Benefits and Risks of Using Social Media in the Classroom

The social media should play a pivotal role in educationor educators should benefit from social media by integrating it into their education system is an ongoing debate. The supporters of social media draw attention to the exclusive benefits provided by social media for the modern-day digital students while critics demand regulation and for eliminating social media from education system. In fact, finding a middle ground in this situation has become a daunting task.

Social media is also a wonderful educational toolthat enriches the students’ learning outcomes and experience by allowing them as well as teachers to connect and interact with each other in new, sensational ways. Social media networking web sites, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter provide a new and innovative platform where we can chat, exchange news and info, and find answers to questions. These websites have been especially designed to promote collaboration and discussion.

Besides these best of the best benefits, it is argued by critics that students are at greater risks when they use social media in the classroom environment. So, I will talk about the benefits as well as drawbacks of using social media in the classroom setting.

BENEFITS

• Social Media as Educational ToolThe modern-day students arrive on campus, smooth-spoken in Web and innovative social networking techs. This knowledge can be leveraged by educators to enrich the student learning experience and outcome. By using social media in classroom environment, teachers can promote collaboration and discussion with ease, while creating purposeful dialogue, exchange info, and improve interaction among students.
• Enhance Student Participation and Engagement
  Social media networking platforms are an effective and efficient approach to develop and improve student engagement and participation, as well as to develop excellent communication skills. Students rarely raising their hands in class may feel more comfy and easy in expressing their own ideas by using social media networking platforms, such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebookor YouTube. These platforms have the potential to enable instructors to develop “back channels” that promote conversation and surface ideas that learners are too diffident or scared to voice out loud.
• Enhance Communication among Students and Teachers
  Social media networking platforms like Twitter and Facebook have the potential to improve interaction and communication among students and teachers. By using these platforms, educators can instantly response to questions posed by students on a Facebook or Twitter page, post writing projects along with lesson schedules, send important info and updates, schedule forthcomingschool events, and share informative Websites. On the other hand, students can use these platforms to get proper guidance and assistance from teachers or their class fellows. For teachers, an excellent approach to give points for class participation is by having learners tweet regarding something that was already discussed in class.
• Preparing Learners for Successful Future Employment
  Learners entering the labor forcein future can benefit from social networking platforms to find smart employment. For example, LinkedIn allows students to make possible their professional presence on the web by posting their professional resume. Through this approach, students can easily research a target organization and connect with other job hunters and companies. Twitter has been using by college career centers and alumni associations with the aim of broadcastingnew job openings as well as internship programs. So, students should benefit by steadily following professional organizations by using Twitter and Facebook to stay in touch with smart opportunities and crucial developments in their respective field.

RISKS

• Social Media is a Distraction
  Educators frequently complainthat social media platforms are distracting in the classroom setting. According to some educators, platforms like Twitter and Facebook can easily divert the mind and attention of studentsaway from what is going on in the class, and they finally do not pay attention to the learning process. There is the possibility that students make mistakes due to the use of social media tools in classroom, and thus teachers should ensure they won’t be abused.
• Cyber bullying
  In fact, social networking platforms facilitate students and teachers with an opportunity to connect and interact with others, but these platforms could be a source of wickedand hated behavior, even on campuses. It has been found that some college going students in Indiana acknowledge to being harassed on the Web via a social networking platform. Teachers using social media as an integral component of their academic course activities should be familiar with potential risks and plan to instantly interfereineven trivial incidents instead of waiting for them to become quite serious.
• Discouraging Face-to-Face or Direct Communication
  It is the concern of some educators that although a safe harbor may be created by real-time digital stream for students who feel uneasy when expressthemselves, they frequently miss highly crucial lessons or lectures in real-life social skills. It is also expected that students may findthemselves at greater risk during school or college admission, or job interviews and they need face-to-face communication to get help. By frequently using social media platforms, students are not able to participate in social gatherings and even build personal relationships.

The Bottom Line

At the end of the day, while the discussion goes forward about what role social media platforms should play to enhance student learning outcome and experience in the classroom, not a single person can argue the impact that these platforms have on tech-savvy students. It is a ground reality that this modern-day generation conducts much of their everyday life by using theseplatforms. They’re already using social media networking platforms and as educational tools for learning and collaboration, and it is not a surprise. So, it seems wise for modern-day education establishments to integrate the social media into education system and benefit from using them by enhancing students learning experience and outcome.

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