Android and iPad apps for language teachers

Instagram is a social media platform that is continuing to gain momentum. According to Wordstream, there are 800 million people on Instagram, and a third of the users are teenagers. If you have not begun harnessing the power of Instagram for your classroom, you need to consider it. Teachers across the world are finding ways to use Instagram to engage with their students and their parents.

If you follow your school’s internet and social media policies, Instagram can be a fun and safe social media tool for you and your students. The first thing you want to do, as a teacher, is to create a separate, private classroom account. This account should only be used for class-related things and only followed by students and their parents. Once you get your Instagram classroom account, you can get busy searching related #hashtags and posting images right away.

A new study lends credence to what you’ve probably always suspected: social media is having a pretty negative effect on teenagers — Instagram and Snapchat being the worst culprits. The study, published today and called “Status of Mind,” was conducted by researchers for the Royal Society for Public Health in the UK. The researchers surveyed 1,479 British youths ages 14-24, asking them how they felt the different social media networks effected their mental health. They took in several factors such as body image, sleep deprivation, bullying, and self-identity.

The results suggest the two worst social media networks for kids are Instagram and Snapchat, as they had terrible scores for body image, bullying, and anxiety. Twitter and Facebook weren’t much better, though. YouTube was the only one that apparently inspired more positive feelings than negative ones.

Learn more / En savoir plus / Mehr erfahren:

http://www.scoop.it/t/social-media-and-its-influence

Instagram isn't just for posting photos of food. Instagram can actually be a powerful learning and communication tool for educators, so I've written this guide for teachers. I'd like to show the kinds of things teachers can see on Instagram. I'd also like to tell you about the ins and outs of Instagram, starting with the basics and ending with crafting awesome posts.

It’s not just the tweens and teens that are addicted to Instagram, it’s the teachers too! So instead of scrolling through your celebrity crush’s feed, we’ve rounded up some legitimate, educational ways you can use Instagram in the classroom.

Of course, it’s important to protect students’ privacy, especially when using a public channel like Instagram. If you’re interested in trying any of the ideas below, we recommend creating a classroom account that you set to “private” and carefully vetting any potential followers. You might also try adapting our suggestions to an educational social media platform such as Edmodo. Finally, be sure to check your school’s technology policies before you begin.

OK, disclaimer over! Here are 10 awesome ways you can use Instagram in the classroom