Students have access to a huge amount of information for free if they use social media sites such as Instagram and Facebook. This begs the question: What would be the benefit of social media in schools and colleges and can such sites assist in teaching as well as learning. Below we will highlight some of the benefits of using social media in an educational setting.
How social media can improve the learning process
It is clear that both technology and social media play an important role in our day to day lives. This makes us wonder if there are any benefits to using social media in education. We will take a look at whether it is possible that social media can play an important role in helping to fill in learning gaps for those students who are struggling with a concept, for example, cheap paper writing services such as AffordablePapers which can assist students with essay writing. To consider this in more detail, we will consider how social media can help and benefit learning and education.
- Social media can help to improve reading, communication and literacy skills. It is not uncommon for students to find reading and writing boring, however, social media gives students a new angle. Social media provides plenty of information that students are more likely to read, especially if it’s presented in a more aesthetically pleasing way. Therefore it is easy to see the benefits social media has as it means students are better motivated when it comes to spending time reading and writing if they can use social media to assist. Students can access information such as articles, books, news, messages, and comments. It is clear to see that social media helps to keep those students who may not feel so motivated interested as it tends to provide the opportunity to learn in an interactive way.
- Involvement from parents. Parents can stay involved with their child’s learning through the use of social media. For instance, parents can follow a school or college’s Facebook or Twitter feed, and this way they will be in the loop as to what their child is learning. For example, social media allows teachers and lecturers to be able to contact parents if they want to discuss or share a child’s progression. It’s also possible to create a network for parents using platforms such as Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp and this means parents can be told about all things related to their child’s education. All of this means that a parent is able to easily communicate with a school and vice-a-versa. It’s therefore clear to see how this positively benefits a student’s performance as it means parents are involved and can, therefore, provide more help at home.
- Communication. One of the main benefits of social media is that it helps to improve communication. For example, you are able to link to anyone at any time using platforms such as Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp. Such platforms can be used on laptops, mobile phones, and tablets and enable students to be able to speak to each and deliberate questions with each other using video calling and standard calling. These options mean that a student is able to get hold of their tutor or a fellow friend at any point if they are struggling with something and do not have to wait until they next see someone in person. Additionally, social media also means students can share documents with each other using Google Docs. for example.
- Learning from a distance. Social media enables students to learn from a distance. In some cases, some students may not be able to attend an educational establishment regularly. This is where social media can play a part as it can be used for distance learning. Sites such as Skype enable us to have live lectures regardless of where we are located. An important factor to bear in mind, however, is to ensure that students are e-safety aware.
- An information tool. Social media sites do provide us with lots of information which can be very useful. For instance, students can follow relevant news feeds, and this way they will know that they are keeping up with the latest trends. Additionally, social media sites allow students to be able to ask questions and find answers. Pinterest, for example, can also provide inspiration and ideas related to school/college projects.
Social media sites will also have a lot of relevant and new data related to educational subjects and this means that students are able to see what is new and relevant. In essence, social media works pretty much as Wikipedia did in the past, it’s a crucial learning tool.
It is clear to see that social media plays a huge and important part of education today. The positives that social media brings are sure to outweigh any negatives that may be associated with its use that impacts academic performance of students.