Generation Z, or Gen Z for short, has seen an increase in social media platforms and an addiction to them, and teachers have noticed this trend; some are even trying to incorporate social media platforms into learning as a way to engage students.

I think this is a great way to have students learn more about the topic at hand and do it with something they have prior knowledge of. 

Personally, all of my friends and I are on at least one social media platform. Some of the most popular platforms are Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok. These platforms allow users to share information from one to the other.

This sharing of information can actually be really educational. In my daily TikTok scrolling, I see a handful of videos about the news and current events happening globally. One of my favorite TikTok users shares videos nightly talking about the news of the day:  UnderTheDeskNews.         

It’s really no debate that Gen Z is more interested in social media than anything–especially school. This causes students to have poor grades in school and be disconnected from people. 

As a way to connect with students, on their level, cultural geography teacher Kelly Wetzel is having his students create a Facebook page for historical Russian figures such as Vladimir Putin or Joseph Stalin. The project has three parts that consist of a “Wall”, “Info”, and “Photos” page. 

Wetzel stated that he chose Facebook because it was the big social media at the time and that he was looking for common ground between himself and his students. He also wanted to see what his students are interested in.  

I did something similar with seventh-grade English teacher Sarah Miliauskas, where she had her students make The Outsiders themed Instagram posts. 

While combining social media and school is not a new concept, it should be something more teachers make use of, because students seem to get more attached to social media as they get older. 

Another great example of classes using social media is our Journalism class; we have a plethora of social media platforms such as expanding our followers on TikTok. 

“I think using TikTok is a potential way to share mini-moments of news with kids on a platform they’re already using all of the time. Plus, they’re kind of fun to make,” said journalism teacher Sarah Buttiens.

We also use these public platforms as a way to keep the community involved in school activities. 

There are a lot of other classes in school that could incorporate social media by using them as a means to reinforce a topic or an idea. For example, an English class could use TikTok to make skits about the book they are reading, or a science class could use TikTok for demonstrations. 

I think this is a great idea because it can help students learn and retain information taught in classes, as Gen Z seems more connected to learning this way as opposed to the traditional way of reading books