Social networks have been a complete revolution in our society. For many years, it has been thought that social networks are only for entertainment, to spend free time and that they are a distraction for young people, however, this is no longer entirely the case. In this article, we will talk about the impact of social media in education.
Benefits of social networks in education
Social networks, despite what many parents think, can be excellent for the education of young people. There are countless Instagram accounts, YouTube channels, and even TikTok, which can be excellent options for young people to learn. For example, if you are in search of free essay examples and topics ideas to write an essay on, social media can be a perfect ally. Topics like that are very popular, but not many people write about them, so finding information about it, could be difficult. That is the reason why social networks could be the solution.
It is true that they must be used properly because otherwise, social networks can become a distraction instead of a help.
Some of the beneficial uses of social networks in education are:
- Social networking could be useful to make the student learn by himself. Education is increasingly assisted and that has to change if we want young people to be prepared for the future that awaits them. The job market is very competitive and young people must be able to search for information on their own and learn without the continuous guidance of a teacher.
- The use of social networks and technology, in general, can be key to improving the ICT skills of young people that are so necessary for the labor market. The more skills young people have, the better prepared they will be to make the leap into the world of work.
- Direct contact with teachers. Through conventional teaching methods, teachers and students are far apart. Social networks can help to bring them into closer contact with each other, increase trust and thus make teaching flow more smoothly.
- Group work. Through social networks and work platforms, students can learn the importance of collaborative work, sharing, and helping peers. Encouraging group work in education is much more important than people think. In the working world, you never work alone, you always belong to a group and, many times, it is not easy. The fact that young people have experience working in a group gives them an advantage when it comes to entering the job market.
- Makes learning more fun. Social media, above all, is fun. We must recognize that teaching, as we know it, is not the most fun thing in the world, much less for the very young. The best way to engage students in a field of study is to make it fun, and social media is perfect for that. Using social media as a teaching tool is an excellent idea to stimulate students and make classes much more fun.
Education and social media should go hand in hand. There are many benefits that have been mentioned in this article and many that remain to be seen.
Best educational social networks
Many companies have seen the impact of social networks in education and have decided to launch platforms of various types. The number of educational social networks that currently exist can be overwhelming, so here are the ones we consider the best at the time of writing this article.
TikTok
The vast majority of us associate TikTok with dancing and quick entertainment, but it can also be an excellent social network for learning. The main advantage of TikTok is that it offers us short and flashy videos and this is what attracts young people the most. There are plenty of TikTok accounts for spreading and teaching that you should add to your list of followers if you want to learn interesting things.
Litpick
Reading is something that is being lost and we must try to keep it that way. Litpick is a platform that allows people to find books recommended to their age and taste, as well as to find reviews of their favorite books. It also allows young people to write their own books and send essays to teachers about what they have been reading. Of course, they can also share things with their peers.
Twitter is another one of those great social networks that people don’t associate with teaching but may be ideal for it. There are many people with Twitter accounts that are dedicated to sharing interesting facts, news, exercises, and information that can be very interesting. As a good social network, it will also allow you to send messages to your friends and even meet new people while learning at the same time.
Something very similar to what is happening with Twitter is happening with Facebook. It is one of the largest social networks in existence and that is why we can find all kinds of information on it. On Facebook, there are accounts for students, in many cases run by teachers that can be very interesting.
YouTube
We could not forget YouTube, the most important video platform in the world. Undoubtedly, the best platform to learn through tutorials and YouTube uploads, daily, millions of hours of content, therefore, you will always find what you need. If you have a problem with a class exercise, there are things that you have not understood well during the class or simply you are curious about something that has not been given in class, on YouTube you can find it perfectly explained.
Conclusion
Social networks are not the future, they are the present, and we must take advantage of them as much as possible. Their function as a source of entertainment is more than evident; however, their role as a learning tool is somewhat unknown. It is true that many schools are beginning to incorporate social networks and online educational platforms in their classes, but there is still a long way to go. It is very likely that in the next few years, teaching will be entirely through this type of platform instead of the conventional face-to-face classes we know.