How Can Social Media be Incorporated in Classrooms by Educators?

If there is one aspect of the digital world that all of us use on a regular basis then it is definitely social media. It is one of the most developed platforms and connects people irrespective of physical boundaries.

Who had ever thought that we could keep in touch with those friends who had moved out of the city so many years back? Not only that, it is a very important part of our communication system as well.

Now the title of the article might be a bit of an oxymoron right? Well, there are quite a few ways in which one can use social media for educational purposes.

Best ways how educators can use social media for educational purposes

The innate purpose of social media is to connect with more people. There is no doubt about the fact that both social media as well as education are indispensable parts of our daily life.

Hence it wouldn’t be much of a bad idea to combine the two. Now the major question is how can teachers or educators come forth and make it a possibility.

Some of the major possibilities include:

1.Social Media is not only about Facebook and Instagram

One has to realize that the only two viable platforms which qualify as social media are not Facebook or WhatsApp. Even LinkedIn is a very good platform that works with the principle of social media.

You meet new people and develop connections with them. Just, in that case, the connection is more professional in nature. It can be easily propagated for students who are in high school or even college and universities.

Making an account from the initial days and nurturing the same will be fruitful for future career prospects. As educators, one can teach the students how to maintain the account and what attracts employers more.

This would act as a great portfolio and give a kickstart to your future prospects.

2.Take references from the social media stars

The best part about social media is that you find people who are experts in different profiles. They could be from various walks of life and yet the life stories could be inspiring.

Try to incorporate these practical examples whenever you teach any subject. You could also use the profile as a sample where they talk about the subject regularly. There are even people who post motivational stories that could really charge up your students.

You could try to get a projector and then play the videos they share on their profiles. It is no doubt learning but in a different and more easy format.  This is the power of social media, it can be used for educational purposes.

3.Connect with eminent research personalities

This is specifically aimed if you are from a higher educational background. Social media is the best way to connect with researchers. You could get in touch with them and not only that, even access their studies.

Social media has a host of these researchers who are really well-accomplished in their own forte. Hence as an educator, you could get connected with them and share valuable inputs.

It is also possible that you link your students and make them well aware of the researchers as well as their work.

Social media is a very powerful weapon only if you use it in the right way. As educators one does have quite a few options and using them in the appropriate way can render humongous results. Social media renders a very approachable proforma and hence students are able to connect better.