Social media is becoming an indispensable part of today’s life. When we talk about social media, there are literally very few who are left from the ambit of it. Even the senior citizens who used to find it skeptical and unworthy have kept up with the race and have become avid social media users. Thanks to the time of the pandemic, which brought people even together using social media. Families got connected with each other like never before. Parents who used to find social media uninteresting started finding hope by reading all positive stories and connecting with other family members. One cannot thank the contribution of social media enough.
However, when we talk about the education industry, which faced the heaviest brunt of not being technologically updated, we can throw light on the use of social media by various stakeholders, especially teachers and students. Initially, when the educators’ technology did not progress much, or there was still a gap between the demands of the teacher to have a sound platform for teaching, online classes, sharing assignments, and distributing resources, it used to happen via many staggered channels. One among them was the use of social media to clarify students’ doubts or share material. So, teachers started to blend more into this social media system.
Benefits of social media for teachers
Even if we know that social media possesses lot many risks for the educational faculties, there are benefits that one cannot avoid-
Higher engagement:
Posts, comments, and sharing incentivise students to keep performing better as their own peers constantly review them. This allows higher engagement between teachers as well as the students. Teachers can create groups so there can be live discussions, online streaming of important topics where many students find major doubts, and class notifications too.
Learning Management System:
Schools and other educational institutes are switching to an online learning form where they can share resources, attend online classes, manage students’ performance, and do all the interactions on a single dashboard. Specifically, after the onset of the pandemic, schools want to be secure from an untimely shutdown. Learning Management systems have many tools like social media platforms like instance chats, video calls, and much more, which helps them greatly.
Access to resources:
Mere presence on social media leads to a substantial increase in access to resources throughout the subjects. As more and more people are connected over the internet, the resource has increased a lot, which helps them keep themselves updated and help the class learn more through cross-cultural and cross-regional learning.
What social media risks to avoid?
Maintaining social media etiquette:
Teachers should avoid sending personal messages, pictures, or even friend requests to the students. There should be a limit to the interactions that are done on social media, which must be constricted to classroom communications alone. Whenever emails are being sent to the students, teachers must loop in the parents, too, to avoid any miscommunication and ensure greater transparency.
Understanding social media guidelines:
As teachers have not been avid users of social media platforms, they often fall for the mischief of some hacker or a plan set by students. Due to this, they must understand the terms and conditions of using social media platforms. Also, there is a need to understand if specific guidelines are made especially for teachers or their educators technology by the school or government in this regard.
Try not to go public:
Students generally take teachers as their role models, even though they emulate them. A social media account makes people know what a person has been doing in their personal life. However, as more decorum is maintained between teacher and student, they must remain private as much as possible. Public accounts are easily visible by anyone, including the students. Students can easily take a screenshot or record the videos of the teacher if shared on social media platforms.
Maintain dignity of the profession:
A teacher’s profession is a noble one, and one must take care of it. The teacher should not make sure to upload pictures like profile pictures or cover pictures of something that might send a wrong signal to students. Alcohol, drinks, smoking, etc., should never be shared in the public picture.
Take care of timing:
Teachers should ensure they do not post during school timings on social media. It is one of the duties which has utmost importance and is responsible for building the future of any nation. Imagine involving yourself in activities that communicate your disinterest in your service. Neither does it send good examples to students or colleagues.
No one can discount the benefit of social media in today’s life for anyone. However, there must be a line drawn by the teachers which helps them avoid any unnecessary risks of being a social media user. Educators’ technology is becoming common these days, and it is one of the best ways to remain social with your students.
If you are looking for a learning management system or school management system for the efficient conduct of your school task, please feel free to reach us .
