I find social media a big help in my job. I don’t use it to a fraction of its capabilities but even in the forms in which I do use it, it rocks!
- Instead of emailing each student notes and useful links from class, I pop them up on my blog. This means that the students can check if they want to but don’t have extra emails to deal with if they don’t. I do this instead of emailing because my students in jobs with high information security have very strict filters on their servers which means attachments are often removed and also that emails sent to multiple students end up classified as junk mail in the spam folder.
- I use Facebook to see what my students are up to and what language needs they may have. It helps me to create topical, useful lessons. I also find that students who are bombarded with hundreds of mails tend to use Facebook messaging more to stay in touch. I should mention here that I teach high profile politicians who have well developed social media profiles available to all – so I am not a secret stalker, I promise!
- Each of my blog posts is published on Twitter so that students who use Twitter a lot have my tweets in their feed – they are then free to explore further if they want. I publish the most important ones on Facebook as well.
- I put language charts up on Pinterest. I also use it to answer questions like ‘what do ringroads/scones/Boerboels look like?’ in a graphic way.
- I could make Youtube videos explaining certain concepts but instead I find and use topical, relevant tutorials and news broadcasts to embed in my blog or show in class.
