Social Media Can Improve Student, Teacher Relationship, How?

In recent times, social media is the most admired and used mode of communication for people of all age group but the chart is topped by teenagers. They spend majority of their time on social media. Hence, if utilized in an efficient way it can prove to be a crucial platform for education.  Colleges and universities are also attracted towards the content marketing and social media, the research states that more than 90% colleges have a Facebook fan page and 80% prospective students use Facebook.

As per the research done by teenagers spend an average of 31 hours a week online out of which only 3 hours are spent searching for information regarding studies. It means majority of their time is spent in surfing for other things which is a cause of worry for parents as well as teachers. Teachers are the ones with whom students spend majority of their time and they can guide them towards the right direction.

Efficient use of Social media to enhance Teacher Student relation:

Students have become techno savvy and in order to stay in pace with them teachers should also traverse along the same path. As students are highly engaged with social media it is very important for teachers to connect with them through social media in order to gel with them and understand their behavior.

There are several ways in which social media can improve the student-teacher relationship

• It helps in student motivation and engagement:
  Social media tools can help the teachers to share the information and resources and create learning communities and groups. As students love to use social media if they are taught by this medium than they feel motivated and encouraged towards their studies and will do it with more zeal and enthusiasm. A survey of 1200 principal, teachers and librarians conducted in 2010 states that it can help teachers and educators in positive way and help school wide communications. They said social media can boost the bond between teacher and students and can magnetize towards education.
• It strengthens the bond between teacher and student:
  Use of social media helps in creating a bong between teacher and student. Through social media they have the access of all the information regarding the student and hence they can communicate well with the students. As cited in the book by Mazer, Murphy, and Simonds, 2007 the disclosure of such information can be helpful as it increases the psychological closeness between two people. Students become more comfortable with teachers and can frankly approach them for all the queries.
• It helps in showing students the right path:
  As the students are spending majority of their time on social media it is very important to monitor their behavior as they might come across many things that are inappropriate for them. So if teachers interact with students via social media they can guide them regarding the threats of social media and how to deal with them. They can also counsel them regarding the sensitive subjects.
• It helps in collaborative learning:
  Teachers can use social media to guide the students regarding the efficient use the tools for education. There are various tools available that help the students for efficient and shared learning. For example they can encourage the use of tools various like:   Edublog, Twiducate and Collaborize classroom which promote collaborative learning.
• It helps students in gaining practical exposure:
  With the help of social media teachers can help the students to be updated and can share the latest information that they come across in form of tweets, messages and blogs. For example: One of the professor while conducting the class of journalism in New York University invited journalists to interact with the students. Later, he advised the students to share their experience in from of tweets with hash tags. As about 200 students had tweeted in a very short span of time it had gained tremendous popularity. Utilizing social media in such a manner can embrace the student teacher relationship.         

Summary

Social media has become the part and parcel of everyday life and is gaining popularity across all the sectors. We should welcome the use of social media in the field of education and allow students and teachers to be connected via social media as it has immense potential and can strengthen the bond between the mentors and their pupils.

Author Bio:-
Sophia Harris is an education consultant by profession at stunited.org. She loves to write about new insight, information about education, learning and management tips. She has written many articles on education trends.