The Importance Of Internet And Social Media In Education

When you think of education, you probably think about classrooms, desks, and chalkboards. One thing you might not think about is the internet and social media as being avenues for education. In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, commercial internet providers started to emerge and in 1995 the internet was fully commercialized in the United States (Chapman, 2009). Ever since 1995, the internet has been changing our lives in many different ways. Most people find themselves immersed with information from the time they wake up, until the time they go back to sleep because of the internet and social media. We use our smart phones and the internet to wake us up, keep us on schedule, communicate with co-workers and families, follow our friends on

Specifically, students that are shy and reserved now have avenues where they can come out of their shell and participate in discussions and interact with their peers outside of the formal classroom. Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube and other social media applications are part of the student’s daily environment and they automatically create ready-made virtual communities of practice and a virtual public sphere for discussion (Churcher, 2014). These shy and reserved students seem to speak more freely and search for more answers in their own personal space without an audience unlike the years prior to the internet. During those times, these students may not have reached their full potential due to lack of participation because of the fear of speaking in public and the social anxiety that comes with it. Now with the internet and social media platforms, these exact same students feel more open and free in discussing their thoughts and opinions without the anxiety that comes with the face to face settings in the formal

Teachers who have questions on new lessons or new technology such as smart boards can quickly ask a question on platform as Twitter, and get immediate feedback from other teachers on how it worked. Social media is presenting ways for teachers to learn about and view new technology that is coming available to their students in a much quicker manner using social media. Teachers can find a slew of professional development conferences and meetings that are solely focused on assistive technology for students. Teachers are finding that the internet provides a sort of gold mine when it comes to making their lesson plans. What used to be done with a teacher’s edition, a lesson planner book and a few hours to prepare for the week or month ahead in classroom planning can now be done in a matter of minutes. All a teacher has to do anymore is type in a lesson idea that they would like to work on and hundreds of ideas and lessons will appear. Sites such as teachers pay teachers are changing lesson planning ways. A teacher can plan her lessons, print and edit worksheets and know that their lesson is current and up to date. They can also make extra money by submitting lesson plans for other teachers to