With distant studying and rising applied sciences like synthetic intelligence (AI), social media is an integral a part of schooling greater than ever. There are lots of alternative ways to make use of social media for schooling inside and out of doors the classroom.
As a result of we consider within the energy of social media to make practically something simpler, we are going to share 15 methods to make use of social media for schooling, based mostly on insights shared with us from prime establishments.
Advantages of social media in schooling
Listed here are our prime three advantages of utilizing social media in schooling:
Profit 1: Extends studying alternatives
Social media unleashes extra studying alternatives. On-line courses and distant jobs are the brand new norm, so educating college students to work from a distance turns into a necessity for digital literacy and making ready them for his or her careers. Social media platforms assist educators in varied methods from sharing bulletins to holding reside lectures.
Profit 2: Create connections with college students and alumni
Social gives a means for establishments to shortly and straight talk with college students, school, workers and alumni, fostering connections throughout varied audiences. Social content material can entice potential college students, maintain mother and father knowledgeable, develop alumni networks, promote on-campus occasions and extra.
Specializing in nurturing group and publishing partaking content material may also assist improve enrollment. Based on our Larger Training Social Media Benchmarks for 2023 report, 41% of college officers can straight attribute elevated enrollment to social technique.
For instance, Keele College stated their campus images on Instagram assist college students solidify their faculty choice. One pupil got here to the college as a result of she noticed their posts on Fb and it helped verify her choice, later turning into a digital ambassador for the varsity.
Profit 3: Construct model identification
Social helps and amplifies college branding. College advertising groups use social media to keep up a constructive model popularity for his or her establishments. With the proper technique, faculties and universities can entice extra college students, improve endowments, promote occasions or initiatives and enhance alumni relations.
Social media within the classroom
From preschool to varsity, there are such a lot of strategies for utilizing social media within the classroom to speak and educate. Listed here are seven methods to make use of social media within the classroom throughout platforms:
1. Use posts to broadcast updates and alerts
Instructors and faculties can meet college students the place they’re by incorporating social media platforms they’re probably already conversant in like Fb or X (previously referred to as Twitter).
Have college students comply with a category Fb Web page or be a part of a Fb Group to view posts about course updates, homework assignments and checks. Universities can have publicly accessible pages devoted to particular faculties or departments that college students can see even when they aren’t lively on Fb.
When utilizing social media for schooling, it’s necessary to keep up an expert boundary. E-mail college students a direct hyperlink to the Fb Group for entry and keep away from sending good friend requests. Teams are the proper “house base,” particularly for on-line programs as a result of it makes it straightforward to attach with college students. Equally, instructors and departments can use Posts on X to maintain college students knowledgeable.
2. Use reside streaming for lectures and discussions
Instructors can use Fb Teams, Instagram Dwell, YouTube Dwell or LinkedIn Dwell to stream lectures and facilitate extra accessible studying. If a pupil can’t come to the lecture corridor, they’ll be a part of on-line or evaluate later. Including reside captions helps college students who could also be deaf or laborious of listening to, non-native audio system, or be taught visually. And platforms like Instagram and YouTube permit reside streams to be recorded, offering college students with evaluate materials for midterms and finals season.
Recorded reside streams additionally widen the establishment’s attain and authority by making lectures out there to students and professors from different faculties, states or international locations.
3. Use X for sophistication updates and extra
X is a good possibility for offering fast updates and reminders to college students. Academics can create a single deal with per class and reuse it yearly, or they’ll create a brand new deal with every college 12 months. Use X threads to share sources like observe quizzes, fascinating views or thought-provoking quotes to foster vital considering. Hashtags can mark particular discussions or chats with visitor audio system.
4. Create a category weblog for discussions and cross-channel studying
Blogs are one other nice outlet for incorporating social media within the classroom. College students can hyperlink to the category weblog on different social channels. For instance, a pupil would possibly share a photograph from their visible essay on LinkedIn to draw the eye of recruiters for job or internships. Utilizing blogs as a semester-long project can enhance college students’ short-form writing and important considering.
Don’t really feel restricted to only an English or writing class; this use of social media in schooling will be transferred throughout all topics. There are additionally a number of platforms professors can use to create class blogs, equivalent to Tumblr, Medium or WordPress. The course syllabus, updates and sources will be shared on the weblog as properly.
5. Use Instagram for digital storytelling
Have college students observe storytelling on Instagram by creating class-specific accounts the place they’ll current images or graphics (and delete them as soon as the course is over, in the event that they so select). This will work particularly properly in visual-heavy courses: Have photojournalism college students put up essays or problem the social media advertising class to create a faux-brand marketing campaign.
6. Create a class-specific Pinterest board
Educators can use Pinterest to arrange and set up sources, lesson plans and worksheets for his or her courses in a single place. They will additionally arrange Pinterest boards for every of their courses and save pins which are related to classes.
Create boards based on class or topic, and create sub-topic boards for weekly items, initiatives or worksheets. Pinterest can be helpful for college students to curate a digital bibliography for analysis initiatives, papers or group assignments. College students can pin web sites, books or movies to a board on a single matter and refer again to it when it’s time to write down an essay or thesis.
7. Prep for post-graduation and create alumni relationships
LinkedIn can assist present college students develop networking expertise, craft their private model and join with alumni. Flexing these profession muscle mass might assist them earn internships, achieve mentors and safe job provides earlier than they stroll throughout the stage on commencement day.
Establishments can use LinkedIn for college faculties as properly. For instance, a enterprise college could have a number of personal LinkedIn Teams for regional alumni chapters to attach them with college students and school for internships, fundraising, volunteer alternatives and occasions.
Encouraging college students to put up related articles, initiatives and analysis, internship experiences and different tutorial accomplishments helps the college develop social proof on the platform. That is additionally a superb instance of the significance of incorporating advocacy into your social technique.
Social media for schooling advertising
Simply as there have been some ways to make use of social media within the classroom, there are additionally many makes use of for social media in schooling advertising. Social media advertising can assist should you’re seeking to attain a bigger viewers in your faculty or college. Let’s dive into how social media can empower schooling advertising.
8. Leverage TikTok creators and influencers for user-generated content material
Though many public universities have banned TikTok from campus Wi-fi, some educators and establishments embrace the app to coach and join with college students. Scholar and instructor influencers can present user-generated content material that satisfies a potential pupil’s want to see genuine content material from their friends and future professors.
For instance, Chapman College professor @itsmattprince went viral after difficult his class to earn 1 million likes on a TikTok video in change for canceling their last:
Enjoyable, but real-world functions like this illustrate the facility of social affect—plus who doesn’t love a canceled last?
9. Embody social media hyperlinks in your college web site
Within the Larger Training Social Media Benchmarks for 2023 report, we discovered that 68% of highschool college students use social channels to analysis faculties. Many mother and father and potential college students will test a faculty’s web site first in the event that they’re , and providing much more methods to comply with the varsity creates a distinct perception into campus life.
Make it straightforward for fogeys and college students to seek out your college’s social media profiles by including hyperlinks to the web site’s fundamental navigation or making a social media listing that homes them multi functional place.
10. Give a glimpse into pupil life by means of photograph and video
If you wish to entice new college students and fogeys to your college, share images of campus occasions to showcase what they may anticipate. Use short-form video like Reels, TikTok or YouTube Shorts to assist potential college students envision themselves attending faculty there.
Highlighting occasions, sports activities, extracurriculars and the great thing about campus could make your college stand out from the remainder. Whereas college and college web sites are inclined to comply with the identical mould, social media permits you to be extra distinctive and informal like this Barbenheimer-inspired put up from the College of Georgia:
11. Create alumni group teams
Many alumni wish to stay concerned with their alma mater after commencement. Making a devoted group by way of Fb Teams or LinkedIn Teams can improve engagement.
For instance, the College of Newcastle has over 148,000 alumni. Their group options present college students, workers and alumni to amplify the profession alternatives that manifest from being a part of their group.
Alumni teams, teams for various graduating courses or departments, and teams for various extracurriculars and organizations permit former and present college students to interact and meet others with frequent pursuits. Check out our alumni engagement finest practices information to be taught extra methods to maintain the varsity spirit flowing.
12. Incorporate a social media disaster technique
How would you talk to all the campus throughout an emergency? Whether or not it’s a fireplace, twister or different instant campus emergency, a social media disaster plan can assist establishments proactively put together. Hold mother and father and college students up to date on the scenario by sharing details about the disaster and if authorities are concerned. Many campuses have automated messaging alerts arrange, however utilizing social additionally allows individuals to be up to date in actual time.
Establishments can use social listening, which includes analyzing conversations and tendencies associated to your model, to help with public relations disaster administration plans. Indiana College leveraged social listening when an X account with a big following revealed insensitive Posts from a tenured IU professor and shared them with their community. The social group arrange a Sprout Listening Matter to know the quantity and attain of conversations taking place across the subject. They leveraged listening and Sprout instruments like Inbox Guidelines to reply to the disaster shortly, inform management positioning and curate a response plan.
13. Use chatbots to assist college students outdoors of workplace hours
In our increased schooling social media playbook, we speak concerning the significance of social customer support. Utilizing automated replies or chatbots can assist the coed physique get their questions answered instantly, or no less than information them to an answer quicker.
Keele College used chatbots by way of Sprout’s Bot Builder to reply instantly to frequent questions on programs and bursary data. Within the 5 months after utilizing chatbots, practically 500 conversations addressed quite a lot of matters from housing functions to worldwide pupil providers.
14. Iterate social technique to create student-centric content material
Utilizing social media for schooling permits educators and entrepreneurs to fulfill college students the place they’re by connecting on channels they use on a regular basis. Social creates a possibility for establishments to be extra much more student-centric. However to maintain college students engaged, establishments might want to produce content material that caters to the desires and desires of their viewers(s).
If you wish to handle your establishment’s social channels efficiently, you’ll must iterate and enhance your technique by reviewing the highest and lowest performing content material.
Dartmouth Faculty makes use of Sprout’s Despatched Messages report to find out content material efficiency and iterate their general social technique as wanted. After reviewing which posts carried out properly, they schedule new posts with comparable content material to tell their content material calendar.
15. Handle your communities all underneath one roof
Social media empowers universities to deliver their varied audiences collectively. Many establishments have an intensive group of potential and present college students, school, workers and alumni, however this causes a standard ache level: decentralization.
Since faculties and universities have a number of social media accounts, it may be tough to handle all of them seamlessly. Nonetheless, utilizing a social media administration software program centralizes a number of networks in a single place, so overseeing varied accounts turns into extra manageable and scalable.
Texas A&M College, one of many largest public universities within the nation, makes use of social media to attach with these varied communities. The college has tons of of departments, 16 faculties and 19 NCAA sports activities, so utilizing a social media administration software is important. Their social group makes use of Sprout’s publishing suite to debate technique, collaborate on content material creation and supply suggestions to interns all on one platform. In simply six months, between August 2020 and January 2021, Texas A&M earned over 131 million impressions and eight.3 million content material engagements throughout X, Fb, LinkedIn and Instagram.
A software like Sprout Social can assist make social media administration a breeze, no matter whether or not you’re a solo marketer or a full advertising division. A number of customers can use the Sprout platform to create content material with constant messaging and schedule posts throughout networks at the most effective time utilizing our ViralPost® characteristic.
And the Submit Efficiency report takes the guesswork out of figuring out what content material resonates as a result of groups can pinpoint prime posts and look at engagement throughout channels.
Sprout allows you to monitor and handle a number of accounts throughout completely different networks, which is right for academic establishments. Every division or instructor at your college may need their very own separate social media accounts for particular data, and a social media administration software can assist you guarantee the proper posts are going out on every of those accounts.
And if there’s information or content material related to a number of departments, Sprout allows customers to share the identical content material throughout a number of profiles with a single click on.
Begin utilizing social media for schooling
Utilizing social media for schooling goes past the classroom as a result of it helps educators form a contemporary holistic studying expertise, construct group and set up tutorial authority.
Take a few of these concepts for a check drive, and join a free Sprout Social trial that will help you handle all of it.
