When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Learning and Teaching using Social Media.

The term “Social Media” implies the use of media for “participation, collective activity, transparency, persistence and emergence”. Teaching today’s students has become a challenge as it requires communicating with them and keeping their attention. Within this realm of extensive technology the Internet is one of the communication tools to support and guide students by extending the learning environment outside the classroom.  Only by promoting the tools which are used and are popular  among students in today’s day and age can teachers effectively communicate with them. YouTube has become an effective teaching and learning tool than the traditional methods for students. For example  the “ Mentos and Coke”  experiment which is a test of dropping some mentos candies into the bottle of Diet Coke which causes the Diet Coke to create foam at a rapid rate and erupts into the air causing the scientific process of nucleation. This shows how a silly and zany clip can create so much of excitement and awareness that usual traditional methods do not.  In supplement to video clips, some instructors are videotaping and posting the videos online. This is also known as vidcasting where lectures are posted on YouTube for online and in class learners. For example two professors at the University of Minnesota created a 3-D animation vidcast explaining a mathematical concept that attracted more than 1 million views and a Kansas State University professor of cultural anthropology posted a vidcast about Web2.0 that drew more than 400.000 views. 

Video1: Mentos and Coke Experiment 

Even Facebook now has applications like Washington Post Social Reader, The Guardian , Yahoo News, etc. which speaks volume about interesting articles that includes world news, education, general knowledge, lifestyle, and entertainment. It’s a great way for children to stay in touch with the society and be aware of what is happening around them. Users can view the full article without being redirected to the source’s site or having to be a paying subscriber. Once the user has read an article, the activity and article is shared with friends by including it on the Facebook ticker. 

Facebook and YouTube fulfill all the five key points of an effective social media as mentioned above. They allow participation and collective activity among various users all over the world through the exchange of comments, ideas and information. Both these applications of the social media  are  public forums thus highlighting on the transparency of the information provided. It is transparent to the public and open to independent and individual interpretations.  The social media is emerging at a fast rate. With the increased attention and investments applied in Social media, it has grown to be an established marketing medium.