Great Education

One of the clear trends is that social media technologies, many of which are products of the web, have started to make an impact on how students are taught in the classroom. You are more likely to see (and hear) about teachers making use of social media like Facebook, blogging, Twitter, and the like as tools for better instruction. With this in mind, you might want to consider the following 7 ways to use social media in the classroom.

1. A method to enhance the education process – Social media adds new dimensions when it is injected into the traditional classroom setting. This means a move away from a strict one-way communication model in which the teacher speaks or lectures and the student passively listens. Instead, if social media tools are used the class can become more interactive between students and teachers. Additionally, there would be constructive interaction between students and their peers.

2. Student-teacher communication via Twitter – Twitter provides quick and concise communication that is useful for both the teacher and the student. For example, some teachers are using Twitter to prepare pointed lectures and speeches by addressing questions to their followers about classroom use of social media. She was able to take the feedback and use it to create stronger, more dynamic material for her students.

3. Using wikis in the classroom – Often the traditional structure of the classroom can be repetitive, which can ultimately disrupt effective learning by the students. The most popular example of a wiki is Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that can be edited by anyone. This interactivity and easy editing by users is what makes wikis interesting. Wiki technology is designed to engage all the participants in discussion on the subject matter and foster speculations on different interpretations or facilitate in-class debates.

4. Facebook as collaborative tool – In a bold move, Stanford University—among other schools—has provided access to faculty and student projects via its Facebook page. This provides student looking for inspiration for projects with the access to the videos, pictures and other materials that made up earlier projects. Additionally, some teachers are electing to provide student with set times when they will be available to answer questions directly on Facebook.

5. Link-up using YouTube – A number of schools are now using YouTube to deliver relevant video information to students and faculty alike to facilitate a m more interactive classroom environment. Students would be able to download or view videos about their classes directly on the school’s YouTube channel.

6. Enhance classroom discussions – A number of instructors have stumbled onto the fact that online social networking platforms provide a way to extend or enhance classroom discussions. Again, this provides an added level of participation. Depending upon the network, teachers could post a question on an upcoming classroom subject, complete with relevant links to online resources like videos and websites so students have an opportunity to research them and then provide responses. In this way, the classroom is carried out into cyberspace, beyond the walls of the normal classroom setting. Then, the teacher would have starting points for in-class discussion based on the response received.

7. Consolidation online class documents – For many classes it is helpful to ready access to appropriate review materials. In this way, online file storage sites like Slideshare and Scribd offer a great resource for students. Using such sites, teacher could keep all presentations online in a single location. When they wish to read a course syllabus or get worksheets to study for an upcoming test they can do so easily from their own computers.

There benefits of using social media in the classroom are boundless. What’s more, new uses are being developed all the time.

Sean Kilgore writes about how to apply for and take online college classes.

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