The use of social media in online classes has been a norm especially that we are now dealing with the pandemic. The education system has evolved from traditional paper and pen to gadget and the internet. With the fast-paced changes in the system, it is right to regulate the use of social media for academic purposes.

Below are sample rules, according to Masoud-ul-Hassan, we can set when we utilized social media as a platform in education in his study published in Journal Education of Practice in 2004:

• Teachers and students should use formal photos of their accounts. This practice helps them geared up for the professional world. Early training of this activity enables them to separate their professional to personal life which is efficient when they start to create their careers.

• As much as possible, students should be grouped in smaller classes. Teachers and students can benefit from this set up as it gives opportunities to teachers and students to be more interactive. Fortunately, on some platforms, breakout sessions are already available.

• Teachers and students should always be mindful that social media is also being utilized for academic purposes. Users should be reminded that whatever your post on social media may tarnish someone’s credibility. Users should always be reminded of the internet’s golden rule: Think Before You Click. Comments and posts on social media should be kept professional and should not be unbecoming. Intellectual and polite discussion is always welcome in social media.

• But if you are asking for the best benefit of social media in the online education set-up, this is how feedback is provided in this medium. Through social media, feedback is expected to be quick and real-time as social media is designed with this kind of mechanism.

While social media is designed to connect us to people in the virtual world, we should be reminded that this can also be a powerful learning tool. With this, we should always be reminded that in any given power, it is also our responsibility to wield it efficiently.

As for the guidelines above, these may be or may not be effective on each setup but always think of how social media can be our benefit to progressive learning.

By: Lorena J. Manalaysay | Teacher III | BNHS