Advantages of Using Social Media in Education

By Mwangata Fredrick B.

Social Media in Education

There are many advantages of using social media in education. One the most important is to encourage interaction between students. This is especially helpful in college environments where having students create a bond with the institution can increase retention rates. Of course along with the advantages of social media in education, there are also some disadvantages.

A social media post can take on a life of its own, and once it is out here, it is pretty much impossible to take back. Even though there is some risk, the benefits can outweigh those risks; you just need the proper social media plan and strategy for how it will be used. Sites such as Facebook and Twitter can be useful in the classroom. There are some items to be concerned with, and it is important to think about what the rules you are going to have with social media. This is really no different than rules you may set up for your teenager. The University of Minnesota has put together a really good list of the items to think about here.

Higher Education is usually very slow to move in new directions, and Social Media is no different, if the faculty and administrators do not understand it, then they are slow to adopt. In the area of social media, this not only impedes taking advantage of these educational applications, but it also puts the educational institutions at a disadvantage when it comes to recruitment. Since most educators need something scientific before deciding, you may want to read this study on the effectiveness of social media as a communication tool before continuing.

Now that we have some background data let’s move on and take a quick look at some of the advantages.

1.   Social Media can increase student collaboration. Students become friends with their classmates on social media and are more likely to collaborate on projects. This can lead to higher retention rates as students become more connected to the institution.

2.   Faculty can use social media as a way to get students to participate. Many students are naturally shy in person, and many may not speak up in a classroom, but that may not be the case on social media. Today’s students grew up on social media and for many it is the natural way to interact. Faculty can ask questions on social media such as Twitter and students can answer those questions, by including a specific hashtag. This not only allows the faculty to find the student answers but also allows other students to see what others are answering and create a dialog. Many learning management systems incorporate a discussion board to accomplish this same educational pedagogy but are just as useful if not more by using a social media platform.

3.   Social Media can be useful for team projects. Many colleges stress the importance of the soft skill of working in groups. Social Media sites can be helpful to increase this ability as the students can hold meetings in real time and work on their projects. This increases the likely hood that they will also spend time together working on projects and may not have to make time to meet in person all the time as the project progresses. Having teams work together using social media only strengthens advantage one and two in your educational activities.

4.   Social media can provide a richer experience for resources. Videos, resource websites, and tutorials can be shared very easily with the entire classroom at the click of the button. This eliminates the need for students to copy website links from a handout and have the risk of mistyping. It is much easier just to click a link than to type it.

5.   Video Conferencing in the Classroom is also a significant benefit. Using social networking sites such as Google Plus will allow the use of Google Hangouts. These sort of resources can be used to setup class sessions where everyone can collaborate through video in real time. Google Hangouts can also be saved for future reference, in case one of the students has a conflict and can not make the meeting.