GHP #5

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been continuing my research on how can high school math teachers incorporate social media outlets (Facebook, Snapchat and Twitter) to advance learning of basic math skills. I had previously done most of my research on the use of Twitter and found many possibilities such as using the analytics tool in math problems. I also discovered many helpful statistics based Twitter accounts that students could use to make math class more engaging and relatable to students’ interests.

For this round of research, I decided to place most of my focus on how teachers could use SnapChat in the classroom. I found this article that explains that if so many companies are leaning on SnapChat in order to reach a younger target market, then teachers should do the same thing. This article suggests having a classroom SnapChat installed on classroom iPads and using the SnapChat to follow related accounts. One suggesting I have is following a sports related SnapChat account and using this account to gather statistics. The article also suggested using SnapChat in order to share things throughout the classroom. For example, one group of students could create a SnapChat story of what they are working on and share it with the class on that platform. SnapChat allows students to be creative in the way they share information by allowing them to choose between a photo or a video along with effects that you can place on each of these. While this could be seen as distracting and take away from the lesson plan, I think it provides an opportunity for students to get excited about what they are learning.

The most important thing I have found in all of my research is that technology has unlimited uses if used correctly. With any form of social media in particular, it is essential that students are educated on their function, why they are being used in the classroom and how their usage is intended to advance their learning. With that clear and open conversation, I believe that math teachers can create unique lesson plans and engage with their students in new and exciting ways using social media.