We all know how much education has changed due to the pandemic. Suddenly, teachers, students and parents were having difficulty understanding remote learning. For most people, this is a difficult transition. Now that we've had time to adapt, it's time to strategize using technology and social media to create engaging remote and hybrid learning environments. This article explores five innovative and practical ways to leverage popular social media platforms to increase student engagement, encourage collaboration, and inspire creativity in remote learning.
Let's start!
Difficulties with distance learning
In the early days of the transition to the pandemic, we all experienced the difficulties of remote teaching. Teachers find adapting lessons frustrating and asking students to focus through screens. Students become bored and uninterested as they sit at home trying to educate themselves. Parents suddenly had to take on the role of home learning coaches. This could have been better for everyone involved. It's been a few years since we entered this new era of education. Schools and families have overcome some initial technical difficulties. However, student engagement remains a common problem. Just because a student logs into an online course does not mean they are present or engaged. Lack of engagement can lead to a lack of understanding and adverse mental health effects such as loneliness and anxiety. Getting creative with familiar social media tools allows us to breathe new life and human connections into distant academia.
Benefits of using social media in education
There are many benefits to using popular social platforms for learning that can revolutionize the remote learning experience for students, teachers, and parents.
Let's explore the main reasons why using well-known social tools is beneficial:
●No learning curve for new technologies
● Use formats to present content students will enjoy, such as Instagram or TikTok-style videos.
●Promote cooperation and community for socially deprived children.
●Encourage creativity and encourage students to create their content.
● Provide opportunities for parents and teachers to connect with their children outside the virtual classroom.
The key is to organize events to generate engagement, not simply consume it. Here are five ways to do this.
5 Creative Ways to Use Social Networks for Distance Learning
The key to driving engagement in distance learning is meeting your students on social media! Rather than reinventing the wheel or forcing the launch of yet another new learning app, we can take creative approaches that leverage the power and popularity of their favourite existing platforms. Here are five promising ways educators and parents can turn Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and more into collaborative digital classrooms that make unmotivated learners want to log in daily. These social media revitalization ideas can bring new connections to outdated remote learning routines.
Let us read the method in detail.
Make student connections through private groups.
Loneliness and separation from peers are some of the most severe impacts on students' mental health during the COVID-19 crisis. Use platforms like Facebook's groups and messaging features to create private digital spaces for students to interact. Let them share study tips, plan virtual learning sessions, compare progress, and cheer each other on as they solve challenging tasks. By rebuilding these critical social bonds, they can support each other and stay engaged.
Make learning fun with educational games.
Is there a better gamification tool than social media? For example, students can answer multiple-choice questions via Instagram polls or post written answers to discussion prompts on TikTok. You can even create an educational scavenger hunt by sharing clues across platforms. You can turn learning into a collaborative social game by rewarding determined teams that solve challenges fastest.
Encourage student creativity through content creation tasks.
Let students create their educational content using tools native to their preferred platform. For example, ask them to record a short explanation or demonstration video using TikTok or Instagram Reels. Or have them summarize your findings into an easy-to-digest infographic to share on a visual platform like Pinterest or Canva. Producing media in formats they use every day helps increase relevancy and engagement.
Promote meaningful discussions with hashtag challenges.
Hashtag challenges dominate platforms like Instagram and TikTok and often focus on dance trends. However, educators can also use this popular format for academic discussions. Ask students a critical thinking question and then have them post a video of a compelling answer tagged with a specific hashtag. They can then view responses from teachers and classmates and interact with them by browsing shared tags.
Contact parents through forums.
Parents often feel disconnected from the remote learning process. However, ongoing parent-teacher communication is crucial to keeping children on track. Start a private parenting group or committee through a platform like Reddit or Facebook. Parents can discuss the challenges they face supporting remote learners, share advice and resource recommendations, suggest improvement ideas to teachers, and more.
Implement social solutions today!
While balancing safety and maximizing learning during a pandemic is undoubtedly a challenge, the creative use of social media in remote learning offers new hope. Using familiar platforms that students already use provides a way to continue participating remotely. Rather than banning social media for kids trying to learn at home, we encourage educators and parents to explore options like private collaborative groups, fun game-based assignments, student-generated content, academic tag challenges, and parent discussion forums. We wish students and teachers great success as they find creative solutions to thrive despite the pandemic's disruption.
