Social Media and Its Role in Education
Growing up as a Gen Z has allowed me to witness the evolution of social media throughout its, in my opinion, largest developmental years. I remember when Facebook started it took over the social media world and built the foundations for the major platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. In the early days of social media, it was mainly seen as something just for entertainment and connection, but social media has now evolved into a space where you can practically learn anything you want. It allows you to expand your knowledge in a way you can tailor to your learning style, which I believe is one of the major benefits of online learning. You can also connect with people you would normally not be able to. For example, if you were trying to learn a new language you can easily find people to chat with in that language to practice with. Without social media, this would not be as easy or accessible to do. Learning through social media does have its fair share of challenges, as you cannot blindly trust everything you see.
Personalized Learning and Digital Literacies
Personalized Learning is extremely beneficial to education. It allows people the freedom to learn how they want to and at a pace that they feel is comfortable. Personally, this has allowed me to stay engaged with the material and helped me retain the information more than I would learning in a “normal” setting. Personalized learning also fosters you to develop digital literacies which is an extremely important skill in today’s world, as almost everything we do involves something digital. For example, we saw a major digital shift in learning and education after the Covid pandemic. Since everyone was isolating at home, education had to shift to online and in that time, this was a very new concept for many. I was in grade 12 during the lockdown and it was very noticeable which Teachers were not digitally literate and how much their digital literacy impacted my learning.
Digital Identity and Online Presence
Your digital identity and footprint are extremely important in identifying the kind of person you are. The stuff you post, interact with, and view all shape your digital identity and how people, who have only seen you online, view you as a person. You need to be mindful about what you post, like, share and who can see that information. Schools and employers will look at your online presence to get a sense of the type of person you are, if they don’t like what they see this could bar you from major opportunities. This ties into the next point which is using online platforms ethically. Having a respectful presence online and being mindful of what you share can show people that you exhibit positive personal traits in your day-to-day life.