How Social Media Helps Students Study

Believe it or not, you can actually use social media in studying. In fact, based on Social Learning Theory, we learn best when we interact with people.

This is because we are social creatures and we tend to perform the best when there are people around us. And that includes studying.

Once you get serious about your education, you then realize that you must take the hand of as many resources as you can.  Studies reveal that more and more students, like yourself, believe that the technology they use to study should have the same format as social media.

Social media can help you in many ways if you use it wisely.  For instance, let's say you need help with picking a topic for your next essay.  Now, if you google essay topics, you will get tons of resources.  But if you go to social media, you will find suggestions by real people based on real experiences.

Let´s take a look at the specific ways that social media can help students study.

Connections and Community

When it comes to intensive and in-depth projects and group work, social media allows you to centralize all your knowledge to make communication more efficient.  For instance, you can create a hashtag such as #Economy101 to have people connect under the same topic. You now can build a community where everyone contributes with their piece of knowledge.

Think of all the interactions and connections that can take place on a Facebook page or group.  Forums are a great place to make questions and get answers.  You can even invite the professor to join this group or the chats.

Sharing

Social media is all about sharing.  Most of our FB friends share everything from their location and activities to the one-hundred pictures of their weekend that nobody is going to see.  Now, you also get the opportunity of sharing resources to enrich a content.

Using the designated hashtag, you can share links to resources.  You can also share experiences, joys, and even frustrations.  This input will be available to everyone, at any time.

Some things that can be put into practice when sharing:

• Stream a class through live video on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Google Hangouts, or YouTube. This will be saved and used later by those who were not able to attend a class.
• Google Hangouts is a great resource for online study sessions.

Organization

Given the extent and reach of social media, a large number of resources can become overwhelming.  You need to curate this information.  Create topic boards on Pinterest or a blog service such as Tumblr.

For resources that have not been posted online yet, you can use cloud-storing services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, SkyDrive, or Box, to organize it.   If you are working on a team project, work on a Google Doc.  This will keep a neat organization and help take notes for all to see and share.

Meaningful Conversations

There are hundreds of chats taking place on Twitter.  These are conversations that take place at a certain time where all participants use a particular hashtag.  This creates a timeline of people having a meaningful conversation about a particular topic.

You can plan your own Twitter chat to get the convo going.  This conversation can take place in a Facebook group as well.  The advantage of Twitter chats is that they are more open and universal.  Experts on a particular subject might participate too.  For instance, you could have an author discuss literary aspects of the novel you have to make a book report about.  That would be pretty neat!

Authors and experts are already on social media.  If Albert Einstein were alive, he'd probably be on Twitter.  Just imagine what his Instagram would look like!  You can ask direct questions to these influencers (not Einstein, he´s dead).  This will get you the best insight on a particular topic.

Supplemental Materials

You can use social media to find additional content that will reinforce what you have learned in class.  These materials are out there waiting for you.  The great part about it is that you also get honest opinions and ideas on how to make these contents work best.

Find YouTube videos for assistance with challenging topics.  Khan Academy is a widely used source that organizes YouTube videos into courses.

Follow already existing hashtags in a particular area.  You will find rich amounts of help there.  You can also look for keywords, experts, topics, etc., across all your social media channels.

See Also: 5 Tips to Use Social Media for eLearning Content 

Conclusion

When it comes to social media, not everything in the garden is rosy.  There are some downsides on the use of social media.  But since you are one responsible kid, you will take full advantage of the resources all the media offer you.  Use social media well and have meaningful and useful connections that will help you get through your education.