Teaching & Social Media

Social Media HELPS teaching

During the last years there have been lots and lots of articles in blogs or newspapers about the fact how bad social communities and the internet per se are for our children. It keeps them away from homework, enables them to check out inappropriate content like porn and violence and so on. Even big news shows on television talked about those topics and blamed twitter, facebook and all other social networks for the bad grades of our children.

Now – dear moms & dads – I am working as a teacher with 15 to 20 year old college students and I have to say that is, what‘s the appropriate word again? ah yes, b…..t just not true!

Social Media as part of the game

In my opinion the problem lies rarely in the rise of social media but in the attitude of parents and many teachers. Many of them consider new technology always a threat and are not open for new experiences. Most social media opponents have never even had a closer look at it. „Students spent to much time in front of the computer. That has to be bad!“

But with every tool it depends on the way how you use it! Prejudices are never a good starting point and especially teachers should always be open to new developments. Even though this means some extra work after hours.

Social Media is part of the game right now and forbidding it makes it only more attractive. We all know this phenomenon. Tell a kid to stay away from something – it will try even harder to get hold of it. And actually there is no reason to keep students away from the internet. The internet is one of the best inventions in history and should not be blamed but used in the right way!

Utilising Social Media helps A LOT

It might be a little easier for me to utilise all those web 2.0 instruments since I studied „internet stuff“ (yes, there really are Universities that teach things like that) but it should not be to hard for educated teachers to understand the mechanisms of social communities. Take your time, dive in and let the fun begin!

Speaking the language of your students always makes it easier to communicate. Furthermore you can and you should utilise social media as teaching instruments. Using the medium students already use and enjoy for education makes the whole thing more fun. For students as well as for you. Promisse.

For me as language teacher it is for example an easy way to get students talking / writing. Chatting with them on facebook, posting on walls, replying on twitter – this all makes them use the language I teach. They learn using it without teaching. Perfect! Not thinking about it but simply using it. What could be better?

But not only the ocassional chitchat is a way to use Facebook & co. Homework or even tests can be network related too. I started for example to let students blog online instead of simply writing boring essays at home. Or we do foreign language videos with role plays and publish them on facebook, twitter or our school blog. Sharing those things with their friends, tagging them in those posts….that increases the fun and the identification as well as the enthusiasm. And those are only a few examples. The sky is the limit. You will see as soon as you start using those new communication methods your creativity will start to develop more and more ideas of how to use it.

No jack of all trades – but still cool.

Before you get me wrong. I am not saying that social media is everything and we should only rely on it when planning our lessons. Of course not! Old school teaching is still necessary. No doubt about that! But being open to new developments and using them wisely can help so much. It increases the fun and enthusiasm and makes it therefore easier for students as well as for teachers.

So give it a try. Education rules over prohibition. Become a teacher 2.0. If you have any questions about how to accomplish it, don‘t hesitate to ask.