Social media as a learning tool might not seem feasible and acceptable initially. However, social media can be used as a great medium for learning. For years, social media has been used as a marketing tool to boost business and gain a wider set of audience. The initiative of social media platforms started as a hub for people to share their ideas, indulge in fun activities, etc. The idea of monetizing social media and leveraging its potential began as a trend and has skyrocketed ever since. The possibilities and potentials of social media are unlimited. Social Media cannot just be used for business, entertainment, and marketing purposes but also for learning and educational purposes.
You can learn so much about the past through picture essays and Twitter threads than via traditional methods of learning.
Potentials of social media
While you continue reading this blog, more than 60% of the world’s entire population is online, scrolling down their respective news feed or surfing randomly on the internet. Social media opened doors to a whole new world where people got to meet and greet other people who lived thousands of miles across the world.
Social media has been labeled as a major distraction for students by teachers and parents for years. But social media can also be used as a great learning tool. A lot of information is shared on social media platforms regularly. These pieces of information carry a lot of potentials to enlighten a large number of people. The world took a digital shift due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Now that teaching has transitioned to digital mode, teachers and educators are trying to harness various potentials of the digital platforms to ensure sound learning.
Social media can be used as a tool to create creative ways of engagement with students and online learners. The first step towards using social media as a learning tool is to explore its potentials and possibilities. You can look for various offers and options offered by all these platforms respectively. Only then can you draw a perfect and effective mode of learning for yourself and your learners.
Leveraging social media as a Learning Tool
According to studies and research, it was concluded that social media had a significant impact on the interaction of students with teachers and each other. Online platforms can be well used for collaborative learning with maximum engagement. As students engage more and more with their educators and teachers, the better they will comprehend things in a better manner. This will, in return, boost their academic performance and comprehension skills.
Social Media offers a lot of approaches to make teaching more creative, engaging, dynamic, and research-oriented. It is entirely a domain rich in knowledge.
Following are some ways through which various social media platforms can be utilized for learning purposes:
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Facebook
Facebook is a social media platform that has the maximum number of audiences throughout the world. It can be used to build a large audience of students from various corners of the world and share your resources with them. You can also create a group of your class members and hold regular polls or questionnaire sessions with them.
There are a lot of educational and research-oriented groups on Facebook that share and hold discussions on a variety of topics. Search for such groups, join them and participate in various discussions with a lot of people and also join live streams conducted by different teachers from different universities and learn from them.
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Instagram
Instagram is all about pictures. The more captivating your pictures are, the more audience you draw. Instagram has a tailored explore page based on the interests and preferences of people. The more you browse on a certain topic, you will find more related posts similar to the concerned topic. It is the perfect place to discover various aspects and segments related to one topic and learn more about it. If you are into art and craft, you can share your progress or pieces of work and receive constructive criticism and appreciation on it.
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Pinterest
Pinterest is the best platform to create vision boards for certain course concepts and seek brainstorming ideas for different aspects. You can search for a variety of topics on Pinterest and use them according to your convenience, create several boards on a variety of themes and “pin” them separately and pin relevant images, ideas, new concepts to it and use them according to your course demands. Pinterest is the best platform to gain inspirational ideas if you are working on a project or are planning to work on one.
Teachers can use the platform to build a Pinterest board dedicated to a course, or to particular themes within your course, your learners can review your board and choose items to pin to their own.
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Twitter
When it comes to communication, Twitter is the best communicating platform. It can be simply used as a simple networking tool. Tweeting short quotations or sharing links to various resources with an appropriate caption or quotation, can draw huge attention from a number of people. Regular tweeting can even encourage learners to follow and engage in various discussions. Tweets or replies to simple tweets is a very simple way of building engagement. The pedagogical uses are limited, but it’s also easier to get started, and it could even help market your course.
A lesser-known feature of Twitter is its lists. They are a little hard to find, but if you find the ‘Lists’ section, it will show you lists that you are subscribed to—and also lists you’re a member of— while curating your own lists and customizing them according to your needs. Twitter is also the best place to keep a track of the current trends and news.
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LinkedIn
LinkedIn is more of a professional and formal platform. You can follow your ideal motivators and mentors and keep up with them regularly. LinkedIn is the eBay platform for career-focused learners and can be used to polish professional credentials while undertaking a course. You can encourage learners to publish short, weekly articles about what they’re learning in your course, and share any comments or feedback they receive from their network.
Following your dream company or organization and keeping yourself updated with their current organizational goals, vacancies, their achievements, etc. is much easier on this platform. LinkedIn is the best platform to groom yourself for your future and polish your professional skills to perfection.
Is social media a reliable learning tool?
Few people might feel hesitant to adopt social media as a learning tool because of the impression it holds in the mindset of people. Social media can be utilized as a great medium of learning if one manages to tap its potentials successfully. Every day, tonnes of information is shared on various social media platforms. These pieces of information can be categorized into several categories and utilized as per our respective needs and preferences. Prolonged and constructive discussions can also be organized on these platforms with people hailing from different corners of the world. In a nutshell, social media can be harbored as a learning platform if it is utilized positively and beneficially.
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