Social media and technology have long become integral parts of everyday life. And believe it or not, social media and Instagram can actually be great learning tools for those that know where to look. Here are a few reasons why…
First, it provides a more direct way of communicating to younger individuals, which can be useful for teachers and educators to check in on their students or respond to any questions that they may have. For example, many educators use Twitter and Facebook Live to host question-and-answer sessions for students who are interested in particular topics such as politics or climate change. Students can submit their questions in real-time which fosters a dialogue between individuals who may have different viewpoints. It allows one to reach people that they may not have in the past.
Second, social media offers a more visual way to present information. Instagram is popular amongst educators because it is possible to present a series of photographs to students in a visually appealing manner. Instagram allows you to create a “blog” of all the relevant photos in a particular niche. Students can therefore create topic-specific Instagram blogs and may delete them after a course is over. Visual storytelling is made easier with the advent of social media.
Third, social media makes homework tasks more fun and engaging. Teachers can assign blog posts as essays and collate a blog written by their students in order to encourage young people to voice their opinions. There are many different platforms such as Wix, Blogger and WordPress which allows teachers to start a blog without any costs. Students can add posts and comment on anything uploaded to the site.
The take home message is that social media and Instagram can improve the e-learning experience and enhance existing methods of learning in a variety of ways.