Social Media in Classroom



Social Media in Classroom

“Alright class. The session ends here. For any queries, issues and problems you can contact me on my twitter page”.

It was Monday morning, the busiest week of the semester. Mid-terms schedule just came, starting from mid of the month. The class was panicking. Too much to learn and too much to ask. There was so much to study. Our class teacher of the first session assured us that our course will be completed and we will be able to score well. We felt relaxed but then again how we will manage our projects and all the assignments along with the learning of coursework all in fourteen days.

“Stuck!!” one of the classmates Marie, uploaded this status on Facebook just after the class which made the whole class laugh. The tension was relived a bit. The class exchanged looks and then we started formulating plans. The teams distributed among themselves. We divided ourselves in groups so that things can be managed.

“There is so much to do, so many assignments and homework to be completed and submitted. I'm losing track”, said Elvis. John replied, “You don't remember, Sir Mathew just said that for any queries and issues we can contact him on his twitter page”. “But then, what about assignments, we have to make them, print and then submit. Why so fuss and this eleventh hour!!” Elvis was taking too much tension.

“IDEA!!” James shouted. “Listen guys, we are already divided into formal groups made by our teachers for the assignments and projects. Why don't we also upload all our group assignments and work on our teacher's twitter page. This will save a lot of time in uploading individual assignments on hotmail. We all use Twitter, we just need to visit the teachers' pages and upload assignment. That's it! What say, guys?? He looked around questioningly.

We all agreed. It was so cool. We daily use twitter and Facebook. We just need to use it now for our educational purpose. After the suggestion by James, we went to take teachers' mutual permission on the idea. They all agreed. Instantly, a page at twitter was made representing our class for our help. We got on to work.

This gave me an idea. We already had to submit a research report on any topic. Why don't this! I asked my group mates about this. We were excited. It was cool. Using cells, facebook and twitter during class for personal use was done by all students. But, using the social media for educational purpose, the idea was new. I set out to work. I need not to go to other universities and roam around the city to gather information. I asked students of my own university.

The teachers' comments on the use of social media in classrooms were encouraging and positive. Faculty has reported that they have built twitter to facilitate the students which have helped the students to learn better. “Usually the use of social media adds a negative ...