Social Media Can Positively Influence

Social media became a learning tool in today’s era. Identify the pros and cons of using social media as a learning tool.

There are always students from diverse backgrounds who learn better in different ways.

Among so many emerging tools for learning, technology is one very effective and efficient tool thats a boon for all of us. Hence we can embed technology into our teaching .

Today, social media has a great influence on how we live, how we work and now more than ever how we learn.

In modern system more and more educationists are incorporating the social media into their classrooms to engage their students and benefit their educational developments ,whether online or in person.

There are different types of social media platforms available that are being used as learning tools-

• Blogs- where people can comment, share and discuss information.

• Instagram, Facebook ,Twitter and course hashtags to encourage open forum and debate;

• Skype , Google+ , Hangouts etc to engage deeply with the material and each other;

• Google Docs, Wikipedia and other collaborative document tools to store and refine data;

• Project Management Applications to streamline collaboration;

• LinkedIn to build connection;

• YouTube to create both course and student presentations;

• And many more!

How does social media support learning?? Pros :

If used carefully ,social media in the classroom not only helps students create more collaborative work but it also helps them identify real world applications for social media tools they already use.

If used with right intention, social media can positively influence the way each student learns and absorbs information provided inside classrooms. If we incorporate social media in traditional learning environment it gives students creative freedom and engages them more efficiently.

1. Many curricula worldwide support use of You tube videos as a audio-visual learning tool which can be used to explain a difficult concept through animation with explanation. Such links are provided under resource list. In an another way, a video of a certain experiment (which could otherwise be not possible to conduct inside class ) can be made and uploaded to You tube for student's viewing.

2. Teachers and students have started blogs and micro-blogs where they are able to connect with students as well as teachers outside classrooms too, sharing the resources with discussions on various topics and exchange of ideas. So, it helps them create stronger community with one another.

3. A Facebook group can be created for a class, where class announcements, assignments, photos and videos of class activities or projects done by students, reminders of deadlines etc can be posted and shared. Questions can be posted to the wall where anyone who knows an answer can post the reply. Even parents can also access the site to monitor class room progresses.

4. Twitter too works almost similar way, where students can receive up-to-date information on a current topic. This eliminates need of extensive research.

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