If we were to ask you to define digital marketing – where’s the first place you’d look – Google, YouTube, Quora? Everyone uses search engines and the online world to educate themselves. Businesses use social media to educate their consumers to drive more sales. Read how businesses use social media to generate leads. We learn digitally, and that’s why the role of social media in modern education has evolved tremendously. Educators have moved beyond an answer quest to learning and educating on social media. Here’s looking at effectively using social media for educational purposes.
Global Online Learning Industry continues to Grow
The last two years have added an immense boost to the education technology sector. As per the Research and Markets report, the global online education market is estimated to reach US$ 585.48 billion by 2027. Interactive online classes, gamification of education, AI/ ML, and automation in education systems, and soon AR /VR experiences will change education. Social media is already a closely involved medium for education.
Role Of social media In Modern Education
A powerful tool to communicate and network, several educators choose social media to improve their teaching methods and reach out to a larger number of students. Social networks such as Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, and more enable students to share their thoughts, ideas, and projects with the world. They can also use it to collaborate with other students, researchers, professors, and more on various topics or work together on a project.
The use of social media in education is becoming more popular as it has higher adoption and participation. It is one of the many tools that classrooms use to engage students. Learning becomes more effective when examples are illustrated. Students enjoy enriched learning with authentic experiences, and education becomes more relevant by using social media for educational purposes.
Teachers have found that using these methods can help them teach better and reach out to a larger audience. For example, @chemteacherphil – does the coolest chemistry experiments on Instagram and Tik Tok with 233K followers!
Using social media for educational purposes
Classrooms that adopt social media often find that their learning is real-time, accelerated, and creative. The collaborative nature of social networks and self-reliant learning gets students more involved and encourages active learning. A live stream of a lesson on Spanish culture conducted from Spain itself is more likely to be absorbed by students than passive textbook chapter learning.
Let’s look at how we can use social media for educational purposes
A school’s Facebook page and dedicated Facebook groups are an absolute must-have for educators today. Facebook offers educators an opportunity to undertake branding and marketing for the school. Here are some effective social media marketing tips for local businesses.
The page can also work as a dashboard with notes, videos, photos, and an announcement broadcast. Facebook groups, on the other hand, can offer students a collaboration platform. Share lecture notes for the day, Livestream classes, have a live discussion chat and do more with Facebook. A closed group for each cohort ensures there is no outside access. Create special groups for alumni or other extra-curricular activities such as extra-chem classes, botany enthusiasts, band teams, and more.
Educators and professors must get onto Twitter. One is for the vast amounts of information, easy access by simply tweeting to field experts, and the second is to involve students through a thread of discussions. Run daily – weekly quizzes using the poll features on Twitter and tag the students on the same. Raise questions to subject matter experts, retweet, and stay in the know with the latest trends. Schools and colleges can run digital collaborations with these creators and professionals. Offer students an opportunity to engage with them, where they can tweet responses to student queries and offer live engagements.
A photo-sharing platform, Instagram offers students and teachers a powerful interactive platform for assignments. Art and photography to architecture students can easily share their work on the network with a detailed assignment description. School students can be asked to video record their responses and post them on Instagram, to improve their verbal and oratory skills. E.g., Instead of a written essay on ‘What I did during vacation?’ Kids can now verbally share everything in the form of a video log on Instagram or as an essay with pictures.
Instagram stories offer educators many tools – AMA, Poll, Questions – to drill the weekly class work and revise with the students. Instagram Live lectures let students and educators connect or have special guest lectures with visiting faculty in an interview session LIVE.
Classroom lessons require several visual aids. What’s better than Pinterest to enrich the learning experience? Create subject-specific, class-specific pin boards for students to drive inspiration. These become good references for students when they answer their physical papers. Pinterest is a treasure trove of resources with innovative ideas and concepts available to the world. Students can pin books, notes, motivational quotes, ideas, and more to go back to as and when required.
It’s never too early for students to connect with the corporate world. Educational Institutes need to stay active on LinkedIn to connect with potential recruitment communities. Several schools and institutes have LinkedIn pages and groups that are now formidable communities. Alumni groups, science departments, and each professional degree can share their discussions and drive chats with others in designated groups.
Research papers and case studies are built with guidance from professionals in the real world. Students with a presence on LinkedIn can connect with various corporations to generate these insights. LinkedIn is also a good social network for students to create a profile of their achievements before even entering the space. Here are 10 Steps to Build Your Personal Brand on social media. It offers great opportunities for undergrad and grad students to network in this space with faculty, alumni, and university students.
YouTube
The social network in itself has become the hub of entertainment and education. It is a massive source of educational material and learning resources for every topic a student can think of. Universities and schools share learning materials, concepts, and tools through YouTube videos. Thus, making learning easily accessible to everyone. Students only need to subscribe to the university channel to start learning.
YouTube also offers educators and content creators a rich platform to share their vast expertise through videos. Whether it is theories, how-to, or a math-science problem you need help with – you can find the answers on YouTube. The platform makes creating content easy for educational purposes.
Social Media in the Classroom for Everyone
The role of social media in modern education doesn’t end just here. It also requires a concerted effort to ensure it does not become a distraction for students. Educational institutes will need to rope in parental involvement to ensure some monitoring of social media usage. Creating a good digital media plan can help boost the efforts of schools and colleges. Especially, if they are looking to increase their student enrolments year on year.
Using social media for educational purposes can be tricky, so signing up with a social media marketing agency in Mumbai can help in creating a strategic plan. From ensuring social media is used efficiently for education to building the university’s brand reputation, Mindstorm can add value to your ed-tech business. Connect with us at aniketh@mindstorm.in.
