The Impact of Social Media on Education

Social media is a network of apps built to facilitate social interactions worldwide. Various apps and sites contribute towards building optimised platforms that have evolved to offer a balance between entertainment and information. Every industry, including the education industry, benefits from various technological advancements. The impact of social media on education has helped students to be exposed to a new world of learning by connecting to people globally.

Evolution of Social Media

Since its evolution in 1844, social media has changed and optimised itself tremendously and continues to do so. It began as a means of electronic exchange of information between people and has grown into a virtual place for unions and reunions in recent years. Not only this, social media has become a dynamic and stellar platform for offering study materials and other educational resources. The 21st-century virtual tool is also utilised for retail and marketing purposes to reach diverse amounts of audiences across the globe. People worldwide can connect, share information, and promote themselves or their brands through social media apps.

Initially, YouTube, Whatsapp and Facebook were the most prominent and highly used social media apps by people all over the world. But with time, Instagram, Telegram, and LinkedIn also gained popularity. During the covid-19 lockdown, when the world was forced to shift to online mode, various other apps such as Zoom, Gmeet, and MsTeams gained immense popularity in the business and educational sectors. These apps offer various features varying from social interactions to top information sharing. They keep rolling out new features based on audience needs to increase their popularity. These features benefit people on a large scale since it is personalised to target people from all sectors, including businesses, entertainment and education.

Although educational institutions had never been a big fan of allowing students to spend more time on social sites or smart devices, changing needs caused them to integrate technological revolutions and hence, usage of social media apps into their teaching methodology.

Impact of Social Media on Education

These days, a significant portion of students have access to smart gadgets and social media daily and spend their spare time scrolling through them. Therefore, it is a great way to utilise that time, learn, and draw something productive out of it. Social media apps and sites have modified themselves to coordinate and cater to the requirements of educational institutions. Teachers, parents and students benefit immensely from the resources and the online study material.

1. LinkedIn– It is a well-known site for building a professional profile to look for jobs and find updates regarding various industries and topics. But do you know it also provides courses to upskill yourself and boost your learning? It offers free and paid course material to help students learn more.

2. YouTube– Students have used YouTube to access educational and other entertainment videos ever since. But it was a concern of students regarding the limited availability of study material on the app. After the lockdown, many teachers and educational firms uploaded videos related to diverse topics. So now, it has become easier for students to utilise YouTube as an educational resource.

3. Instagram– It took some time for Instagram to gain the popularity it deserved. Recently, students can find educational videos, upload their projects and innovations and reach a global crowd using hashtags. It is an effective way of connecting with people and communities that share the same interest as your child.

4. Quora– Apart from various other functions, the primary utility of Quora for students is to post questions and get answers. Students can also look for related topics on Quora and check out pre-uploaded answers or articles. Since it’s a social networking site, it is available for building new connections online.

5. Reddit, Telegram and Facebook– These social sites are widely used nationwide by millions of users and therefore have multiple communities creating diversity. Students can connect to various experts, new friends and related communities through these social media sites and expand their knowledge. It is also a suitable platform for sharing and enhancing your learning. Teachers have built various Telegram channels on sharing information and study material in one go.

6. Zoom, Gmeet and MsTeams– These are not social media sites but video-conferencing apps. But their popularity grew immensely between parents, teachers and students as the means of connecting hundreds of people anywhere worldwide with just one link. Educational institutions actively use it to hold classes, exams, and programmes.

Benefits of Social Media in Education

The impact of social media on education has led to various benefits that are helping students get better educational resources, especially to cope with exam stress. Through the years, social media has evolved and customised itself to offer various educational benefits.

1. Expert advice– Ardent learners are keen to know everything, so their curiosity leads to many questions. When at home, it is difficult to have access to school teachers all the time. It is then that community groups or expert resources from social media can help guide and fulfil the quest for answers. This way, students can learn and research more and use it to its best.

2. Shared learning– Teaching experts and mentors upload online videos, audio and other study materials to guide students’ learning process. Many of them require subscriptions, but most of them are free and available on various social apps. Students can share their learning and insights online during group discussions or debates. It helps expand the knowledge horizons for all and gain new perspectives and inputs related to diverse topics.

3. Updates and alerts– Teachers can broadcast important updates and information to multiple people in one go connected to official groups on social media. The delay in information delivery has been minimised since every reminder and update is instantly looked into. It helps students stay updated with things such as updates in a syllabus, reminders of assignment submissions, or any other important and relevant news.

4. Distance learning– It is not feasible for all students to leave their hometown and enrol in the universities and colleges of their dreams. To tackle this issue, distance or online learning is an effective solution in providing high-quality education and certified degrees. Students can access the study material and online classes, both live and recorded and can clear their doubts about the communities they are added to.

5. Parental involvement– It is crucial for children’s personal and educational growth. Parents must be updated with their child’s education to participate in their learning process. The school’s Twitter and Facebook pages help keep parents updated with new projects, activities and events. Whatsapp and Facebook groups help create a social network to learn about their child’s academic progress. It helps parents stay informed and work accordingly to provide educational and personal support to their children at home. 

Best Practises to Use Social Media for Learning

1. Avoid distractions– It is very common for students to get muddled up with different social apps the very second any new notification pops up. Try to focus and mute any other notifications while studying.

2. Appropriate social media selection– Multiple social media sites are available for learning. It is necessary to align the choice of social apps with your learning needs. If you want videographics information, you may choose YouTube over LinkedIn.

3. Follow relevant people– Students must look for social media accounts that offer valuable educational content. You may come across plenty of profiles and communities related to the expert in your field of learning. Follow them to be updated with any new information or developments.

4. Save important information– Social media apps like Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube allow you to curate new folders and collections to store relevant content. Create folders to save important posts, videos, and links you find useful. It may help personalise your saved folders.

5. Follow Hashtags– The most likely way to come across relevant educational content is to follow your field of interest hashtags. It displays optimised posts, trends, and highlights related to your hashtag. 
6. Improve critical thinking– Social media is a breeding ground for misinformation and controversies. Finding reliable and fact-checked information to filter through irrelevant sources is crucial. Critical thinking helps in judging the credibility of information received.

7. Sieve all resources– The social world has many educational resources to be taken advantage of. Students must review podcasts, audiobooks, and live streams for a better learning experience.

The impact of social media on education can be diverted and used constructively by following best practices for learning by using social media.

SKV is a girls’ boarding school that aims to offer modern and progressive education for the growth and development of students.