Online Social Media Applications for Language Teaching & Learning
Development era demands various changes in life. One of which is access information more quickly and easily. Ease of access information because the existence of social media. Social media is very helpful in communication. Recently, we do not have to face to face in communication. We can use our social media that we have to communicate with our family, friends, teachers, and other.
Todays, almost all people have social media. They utilize social media for their interest as in business, employment, and governance. Even social media can be utilized in education. Social Media is used in teaching and learning process. Teachers can innovate the process of teaching learning style to be more interesting. By using social media, the process of learning does not have to face to face learning. Teacher can give instructions, materials, and assignments using social media.
There are many online social media applications that can be used for teacher in process of teaching learning. Many online social media applications can be used for teaching students how to preset, create, and code such as Animato and iMovie. Animato is an application which student can share their own beautiful videos. This application allows students to select a theme, music, images or videos, add captions of text, and within minutes a slick video is created. By using Animato, it makes students more creative in making video. Social Media is also used for everyday classroom need such as Evernote and Explain Everything. Evernote is an application for sharing all projects such as assignments, material, etc. many teachers love this notaking application. Explaining Everything is an application that can tell everything. It is an interactive whiteboard. By using it, teacher can explain the material without whiteboard in the classroom. They just use it as the media. Social media also can used for collaborating on school projects. In doing group class, teacher can use some applications such as Google Apps for Education and Schoology. Google Apps for Education known as GAFE is an application for video-based conversations. Students can use it to have climate change conversations with friends and family members. Schoology is similar with Facebook. The difference is it has security features for school use. By using it, students can post their assignment, videos, completed work and links. Another function of social media in teaching learning process is for communicating with students or other people. Some applications such as Edublogs and ClassDojo can be used for communicartion with others. Edublogs is a blogging platform desihned with teachers in mind. It can be used for documentation and communication. ClassDojo is an application which provides multiple ways to engage students and their families. The last function of social media is for giving feedback to students. In the process of teaching learning, it is important for giving feedback .The madia that can be used is Edmodo and Moodle. Edmodo is an application for teacher and student to share ideas, material, and assignments. Both teacher and students can post and share, and discuss everything related to teaching learning. Beside, Edmodo also has a facility for giving feedback. Moodle is an open – source learning management platform that has a questionnaire option. Students can give feedback about the assignment, for example, when they use these applications.
Actually, there are still many other applications that can be used for teaching learning which make teaching learning more interesting. In my opinion, using social media in teaching learning is very good. It gives beneficial both teachers and students. Teachers and students can interact simply. Teacher can easily upload the materials, assignment, and etc. Students also easily join online class. Beside, the parents also can know the development of their children.
