Social media in Education - pros and cons

Last week my team and I had to design and implement a module about social media in education. We really enjoyed working and learning together. There was something news about this module, we were working on Microsoft Teams as a learning community.

Before starting with the design and the description of the implementation I'd like to talk more about social media, its pros and cons in education.

The Internet has so greatly changed our lives we can't look the other way.  Yet social networks have come to linger, on everybody's faces. Therefore, it is important that schools are known and used so that students can take advantage from them for their personal and educational development.​

We´ll detail some benefits of social media in education today:

• Improve communication inside and outside the classroom.

Social networks are the perfect tools to flow communication between students and teachers. Young people, being so familiar with them, will feel more comfortable and less forced to have a closer relationship with their teachers and also, everything will flow more naturally. However, they are not only useful for the teacher-student relationship in the same center, but are basic to communicate with experts in specific subjects or students from other centers. They enable students to develop skills and abilities such as socialization, teamwork, or the importance of sharing.
Currently, one of the biggest educational problems is the lack of relationship that exists between students and teachers, so that social networks in the classroom will increase the feeling of an educational community due to the proximity produced by channels such as Facebook.

• Search for information, resources, and inspiration.

Social media is an unlimited source of information! Each class or task to be carried out can be unique. Homework will not be boring because students will be able to research on social media and find the necessary resources to complete daily tasks in a more efficient way. Therefore, they are learning more without almost realizing it.
Despite being a great source of information, social media can be  very distracting as well. Our students need to have the necessary tools not to be very distracted, so they´ll not be so productive.

• Groups to carry out work and solve doubts

The good thing about social networks as developed as Facebook is that they allow you to create private or closed groups for each class or each subject, which makes it easier for students to solve their doubts through the networks. 
Social networks are the perfect tools to help students with homework and they can also communicate more quickly and personally with teachers, and thus solve their questions without spending so much time. Even to solve the questions teachers or students can use other resources like videos or infographics embedded in the class discussion chat. 
It allows to centralize in a single virtual place all the teaching activities, teachers and students of an educational center.

• Establish personal relationships between students

Social networks are based on personal relationships and are the current way of connecting people. Something that acquires special relevance among students of all ages. For this reason, networks are very important for teachers to know a little more about the concerns of their students and to know how to act in the event of any problem or need. Of course, social networks, to be an effective tool in classrooms, have to have a certain degree of control and responsibility on the part of both students and teachers.
Without a doubt, social networks are a great opportunity for learning student, education and professional development, as well as a place for exchanging experiences.