With Covid-19 so intrusive for the past two years, our reliability on the internet has increased by massive scores. We got more and more dependent on the internet. With meetings and school classes via ZoomSkype.comGoogle Classroom, and Microsoft Teams: Assignments are sent and homework collected in an online classroom. We all know the significant dependence of gadgets and connections to social media in the classroom.

Nevertheless, why is it essential and frequently so harmful simultaneously?
Does social media affect the school climate? Let’s dig into it!

PROS of Social Media in Classroom – School Climate

A Good Way To Keep Students Updated

Social media platforms are a great way to keep in touch with the entire world. But for schools, the benefit keeps growing considering numerous people are reached just through a tap on the screen. A simple Facebook account can broadcast your lives, updates, and any other news you want to put out; the students themselves become aware, and it goes around the globe so you can up your means of marketing of the school for zero charges.

Promoting School Activities

Whether it is a bake sale or a charity drive, the best way to gain attraction for the school’s event is through word of mouth. Although word of mouth in this era is not considered the actual phrase, it is through students chatting online. Schools can build up their websites and promote their content and school activities online; gather outside traffic.

CONS of Social Media in the Classroom – School Climate

Less Physical Interaction

A school’s primary role is to instill education through physical interaction, bonding, and socializing. Furthermore, this system of physical school has been declining to a reasonable extent ever since the pandemic. This change seriously affects children’s academic curriculum. There has been a significant increase in the high school dropout rate, which significantly impacts potential future employability.

PROS of Social Media in Classroom – School Culture

Ease of Communication

One thing to admit is the ease of communication through social media and internet usage. Nowadays, there is less emphasis on submitting homework and assignments through paper. With a simple email, a teacher can contact any of their students and get their thoughts and comments conveyed while being professional.

Chromebooks and Multimedia Presentations

It is easier and cheaper to get through literature and history classes with a chrome book facility. Additionally, with Chromebooks or computers in hand, multimedia presentations are more accessible to students while making the lesson enjoyable to gain focus and concentration. All these positives pair up with the fact that students are not under pressure to constantly learn the whole presentation while taking notes; these documents and presentations could quickly be sent through social media to students groups or even by posting them online.

Staying Updated

With the news of the whole world in the palm of our hands, it’s safe to say that we’d be aware of anything happening, anywhere, with just one google notification. This way, strategies and examples to learn concepts are more recent and advanced, which ultimately caters to the point since professional lives are present.

Security Monitoring Via Social Media

With the new tools like Active Defender Monitor, a campus can evaluate word analysis around posts that involve keywords that also reference their name or are in the vicinity of their campus.  With a designed to deliver content discovery that trouble may be brewing, proper intervention and response can help prevent hurt feelings from becoming tragic problems.

CONS of Social Media in the Classroom – School Culture

Priorities are Generally Sacrificed

In this fast-paced world, there is always competition that we all face at any age and at any given time. However, it is ten times harder for teenagers, especially students, to cope with being the ‘coolest’ in school. Social media sets down so many impossible and unrealistic expectations that it is hard for kids to process especially being so young, not to mention the pressure that comes with maintaining whatever title the internet gives them. In this run of getting the so-called title, the student’s schooling gets affected.

Wrapping Up

The truth is, where social media and advanced technology can be a solution moving towards the evolution of the new era, it can also be harmful and impact us negatively. As much as you hate to admit it, the comparisons, the competition, the thriving to be the ‘best one’ facade is present and manifests and magnifies itself through social media.

Maybe this is a significant contributor to why teens keep scrolling and scrolling on their phones 24/7. Maybe this is why having severe disorders like anxiety and depression is so widespread and routine now. Maybe this is a factor in why some kids at school rebel or find it hard to follow the rules. Somewhere or the other, social media is connected to everything. We cannot live without it, but I think we must better understand and train how to live with it.

Social media has advertised that it can help you be seen and possibly become famous worldwide overnight. It is mind-blowing that you can know what is happening in any corner of the world with just one tap on your phone. Fifty years ago, no one had the slightest clue about the internet or how it works; the whole concept of wireless transmission of data was nearly impossible to humanity. Nevertheless, here we are, we can forget our keys at home, but do you recall forgetting your phone? Rarely!

That is the power and the importance social media holds in our lives.

 References:

Active Defender provides a digital panic button that can instantly call for help.

Lennon & Stanton: Rising HS Dropout Rates & Declining Community College Enrollment Are Twin COVID Crises. How to Fix the Broken Education Pipeline