Due to the global pandemic, the majority of schools and colleges have started to practice distance learning. At a glance, one might presume that online lectures are more comfortable as you do not have to get ready or waste your precious time in traffic jams. However, most of the professors and students admit that online learning is more stressful than traditional on-campus lectures. Besides, students tend not to turn their cameras on and poor professors often find themselves talking with the blank screens. Therefore, harnessing the power of social media for educational purposes has never been as important and useful as now.
Why TikTok?
TikTok is the world’s most popular social network, used mainly by Gen Z and millennials. Therefore, if you aim to reach out to the audiences aged between 13-25, TikTok should be your ultimate choice. On the other hand, as the maximum length of each video can be 60 seconds, TikTok cannot be used to upload full-length lectures like YouTube. However, educators can still benefit from this innovative app. Wondering how? Let’s discuss some of the examples together!
Engagement and relationship building
As distance learning lacks the ‘human component’, using TikTok to engage with your students can be both entertaining and handy. Try to be as creative as possible. Instead of emailing the assignments for the upcoming lectures, film a TikTok video and explain all the requirements. Do not hesitate to showcase your daily life too. Feel free to admit that lockdown has been as hard for you as it has been for your students. Besides, do not forget to create motivational content. Talk about the most prominent personalities in your field, discuss their career paths, achievements and disappointments. Provide useful links, advise relevant literature, movies etc. Be sure that by doing so you will engage more students and build bridges with them rather than by simply delivering a standard three-hour lecture via Zoom.
If you can make a name for yourself, why not?
Besides building meaningful relations with your students, TikTok can be a powerful tool to build a name for yourself in the industry. You might have doubts and think that the primary concept of the app does not suit your professional image. However, just have a look at the accounts of hundreds of other educators, newspapers or even political organizations, which are killing it on TikTok! The key here is to develop a relevant posting and content creation strategy and stick to the plan, no matter what. On the other hand, if you are a newcomer to TikTok, connecting only with your students cannot get you further. tiktokstorm can be one of your best options to grow your audience faster and make your content visible to millions of users. Besides, do not forget to connect your TikTok with your other social media accounts and websites.
The magic of hashtag challenges
Educators are already using hashtags like #TikTokTeachers, #TeacherLife2020 or #Teachersbelike to challenge their fellow educators and create a sense of community in the times of social distancing. Just try one of these or similar hashtags and you will find thousands of teacher-created videos, showcasing their quarantine career lives.
TikTok – a new networking hub for educators
Last, but not least, TikTok can be used as a networking hub for educators. They can connect with their fellow colleagues and create an innovative online space to discuss the most successful teaching techniques, exchange opinions and identify the best practices. The New York Times referred to TikTok as the “booming new genre for educators”. The logic is simple – one cannot teach “generation TikTok” without being presented on the platform herself.