I am a huge fan of Instagram for personal social media use. I follow accounts that inspire me in my teaching and lifestyle, and it's a fantastic way to keep up with news from my friends, family, and community! My past use of and familiarity with ClassDojo's communication components and "story" features makes me think that a class Instagram would be a very fun tool to use in my classroom! I can definitely see myself posting photos and classwork frequently, and using it as a communication tool to post updates and reminders of upcoming events/due dates/etc.
😀 Some benefits of using Instagram in the classroom could be:
- Student ownership - Giving students the opportunity to decide which activities, classwork, and learning experiences they want to be shared with their parents cues them to really put in their best effort in all moments of the day, and determine which moments are most meaningful to them.
- Parent involvement - Keeping parents in the loop is such an incredible tool for success in the classroom, and an Instagram account would really help to make the home-school connection user-friendly and enjoyable for students, parents, and teachers!
- Digital citizenship - Providing students with the opportunity to interact with each other and their families on social media would provide excellent opportunities to teach digital citizenship firsthand with real-life examples and hands-on learning.
😥 Some concerns of using Instagram in the classroom could be:
- Privacy - I would have to set up very specific parameters for the privacy of the account and which users are accepted as followers. Many permission documents would need to be crafted!
- Lack of parent involvement - On the opposite end of the parent involvement spectrum, I could see students (and teachers!) becoming frustrated if they are putting in a lot of effort to keep the Instagram account fresh and frequently updated, if their parents aren't keeping up with the account and staying involved, too.
- Student distraction - I have noticed more increasingly in recent years, that students ask me to take photos of almost everything they do! Whether they complete a puzzle, or master the monkey bars, or are wearing pink socks like their best friend - they want me to take a photo - and they want to see it, ASAP! My fear with using Instagram and giving students some control of the content, is that it might be distracting from the activity or learning experience at hand. Clear boundaries and routines regarding the Instagram connection would definitely have to be set!
A fun activity I can see making use of in my classroom would be assigning students to take charge of an "Instagram story takeover" in place of something more traditional like "student of the week." They can be assigned days throughout the year where they get to be in charge of the class iPad to upload "stories" to Instagram - featuring student activities, lessons, and fun events happening throughout the day!
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