Social media is a powerful tool for education. It allows students to gain access to resources and connections they might not otherwise have access to.
In this blog post, we’ll cover some of the best social media tools in education and how they can be used to help students learn in an engaging way.
Table of Contents
Social Media Tools In Education
Connecting with each other comes to us more easily now that we can just tap away on a keyboard and chat with a person who lives over 3000 miles away. Finding information knows no boundaries with Google on every computer in the world.
As educators, this means access to more, faster, which is thrilling and mindboggling. However, it can also be frustrating and confusing with so much to choose from.
How do you know which platform is the best for your goals? Which social media organization has the best resources and community? Which one would help you communicate better with your students?
All of these questions flutter through our minds as our eyes wander through the gallons of information we search through. So, to simplify this daunting task for teachers, the following list consists of the best social media for teachers.
1. The Connected Educator
A great site for connecting with other educators is edConnectr. It gives educators several avenues with which to find other like-minded educators. A Visual Mapping Engine narrows down certain criteria allowing educators to save valuable time and energy.
2. Edmodo
Edmodo acts as a playground for teaching and learning with a place for posts, calendars, and general communication for teachers and students. Linking to students becomes simpler and more efficient as well as more effective when students enjoy the presentation of it. It makes it easy to share valuable apps with students.
3. TedEd
TedEd offers a variation of TED Talks with shorter, often-animated clips of subjects such as science, technology, social studies, literature, language, art, health, psychology, and business and economics. With communities and clubs, the site also makes it effortless for collaboration.
4. Google+
Besides great graphics and themes, Google+ takes teachers to their students with circles that make managing virtual communication an art. Students might need to know more about a particular lesson because they didn’t quite get it the first time. Pull them into a circle of their own with just the right tools to connect them to their path to understanding and learning.
5. Facebook
The great part about Facebook is that everyone is on it. Students love connecting with their friends and family with Facebook so telling them to check out the page where you post only makes sense. However, it’s very important to stay professional and have a separate personal account.
6. Twitter
The best way to use Twitter for teaching is as a reminder to students that they need to complete an assignment for a particular due date or that they have an exam coming up soon so study this or that. Sometimes teachers even use it for inspiration by sending a famous quote.
7. Instagram
Students love Instagram for so many reasons but mainly for the photos and effects available to them. Teachers can create assignments that tap into the need to Instagram such as photo essays where students take photos, upload, and add captions or students can even create campaigns for certain organizations or just for a lesson.
8. Vimeo
If you want to share videos on Facebook or Twitter, use Vimeo. But, there’s a whole lot more teachers can use it for such as uploading and storing video then utilizing it as a tool to teach students more about creating video. Vimeo teaches for you at Vimeo Video School with lessons and tutorials.
9. WordPress
With so many themes to choose from, WordPress has become a popular way for teachers to set up a web of communication and lessons with their students. Chalkboard is an educational theme that prepares students for learning and helps teachers outline goals and objectives while still providing great visuals. Teachers can also use it to inspire students to write more by having them create their own blogs and meet the WordPress Challenges.
10. Blogger
Like WordPress, Blogger connects teachers to students using unique themes as well as diary-style writing. With access to teachers’ posted links, lessons, and thoughts students become more successful and comfortable with the teacher when learning online.
11. Skype
Using Skype means connecting with anyone, anywhere, at any time. This means students not only connect with teachers but teachers encourage students to broaden their view of the world. Set up virtual connections by contacting other teachers then connect the students to each other. Also, Skype has a whole portal dedicated to educators who can use it to teach various lessons already set up by the Skype team.
12. Pinterest
The celebrated platform for pinning favorite pix can be a great teaching and learning tool. It also encourages quick collaboration between teachers on all sorts of subjects and interests. Teachers can set up a Pinterest page for one particular class or a series of classes with Pins that focus on themes or subtopics important to the lesson at hand.
13. YouTube
Educators of any level can click on the education category within YouTube and find several subcategories such as university, science, business, and engineering. YouTube even has a special section dedicated to teachers and how to teach with it. But, even if teachers never visited that section, they could teach using all the great videos available according to subjects or searches.
14. TeacherTube
If YouTube doesn’t make the cut, try TeacherTube. It’s dedicated to all sorts of education, from the basics to more complicated work. Interestingly, the tabs for docs and audio are some of the more useful resources within it. However, it’s the idea of TeacherTube and it’s tools that make it so useful because teachers can use it to communicate with students and there’s no question that this is within an educational format.
15. Academia.edu
For academics whose main goal is to share research papers, Academia.edu draws a crowd of over five million visitors. Academics can monitor the effect of their research and keep tabs on the research of the other academics that they follow. It’s a great tool for anyone needing data and information on various subjects and interests
what social media do teachers use
t’s a given that teachers are active on social media. We recently reported educator-related social media trends in our Digital Trends in the Education Market Report, previously showed you the top posts they engaged with, and have provided tips for social media marketing in this webinar. We often survey teachers about their media preferences. Here are a few responses about social media that challenged our assumptions. We thought you might be surprised as well.
The Data Sample
We conducted an online survey* to 732 teachers. Here’s what the group looked like:
91% teach in public schools
39% teach in elementary schools, 21% in middle schools, and 38% in high schools
34% teach in urban schools, 41% in suburban schools, and 24% in small towns/rural areas
Surprise #1: Social media and teacher tenure
Millennials and social media. Social media and millennials. It seems that joining the two terms together is practically required by law. I have to admit, I was certain that nearly all the survey respondents would skew toward early career. As it turns out, while there was a significant millennial presence among respondents, with 41% reporting 1-10 years of experience, the majority – 59% – have been teaching more than 11 years. In fact, a whopping 42% have been teaching 16 or more years!
What it means for marketers
Teachers of all experience levels are using social media, and veteran teachers appear to be heavier users than those who are new to the profession. The lesson for marketers is not to ignore more senior level teachers. Rather, craft your content with your target audience and their experience level in mind.
Surprise #2: Teacher favorites
Not surprisingly, teachers report heavy use of Facebook. In fact, 83% of our respondents said they use Facebook, followed by 72% who use Pinterest, 54% who use Instagram, and 48% who use Twitter. However, when it comes to the channels they favor for work, 74% of respondents said their number 1 social media channel is Pinterest. Facebook was next (39%), followed by Twitter (30%), and Instagram (17%).
And what are teachers actually looking for on social media? Here’s what they told us.
81% Get inspired with new teaching ideas
80% Find resources for my classroom
57% Stay on top of trends and news
54% Connect with other educators
53% Find teacher discounts and deals
38% Follow education companies and organizations
33% Participate in an online community
What it means for marketers
Educators hunt for ideas, information and deals on social media. And they’re not only on Facebook! It’s crucial to understand opens in a new windowhow each social channel works and share content that is germane to each. Post creative ideas that teachers can use in their classrooms like lesson plans, demonstration videos, classroom decorating ideas, downloadable activities and posters. Run sweepstakes and contests. Provide professional development opportunities that they can take part in online. And remember, teachers spend a lot of their own money for their students – offer them discounts and deals that help them save their hard-earned money.
Surprise #3: They don’t wait around
Teachers don’t just sit back and wait for marketers to dazzle them. They are scouring the web and social for the products, services, content and resources they need. Growing your brand’s presence online will enable them to find you. Teaming with trusted partners in an established community will help you win their confidence. A brand can establish themselves as teacher advocates by sharing valuable content within a brand-neutral ecosystem.
Conclusion
Teachers of all ages and experience levels are active on social media. Their use of social is not limited to Facebook – they love Pinterest, and are active on Twitter and Instagram as well. Teachers search social media to find content and resources for their classrooms, interact with other educators, enhance their own skills, and shop for deals. It’s important for marketers to know which social platforms teachers are using, for which purposes, and create content that is appropriate to the platform.
Conclusion
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