Even though students are connected to social platforms more, social media for teachers can be really beneficial tool used either for professional or personal means. 2 years ago, in a survey consisted of 1000 teachers, only one out of 5 said that they are regularly using social media with their students. It can be really tough to imply lessons within social media. On a more personal way social media are maintaining relationships, and you can drop message to anyone online instead of calling them.
Social media is handy in school classrooms but there are many ways where you can take advantage of them outside it. One of the ways is sharing of ideas. Teachers can share ideas with students or even plans for upcoming lessons. This can improve the experience of learning in your class. Teachers can also connect with other teachers from different schools. This can be very important because it enables teachers to see what kind of changes are being done in other states or even countries. It can also result in changes in curriculum, and even enables them to check out how much of a content is actually updated as many information online is often outdated. Social media is also great for professional development. You can find out about conferences, seminars or other workshops online or in your area.
Even though social networks have many positive sides for teachers, they can also serve as a minefield. There was one case, little bit extreme but the story is that young teacher got fired from job because one parent of a student, got a hold of picture where she is holding 2 drinks. This led her to be fired by the principal. Later on, she tried to sue the district of school but she lost and didn’t get the job again. So if it’s something that you don’t want to be posted in public do not post it online at all, because the moment it’s out there, you can’t get it back. Even if you lock down your profile and make it fully private, this still doesn’t mean that some things cant be seen. And once something happens, it can haunt teachers that are good, down the road.
But, at the end, I can say that there are may advantages for teachers on social media. They can connect and build relationship with their students on different level, so it’s a situation where both sides can benefit from it.
