Influencer or Influencing Learning; The Impact Of Social Media On Learning by Emily

Influencer or Influencing Learning; The Impact Of Social Media On Learning by Emily - March 2022 Scholarship Essay

Social media is often seen as a platform for people to share a post and people like it. It’s like a competition of who gets the most likes. Social media is seen as people sharing their lives through photos and videos. However, many people use social media for learning. Teachers use social media in their classrooms for differentiated instruction, and others use it to learn about interesting topics. Social media has various impacts on learning; both advantages and disadvantages. Technology can be seen as a disadvantage as social media can become addicting and affect mental health. However, it also is a collaborative tool, allows independent learning, and is useful for career advice and exam preparation. I have seen the negative effects and positive effects of social media on my learning.

Social media can provide barriers to learning by affecting mental health. Social media can become addicting. Instead of using it as a useful tool, some use it for sharing their information, dating, and likes. Some also use social media for money instead of using it for the useful qualities that it was intended to have. While social media can be used collaboratively, it doesn’t help social skills. Social skills are important to have in the real world with interviews and any interactions. Social skills provide face to face interaction instead of a “digital loneliness”

While social media provides a lack of social skills, it can help in many other ways. Social media can be a collaborative tool for people to learn from each other in many ways. One of these ways is a google group. As an aspiring educator, Google Groups allows teachers to communicate their strategies to one another.

Social media also provides better, more efficient ways to participate in independent learning. Social media allows me to learn about the latest news updates from worldly events. For example, I can easily search new bills in my state and learn more about them. As a future teacher in the state of Indiana, I was really interested in learning more about House Bill 1134 and how it would impact me as a teacher. I used social media as a research tool to help me learn more about how it would impact me, but it also allowed me to learn more about bills and how they are passed.

Social media allows me to also gain insight into learning about scholarships. I have watched several YouTube videos to learn about the best strategies to winning a scholarship. I have also followed scholarship companies on Instagram, like Bold.org. Bold.org has lots of live videos on Instagram that I can join to gain an understanding of what scholarship judges are looking for. The live feeds have specific days where they look at a profile and give feedback on them. It allows me to learn how to improve my profile as well as what scholarship judges are looking for.

Social media is also useful for gaining career advice. Recently, I have learned that a lot of teachers are quitting because of the administration not being very supportive and learning about what they are going through in helping students succeed in a time of covid 19. I have learned about what to look for in a teaching job like a supportive administration. I have also learned about classroom management strategies and other ways to support students through watching teachers on TikTok and YouTube.

Social media provides useful materials for preparations for exams like the Praxis exam. I was able to use YouTube to look for the best resources on how to prepare for the core Praxis exams. It helped me find the best test strategies and resources. I was able to take practice tests and helpful educators explained the reasons why the answers were correct or incorrect. I learned strategies for test-taking as well as learning more about math, reading, and writing.
Social media has its advantages and disadvantages of its impact on learning.