How To Use Social Media For Educators

Due to advancement in technology, there are so many tools that teachers can now use in the classroom. You might have been an active social media user, but perhaps you have never thought of incorporating it as a tool of instruction in your class. If you haven't yet done this, then it is time that you seriously thought about using social media for educators. There are a number of ways that you can do this.

You can get your learners to follow someone online. This is on the different platforms that are available. Tell them to choose one platform online and follow one person on that platform. This means keeping up with their posts on a regular basis. They can then write a response paper on the various posts that the person has made. The main aim of this is that the students will learn the major vocabularies that are used online.

You can teach your students how to blog. Since learners get to do a lot of writing anyway, you can make this more exciting for them by asking them to create a blog and post their assignments on their blogs. Then ask them to read the blogs of other students and at least leave comments in a couple of blogs. You can make their posts public or private, based on your preferences.

Such platforms make it possible for kids to meet and socialize with learners from others parts of the country or other parts of the world. For instance, you can organize to have video calls with another class and have a discussion on a common topic that both classes are learning. This is great way for kids to get exposure to other cultures and communities.

Creating a virtual group is also a good idea. Other learners, parents and even an administrator from the school. Use the group to post any useful information you want kids and parents to know. Students are also allowed to post. Just ensure that you keep an eye on the page and remove any irrelevant posts that are made.

There are so many groups for professionals online. Join these groups and get to interact with your fellow teachers. Ask any questions that you want, take advantage of any shared resources and also feel free to share your ideas too. This can help you grow in your profession.

Challenge your students by asking them to create pictorial boards of different things. They can create the boards online and save them. Let them post brief descriptions under each photo, describing what each photo is about. Make this relevant by letting them post about a particular topic that you will be teaching.

As much as using online platforms can be beneficial, it is important that you establish guidelines for students. This way, they are likely to use their pages responsibly, given that any information they share online will be publicly available. Give them guidelines for safe use of the internet. In addition, you do not have to use the real platforms, as there are other sites that imitate the real ones and can only be used for students in your school only.