This includes education system with useful technology and tools. And ‘edtech’ word is in trends now as people are getting familiar with its advantages.

USING YOUTUBE
YouTube is the second most frequently used search engine, right after Google. It has got more than a billion unique monthly visitors and this number accounts for its importance in social communication today. Teenagers are comfortable with using YouTube to explore the world today and this should be a starting point for teachers who want to additionally engage their students of this age.

The task for a contemporary teacher is to encourage students to explore the educational potential of YouTube videos. Teachers could advise students to explore this network and find an educational video that they liked the most. It is now quite easy to make a video and upload it to social network. Besides this, most average teenagers already have a YouTube account and probably a number of subscribers. You can also encourage them to make their own videos and upload them on their channels. Chances are they’d prefer this than solving a printed test or writing an essay.

USING FACEBOOK GROUPS
Facebook is the largest social media network currently available. Both small businesses and large enterprises have realized the benefits of using Facebook for business promotion. What makes it convenient for businesses may make it convenient for teachers as well.

Teachers can engage students on Facebook by creating a class group or a page where they’d regularly share both casual, interesting materials and class related news. Facebook cannot actually replace their tests but it can make the course more interesting and thus contribute to their general interest in course contents. Consider sharing funny photos related to class, puns and viral videos to make this page more interesting. Let the students see the lighter side of the course and discover how to apply the knowledge in real life.

USING TWITTER
Twitter may seem as a social network with significantly less options for using in class. However, there are numerous ways to use Twitter in classroom. Teachhub.com has even published a nice list of 50 ways to use Twitter in classroom. The most important, however, is to discover how many of your students actually use Twitter actively. If the number is large, you should consider creating a class hashtag or a group. This would motivate students to engage in class discussions and perhaps even do some projects together.

Twitter can also be used for promoting a class blog and announcing news. The point is just to keep it casual so nobody would feel as if they were supervised through their private channels.

These are just some of the ways in which social media can help engaging students in the classroom. Teachers and parents have been struggling for a long time to prevent teenagers to use the Internet extensively, but using social media doesn’t necessarily have to be unproductive. Strategic integration of social media into classroom activities can bring a double gain – students are more enthusiastic for learning and the teachers find their jobs much easier.

Educational technology in this form or another has made a true revolution in classrooms worldwide.