The Use of Instagram in Education

What is Instagram?
Instagram is a social network made for sharing photos and videos from a smartphone and commenting on them. There is no limit on the length of the comment. Do any of you use Instagram in the classroom?

We are always thinking of creative ideas how to encourage students to write. We can encourage students to write by using Instagram. Many of our students who are over 13 years old already use Instagram. Why not ask them to take a picture of their Purim costume, post on Instagram with the hashtag ‪#‎EnglishPurim16‬ (or any other hashtag that you decide) and write why they chose their costume, how they made it, how much it cost, etc.

Students will use their Instagram account to post Purim pictures anyhow...

How to Use It
1. I suggest you create a new Instagram account that is used exclusively for education purposes. The username that you choose should be professional and simple. A handle like @MsDanaCohenYud1 communicates the educational nature of the page. Ask your students to follow your account.

2. I also recommend that you keep your page public so that users and non-users of Instagram can access it from a mobile device or PC.

3. It's also a good idea to post a few interesting pictures for your students to view and read and comment from time to time...

4. Choose a hashtag # that identifies messages on a specific topic.

Application in the classroom:

• We often look for authentic ideas to teach English. What can be more authentic than sending pictures of things we like for example things we did on our holiday, our hobbies, a book we read etc...
• Students can send pictures and videos to a student who has been absent for a long time.
• Teachers can send pictures of interesting sayings and quotes on Instagram and ask students to express their opinions on them. See this one.
• Teachers can send items of grammar as explanation for example this one.
• Teachers can post a picture with a clue to a topic that will be discussed in the next lesson and students have to guess. This one for example.

These activities can be done when students are not in class. What is the incentive for students to participate? Students that participate can get a small prize, bonus points, a certificate or breakfast with the teacher/principal ( in my school, once a month, the principal eats breakfast with students that earned it).
Some good ideas on how to use Instagram in class are on this site.

Do you use Instagram with your students? If you do, please share in the comments section below. :)