Using social media as a teaching tool

1. Set an example

Explain how social media can help them learn and establish a great online reputation. Be a great example for them and introduce them to the concept of responsible digital citizenship. This Pinterest Board can get you started, it's called: Social media etiquette and netiquette lesson plan resources

2. Connect the entire classroom in a Facebook group

Create a private group and invite all students to join. Be careful before you take this step; you have to make sure that every single student in your class has access to a smartphone, tablet, or computer. You should also talk to the parents since some of them might not approve their children to have Facebook profiles. If there is a particularly interesting discussion in the class and you want to continue it while it’s still trending, you can take it to Facebook.

3. Ask your students to blog

Blogging is a really fun activity for students of all ages. Explain what a blog is and ask them to pick a niche they are passionate about. Then, tell them how to conduct research and develop plagiarism-free blog posts.

4. Tweet!

Twitter is an extremely fun network for students. If all students in your class have phones with Internet access, you can organize an active Twitter discussion during class. Think of a hashtag related to the discussion and ask them to conduct an online research and post a tweet with an interesting fact in 15 minutes.

5. Host a podcast or video channel

Use YouTube to publish your own educational videos or podcasts. If you don’t have enough time to maintain the channel, you can search YouTube for relevant content and play it during class. Then, you can all talk about it.

6. Start a Flickr photography project

Flickr is a great place where your students can find images for their projects but have you considered making contributions to it? Organize a field trip and ask them to take photos with their phones.