connect with parents and students via private messages without leaving phone calls and waiting for a callback.
In addition, they can share resources and documents that will help students in their classes. This is a helpful feature in the modern age where distance learning is prevalent.
A new study from the Wisconsin Center for Educational Research found that social media can provide students with academic and professional benefits that can enhance their experience in school. But it is important to use these tools carefully, as excess use can have negative impacts on students.
4. Facilitates Learning
Using social media for educational purposes can help teachers and students learn in many ways. For example, teachers can live stream lectures to remote students or invite experts from other universities to lecture on specific subjects.
Educators can also use social media as a way to connect with other educators across the world. This can be a great way to get ideas and inspiration for new teaching strategies and help other instructors build their own professional networks.
A recent study by Michigan State University (MSU) researcher Rachel Greenhow and her colleagues found that students’ engagement with social media can positively affect their learning. Their findings showed that interaction with peers, teachers, and online knowledge sharing were all significantly associated with student learning.