Module 7 Activity 7 - Learning through social media

Social media, once used properly, can be of benefit to students in enhancing learning.  The most commonly used is Facebook and for the most part, is used for socializing.  Teachers are encouraged to use it with their students to further educational goals and to build student knowledge and capacity.

How can teachers use social media to enhance learning?  There are quite a few benefits to its use but first it calls for the will to move beyond the negatives associated with its use and to embrace the good and the potential that there is to engage our students.  Teachers need to recognize that in a given day students are at school for approximately 5 hours and after school our students will become engaged with social media for more than 4 hours bearing in mind that within the 5 school hours, there is no evidence of the use of social media for learning.  There is an inbalance here which speaks to the issue of teachers using more of what seems to be of interest to students, but  are we, or our system ready for this?  The changing dynamics of the classroom demands a change in how students are educated.

Infusing social media in and out of the classroom for learning purposes in a structured and controlled way will be beneficial to students in this era.