Social media in the classroom

Social media is an ingrained part of today's society. Our learners and students are constantly on blogs, Facebook, twitter etc.

Facebook is known as a place to post updates, announcements, photos and videos. That is all things that we likely to use in our classes anyway. I can create a Facebook group for each class, where I can post assignments, make announcements, and remind students about important deadlines. Parents can also access the site to monitor what is going on in my class.
A Facebook group also creates a space for students to ask and answer questions.

Like Facebook, Twitter offers a quick way to post class announcements and reminders as well as real time information on class field trips. Twitter also helps classes track information on a topic.
Twitter is made not only for reading, but also for responding. Encourage students to interact with other via Twitter by posting their favorite quote or facts from a particular lesson. To have them interact with experts by tweeting questions or comments. Many organizations offer Twitter chat sessions with which students can interact.

Student writing improves more they do it. Instead of traditional writing projects, blogs create great opportunities for students to write and display their writing on a larger scale. The topic ideas are endless. Students can reflect on lessons or field trips, document research for a larger project, or review movies, books, or audio recordings. Ask students to illustrate their thoughts with photos or videos. By having students read each other's blog posts, they will create a stronger community with one another, discovering shared experiences and reactions.

Like Facebook, YouTube is an excellent option for flipped classrooms in that students can watch lectures and resources before entering the classroom. We have all probably shown a YouTube clip or two to illustrate a point in the classroom. Students can also create their own material, instead of watching material created by others.

Since students are already using social media away from the classroom, integrating it into the classroom helps students learn best practices for social media and offers an interesting new twist on lessons.