Instagram It! Educate the world
Community Review for Instagram
My Take
Overall, I really liked using Instagram as a teaching tool. The instagram homework became a "right of passage" in my classroom and many past students would like and give positive comments on current students accounts. At first, students don't want to post because of their "image", but they quickly learn that their digital footprint is more than just selfies; it's about inspiring others and educating others. You can expect some grumbles in the beginning, from older students... "How dare you teacher be on social media!" Once the ball starts rolling the students love it. They end up seeing what their friends are posting, and many get tons of likes on their history based photos - which they find funny. One student took a photo of a Coca cola bottle and got a couple hundred likes.
How I Use It
I have used Instagram in two different ways: 1) Assigned for homework in US History course. Students could take a picture of anything they found interesting but then needed to find a link to US History. They needed to provide at least a short paragraph explaining how their picture connects to US History (something we have learned or will learn) they needed to tag me @mrs_delap_says and also include the class #. for example #mrsdelap4, would indicate my 4th period.
2) As class tickets out the door students would create a meme of the famous person we had discussed that day and include whatever the standard needed them to know - sometimes it was a quote, sometimes top 4 things they felt that person contributed.
The homework method if given to often can be difficult to handle if your are asking students to post on their own accounts, most are set on private (as well as they should be) and as a teacher I did not feel comfortable following the students. I figured out that students could create a separate account just for my class. This would be the best option. The second method worked great! students could show me their insta on the way out the door!