What if a student in your class started a campaign on Facebook sharing their opinions about issues that reached thousands of people across the world? What if they created a YouTube video being viewed by people everywhere at any given moment? College students are sharing their knowledge through Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, blogs, etc. and making a difference by reaching people in other cities, states, and continents.
As I write constantly on this blog, technology is changing the way the world interacts. Years ago it would not have been possible for a student starting a campaign on AIDS awareness to reach thousands, even millions of people across the world, but technologies like Facebook make that possible today. Share a page with 10 people, each of those people share with 10 more, and it goes on and on. Within days, a page dedicated to AIDS awareness is reaching an extreme number of users. As an educator, inspire your students and encourage their involvement in using these social media tools by incorporating them into your class. What may start as an assignment may evolve into something much more impactful.
Visit UIS’ Sights and Sounds page for links to UIS’ official Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social media applications. Click here to view a list of all the great Facebook Pages or Twitters for UIS departments and groups. These are a great way to stay updated on events at UIS and also see how others use these social media applications in education!
