Social Media in Education

Social Media Week 23 - 27 February, 2015 

         
  Social media is often seen only as a way to pass the time or stay connected to familiars, friends and family. However, its use is rapidly expanding into the educational sector. Now a day’s universities, colleges & schools are striving hard to build a good social presence. Today Students want to get a feel of what the institution is really like from their Facebook page. So every educational institution wants to be seen in ‘The Great School Search’ on the internet. That’s why currently, educators are now using Social Media to maximize enrollments of student, engagement of alumni and increasing media outreach.

In 2012-13, The US department of Commerce ranked 55 industry sectors for their IT intensiveness, education ranked lowest. It is much astonishing that Education industry, which bears the responsibility to make citizens for the world of tomorrow, itself is not ready to accept the digital revolution with an open mind.

I am not talking about the number of computers lying in your computer lab or tablets in the classroom. I am talking about the motivation behind having these machines – digital education in true sense.

Let’s change our vision from seeing social media as just another distraction to seeing it as an opportunity to build a more meaningful education system for teachers and students.

Here is a brief retrospection of the main ways schools use social media:

In class:

·         School notifications, announcements and class discussions are shared on sites like Twitter

·         Teachers share learning materials and more on blogs and networking sites.

Potential students:

·         School offer virtual tours that include 360 images and videos

·         Schools can reach out to potential students who mention them on Twitter or comment on the school's blog

General Outreach:

·         Social sites provide a platform to promote different educational and co-curricular activities, receive feedback on them and start new conversation

·         Schools can reach out to guardians and keep them up-to-date

·         Alumni groups can connect and grow

Professional Development:

·         Teachers learn more about their industries through social venues

·         They can network with other teachers

School pride:

·         Schools create mascot Facebook pages to encourage school spirit

·         Free school materials and facilities are offered online