Is It Convenient To Use Social Media As An Educational Tool?
Many mothers, seeing their children on Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat, are alarmed. Are these tools useful for minors or are children wasting their time? This is a thorny question that leads us to try to answer the question that gives the title to this article: is it convenient to use social networks as an educational tool? We will see below.
Without a doubt, the arrival of social networks opened a new panorama in the world. During the last ten or fifteen years, the way of using the internet has changed a lot thanks to these platforms.
If we associate social networks with the world of training, without a doubt, a new educational model opens up. But is it the case to include them in the classroom? It’s complicated, because although they are powerful tools, they can also cause serious problems for children if they are used in an abusive or unmoral way, that is, they can end up being harmful to students.
Therefore, we can conclude by now that social media will become a fantastic complement to training, but they can never be a substitute.
Benefits of using social media as an educational tool
We cannot ignore that the use of social networks as an educational tool represents interesting benefits for the child’s development. Therefore, it is convenient to make a list of these positive points:
- Peer Interaction : Allows students to collaborate more and better with each other. It also increases contact with teachers.
- Search for information : they are an inexhaustible source of information, as much as search engines like Google. So they become a useful tool.
- Resource sharing : between teachers, between students, between teachers and students, between training agents and parents. Sharing content and resources is very simple.
- Debate generation : social networks are interesting tools to generate debates in the classroom that can continue in forums and on the Internet.
- Thematic deepening activities : they also allow the development of activities in the classroom so that students can delve deeper into the topics to be discussed and have access to countless information.
- Immediate communication : in the same way, they also favor the immediate exchange of materials and, therefore, active and quick communication between professionals, parents and students.
- Streamlining the learning process : networks, when well understood and used, streamline the processes of learning and knowledge transfer.
- Promotion of research : likewise, they are perfect tools to stimulate research and encourage students to delve deeper into the topics covered in class.
Disadvantages of using social networks in the educational environment
As well as presenting very positive aspects, the use of social networks as an educational tool also incorporates other elements that are quite negative or, at least, worrying.
- Unprotected children : young people are unprotected on social networks. Currently, undesirable situations occur because of these platforms and the misunderstanding of them by some children, such as grooming and cyberbullying .
- Dependence : can generate the need for immediate responses in students, something that should be avoided, as it is important to encourage children’s patience.
- Distraction : uncontrolled use can cause an excess of unnecessary distractions, which would have a negative effect on the academic performance of the little ones.
- Direct human relationships : when you spend a lot of time on social media, social media can also reduce direct human relationships.
- Addiction : in excessive cases, social networks cause serious addiction disorders that require professional intervention.
- Legal consensus : currently, there is no legal and legal consensus that allows for a clear delimitation of action on the issue of social networks adapted to education.
- Personal information : in addition, social networks are still public platforms that require the user’s personal information, information that, in the case of minors, is especially sensitive.
In short, it is difficult to say that it is convenient to use social media as an educational tool. While its benefits are multiple, so are the risks. However, children are curious about these platforms and don’t take long to access them. Therefore, having the help of a professional to act as a guide and tutor can always be positive to avoid greater harm.
