Social media is becoming so prevalent in our society that it is increasingly impacting education. With Facebook topping out at over 500 million users and Twitter close behind with 200 million, it is rare to find students or teachers that are not connected. This does not even take into consideration the blogs, videos, and other online communities available to anyone with a computer or smart phone. What kind of effects can this immersion in the world of social media have on education?
The Good News
Social networking has without a doubt helped to facilitate collaboration inside and outside the classroom walls. Students are able to communicate more easily with one another about times to meet in person, or share information quickly back and forth through various messaging systems. This increases their success on group projects, while teaching them how to work effectively with other people. And in a society continually building up our technological repertoire, the ability to multi-task through these various channels is often helpful.
Because students are spending so much time on technology, they are more familiar with computers and other devices than any other generation. These skills can be built upon with further training in order to prepare the student for a number of great careers later in life. Social media and technology is not going anywhere, so having these skills will help them throughout their lives in a number of ways. Social media also teaches children skills they might be able to use in the business field in the future such as the syndication knowledge through a myriad of different networks to increase the number of people the information can reach.
Social networking is also extremely valuable for teachers. Many schools are facing tremendous budget cuts that make the profession more strenuous. But, with an internet connection, there is a World Wide Web full of teaching aids that will enhance all lessons no matter the subject. The art of technology places a number of lesson plans, class project ideas, and fun games right at the teacher’s fingers. More and more schools have chosen to incorporate social media to keep students of higher education updated on course readings, create forums to answer questions and provide better education through better technology.
The Bad News
Social media has increased the degree to which private information is made available for anyone to see. Unfortunately, it also comes with the chance for more anonymity that makes students forget to use their conscience before posting. Sites like Facebook pride themselves on being an open place where everyone can share what they are thinking, but this can be dangerous. This has created issues with online bullying of other students. Also, negative consequences can arise years down the road when their potential employer checks out their account. Students need to be taught to evaluate every bit of content they upload, because once it is on the Internet there is no going back.
Popularity with social media, as well as the speed associated with text messaging, has created a poor attitude about proper grammar. Students are constantly misspelling words or creating new abbreviations to type faster. This is having a negative impact on their ability to write in the classroom. They find it difficult to write without spell check and often write in the same manner through which they text, creating headaches for English teachers all over.
Many students are now relying so heavily on the Internet for information that they neglect their reading assignments. Using Google to find homework answers can take them down a path to misinformation. This sometimes leads to an inability to retain information and even the possibility for learning wrong content through unaccredited sites.
Now What?
Parents and students themselves need to take an active role in their academic performance in order to counteract the negative effects of social media. They should take steps to moderate access to these sites and teach the importance of an education. Social media is here to stay, so it is important to address the dangers of treating it recklessly. If we are able to minimize the negative drawbacks, social media can be used as a tremendous teaching aid.
Featured images: Image courtesy of Cheap photo stock
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’][/author_image] [author_info]Alex Faubel enjoys writing about topics related to business and technology in career-focused education programs.[/author_info] [/author]
