Class of 2011: What If Social Media Were a High School? [INFOGRAPHIC]
Generally, when people hear the words “social media,” Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn are the first platforms to come to mind. This is no surprise, as these are some of the most popular social media sites out there. The infographic below is a great way to get familiar with other social media sites you might not know as well yet. The sites are displayed in high school yearbook format, which best explains the ‘personality’ of each of them!
Before you get to know all of the social media sites below, I want to point out different ways that teachers can integrate a few of them with the classroom:
• Twitter: Teachers can create a unique #hashtag for their class to make interaction easier. If students have a question in regards to an assignment or need help the night before an exam, they can tweet at the professor and utilize the #hashtag. The #hashtag narrows search results down making it extremely easy for the students to see what their classmates are tweeting about.
• YouTube: This platform is great, especially for online students. Online students have a different lifestyle than ground students. They don’t get a chance to see the faces of their teachers or classmates since they are taking classes right from their home! YouTube is a great way to change the way online students interact. Have students create a short video clip introducing themselves to one another. That way they can put names to faces.
• WordPress: Set up a WordPress blog specific to the program you teach. You can blog about the latest trends, topics, and/or techniques related to your program. You can also take short video clips during class and post them to WordPress (and integrate with your other social media platforms). Then have your students interact by reading your posts and leaving questions or comments. This is a great way for them to stay up to date with the industry they will soon be in.
Are you using social media in your classroom? If so, which platforms do you use the most? Do you find that students are more engaged because of social media?
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