Social media in the classroom....


Okay...  So we are part of the information age and that is no new information.  Social media as a phenomenon has garnered a variety of responses whether negative or positive.  I have my own feelings towards social media and sometimes find myself sitting on the fence as to whether I support it or not.  Is it something that is positive or negative.  Either way, it is real, and trying to fight the revolution is hopeless.  You might as well just go with the flow. 


I am personally not a strong participant of social media.  I often think and argue that one should not be part of too many platforms because it takes a way so much of your time.  For instance, if you have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Whatsapp and Blogger and you have to attend to them at the same time it means that you will not have time for anything else.  However, this is from a social interaction perspective.  I truly believe that if you employ social media for the right reasons it can be a powerful force.


Case and point being in the education system.  We find ourselves in a time where interaction and constant learning is an everyday reality.  Learning is not a process that takes place for eight hours at school but continuous every second of the day.  The best educator is life itself.  Social media is a neuron that forms part of life and provides vast amounts of information every split second of every day.  As an educator, not making use of these platforms is educational suicide.  Thus, I think that social media should be employed in the classroom.


The way I would employ social media in my history classes is through making use of Whatsapp, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.  I will use these platforms to post pictures, information, interesting videos that can be used as informative sources for work that we are dealing with.  These platforms are open and are used by people as leisure.  By browsing their Twitter or Facebook they can indirectly be learning as well. 


Social media can enhance the educational process if it is used in the right way.  and can be used for continuous learning.