The Philippine educational landscape is continuously changing particularly on the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic the transformation is hastened. It’s dynamic. It’s progressive. Blending the traditional practices of teaching with technology.

Therefore, it is also necessary for educators to be flexible over time, especially with the advent of social media. Social media is defined as the accumulation of different software like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr that connects people with one another. This is common among students who usually spend time browsing these social networks. Young people truly dedicate their days or nights to navigating these virtual places, so it’s only fitting that we, the facilitators of learning, guide students through these virtual spaces. There are cases of cyberbullying involving young people and we need to address this type of problem. Even though cases do not often occur in school, we still have a responsibility to teach young people what is right and what is wrong, as one of our goals is to produce holistically developed individuals.

This can be done by integrating media literacy into our topics and discussions or by creating a specific topic that will focus on cyberspace itself. The problem is not only how students use social media as an educational tool or object of entertainment, but also how social media affects the lives of these students. Social media can affect or disrupt students; social media content can encourage or discourage learning; social media can be a blessing or a curse. And students should not be alone in this discovery. It is the role of parents and teachers to guide young people through these life experiences. Indeed, education does not only take place in the four corners of a classroom, but it also takes place outside of school. And the invitation is that teachers are always there when students need them, even if the place is called “social media”.

By: Catherine L. Jongco| Master Teacher I | Bataan National High School | Balanga, Bataan