There is no denying that technology permeates today’s classrooms, and connecting with students is both a challenge and an adventure given the innovative ways that teachers can now communicate with their audience. Social media is at the forefront of these innovations, and Instagram is one of the most popular apps in the tween to teen demographic. The social networking app has over 400 million users, 90 percent of who are younger than 35. Roughly 80 million photos and videos are posted on an average day, underlining the popularity and potential of this app as a communication tool.
1. Create a Classroom Page for Posting Announcements
If you are new to Instagram, keep it simple. You are more likely to use the app if it is easy and seamless because the demands of your classroom are stressful enough. At the outset, use the app to post welcome greetings, announcement of upcoming projects, special events and collaborative work directly related to your syllabus and classroom schedule. Encourage the class to follow the account. For younger students, extend the invitation to parents. It may be a good idea to keep the account private so that you can manage access to the account. You can limit followers to a specific group and quickly block anyone who should not have access to photos and conversations of young students.
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2. Publish Students Work Online
Turn your classroom Instagram account to a digital gallery of students’ work. Snap a photo of art work, random doodles parts of homework and quizzes and publish them on the account as a shout out for outstanding work or innovative thought. Never use the account in way that would humiliate anyone instead use it as a way to reward effort and creativity. It may be a good idea to discuss this part of your Instagram project with administration and have parents sign waivers to make sure that everyone involved is on the same page with regard to the use of Instagram for school-related activities.
3. Post Lesson Reviews and Sample Questions
Learning is more effective when efforts are not confined to the designated classroom hours. Be selective about the photos you post, opting for those that are attention catching for young minds. Having the right captions will also help to make the project more interesting. Use captioned photos as a jump-off point to pose questions related to the current lessons or upcoming lessons. Encourage students to post replies, and assure them that giving the same answers means consensus and not copycat behavior to ensure that connecting with students is a positive experience for all concerned.
4. Publish Special Awards Online
Recognize your students’ efforts on a daily or weekly basis by creating awards and handing them out as appropriate. Post the announcements or a copy of the awards certificate on your Instagram account. The awards can be as basic as “Most Interesting Answer to a Quiz Question.” Everyone loves a shout-out for work well done.
5. Manage Photo or Video Contests Online
Students love competitions regardless of the rewards offered for winners and participants. Extend your classroom lessons beyond the classroom by encouraging students to post photos or videos to expound on what was learned from the curriculum. These graphics can delve on how the lesson applies in real life such as signage in retail stores to show how percentages are useful. Judging can be crowd-sourced, which means asking your Instagram followers will be voting on the best entries. A juried contest, using other teachers as jurors, may also be exciting for the participants.
Instagram is one of the social media apps with a strong participation from the younger crowd. It is also an interesting media channel because it encourages creativity and freedom of expression while ensuring that you remain in full control of the account because you can post, re-post, delete posts and block unruly followers to preserve the integrity of the account. The seamless functionality of the app makes it convenient to publish real-time posts that students can access on their devices. In this regard, be aware that a few students may not have their own devices, so arrange for them to access one while in school so that Instagram becomes a truly valuable and efficient tool for connecting with students.
