social media assignment high school

• My Storyboards

Social Media Project

In this activity, activity overview, template and class instructions, more storyboard that activities.

• This Activity is Part of Many Teacher Guides

A fun way to modernize a high school level novel or play is to re-imagine them as they might unfold on social media. It's also a great way to assess how well students comprehended the story, themes, and characters as they read. In this activity, students will create profiles for key characters in a novel or play. Students may select one character to focus on or, if you would like to further this activity, students can create profiles for all of the key characters. This example uses the Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare , however, any story can be used!

The profiles and what is included on them should be drawn from the text itself, or from inferences students are able to make. They should include conversations and interactions through the form of private messaging, timeline posts, and more. To expand this activity into a group project, assign each student a character, and have them work with a small group to recreate the story.

An alternative to this assignment is to create and print out social media page worksheets for students to complete offline, or give them the choice if they'd like to create digitally or with pen and paper.

To find additional templates for this activity, please check out our social media page templates .

(These instructions are completely customizable. After clicking "Copy Activity", update the instructions on the Edit Tab of the assignment.)

Student Instructions

Objective: Create a social media profile for a character or characters of your choice from the play using a poster-sized storyboard!

• Click "Start Assignment" to use the template in the assignment.
• Identify important character traits and moments in the story.
• Create images, posts, & biographical information for your character of choice using appropriate scenes, items, and characters.
• Save and exit when you're done.

Lesson Plan Reference

Grade Level 9-12

Difficulty Level 2 (Reinforcing / Developing)

Type of Assignment Individual or Partner

Type of Activity: Social Media

(You can also create your own on Quick Rubric .)

High School Projects

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Social Media in Education: 13 Ideas for the Classroom

Since gaining widespread popularity in the early 2010s, social media has been a controversial topic when it comes to using it for education. However, many educators are now embracing social media as a teaching tool with a wide array of benefits for learning.

From parent-teacher communications to organizing group projects to developing digital literacy, social media has the potential to enhance the curriculum at any grade level — provided it is used responsibly. Here, we’ll explore eight platforms and five possible uses for social media in the classroom, plus some best practices for keeping it a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone.

How Social Media is Reshaping Education

Pros & cons of social media for students, 8 ways teachers can use social media in the classroom, 5 social media lesson ideas to try, faqs about social media in education.

As around 60% of the world’s population knows, social media can be an effective way to share news, find communities, build social networks and disseminate information instantly to a broad audience. According to Pew Research, 95% of American teens use at least one social media platform — so it makes sense that educators would seek to engage their students using technology they already interact with daily.

Teachers can use social media to organize group projects, communicate with students outside of class, share resources, and much more. Social media also has the potential to connect schools to the wider community for purposes including:

• Sharing school news
• Promoting school events
• Holding virtual town hall meetings
• Advertising fundraising initiatives
• Sending out emergency alerts

Since 90% of U.S. adults are also on social media (and many likely access it on their phones ), it is an incredibly useful medium for sending real-time communications to parents and guardians of school-aged children.

Of course, a tool as powerful as social media requires its users to exercise great responsibility to maintain a respectful, safe online environment. Teachers and students should be clear on both the benefits and risks before using these tools for educational purposes.

Benefits of social media in the classroom:

• Real-time communications can increase student engagement, collaboration, communication and overall participation.
• Many students may find it easier to participate in online discussions than in the classroom.
• Students can easily ask each other or their teacher questions about assignments outside of class.
• Students and teachers can quickly share helpful resources at any time.
• Teachers can easily share announcements with the entire class.
• Social media can provide a contingency plan for last-minute remote learning scenarios .
• Students can organize school events with each other or with the help of a teacher.
• Teachers can augment an online-only class by establishing a social media page or account strictly for building community.
• Students can practice using social platforms responsibly, including maintaining a respectful online discourse.
• Parents can stay informed of school news via a convenient, easily accessible platform.
• Teachers can communicate directly with parents as needed, especially if parents cannot attend an in-person meeting.
• Educators can build and enhance their own tech literacy skills to add to their portfolios.
• Most, if not all, social media platforms are free.

Downsides of using social media in the classroom:

• Social media can be a major distraction in class, especially if students are accessing their personal accounts independently. Private side conversations, off-topic activities and mindless scrolling can all happen when students are granted in-class internet access.
• If students primarily use social platforms to participate in class discussions, they can miss out on practicing face-to-face conversations and respectful in-person discourse.
• Some students may see social media assignments as an opportunity to cyberbully their classmates , so it’s critical that teachers set firm ground rules about responsible social media use.
• There is always a risk of a group member posting inappropriate content or language, since it is difficult to manage how students use social media platforms independently. Teachers must be responsible and attentive administrators to prevent and address inappropriate behavior.

While fewer school-aged young people are using Facebook today (about 32%, Pew finds), it can still be a useful tool for maintaining an online community, posting updates, sharing links and asking questions. Facebook can be used to organize specific projects, communicate with classes, form student clubs, plan events and more. The instant group chat function can facilitate real-time discussions, and Facebook Live enables teachers to lead virtual lessons, stream lectures and hold Q&A sessions. As administrators, teachers can set Facebook groups to private or invite-only to maintain a safe space for students.

Twitter can serve as more of a bite-sized message board where teachers can post short project updates, announcements, links to helpful resources or answer students’ questions. The platform can also serve as the basis for lessons in using concise language , since each post is limited to 280 characters — a valuable skill for both essay writing and future professional communications. Teachers can create dedicated handles or hashtags for each of their classes and invite both students and their guardians to follow along.

Blog posts provide another way for students to practice their essay writing, an increasingly important skill for higher grade levels. Instead of maintaining physical reading journals, students can submit weekly blog posts with their reflections and responses to assigned readings. Teachers can also use blogs to communicate project instructions during remote learning days or vacations and even write up a semester report for parents and guardians to review.

This is an excellent tool for sharing visual resources like infographics, artistic inspiration, tutorials or examples of finished projects. Many teachers use Pinterest to collect and organize their own lesson ideas, so creating a board (or several) where students can pin their own resources encourages collaboration and learning ownership. While students of all ages respond well to visuals, Pinterest may be particularly popular with younger students who are still practicing their reading skills.

Another great visual platform, Instagram can be useful for teachers to share updates, for administrators to post announcements and for students to post project results or follow accounts that are relevant to course content. Teachers can create class-specific accounts where they post assignments, instructions, resources, updates, and more.

This online community provides a space for anyone to unite around any interest imaginable — from fitness to classic film trivia to poetry. Reddit has a bit of an “anything goes” reputation for its lax posting guidelines, but moderators are typically on hand to mitigate any inappropriate or improper use of the platform. There’s a subreddit for every academic subject, so students can peruse threads for project research (while still verifying any information therein) and even post their own questions for the Reddit community to discuss.

Similar to Reddit, YouTube hosts video resources on any topic under the sun. Teachers can easily share educational videos, tutorials and any other type of video content. YouTube is also a great hosting platform for video projects, where students can upload finished videos for their teachers, classmates and guardians to watch on a private class channel.

This professional networking platform is mostly used by people in the post-school workforce, so high school students may not even be aware of it yet. However, whether they decide to attend college or not, learning how to market their skills and build a professional network can help students navigate the job market after graduation. LinkedIn is also a great place to find articles and other resources to help young professionals build their industry knowledge and skills.

The ideas in this section are merely suggestions for unique ways to use social media in the classroom — but the internet is your and your students’ playground! Use these ideas as jumping-off points for your own social media-based lessons.

• Use blogs to chart learning progress. Blogs can be useful tools for language learning, whether that’s practicing how to craft a five-paragraph essay or improving one’s French writing skills. But this long-form writing platform can also be used to track students’ progress in any subject. For example, have chemistry students write biweekly posts summarizing everything they’ve learned in class, and ask them to revisit and write about certain topics once a semester to practice knowledge retrieval. These posts can also serve as test prep and reminders of any concepts students may need to review.
• Use Instagram or TikTok for visual responses. Most social media platforms popular with young people are visual-based, meaning they rely on images and videos to convey information. Writing skills are essential for school, but sometimes it’s easier (and more fun) for students to engage with their learning using formats they’re more comfortable with. Instead of a written response to a textbook chapter, have students react using an appropriate TikTok trend. If students are required to show their work, ask them to create an Instagram carousel or Reel of their process and post it to a class-specific account.
• Use Twitter to illustrate the dangers of misinformation. Learning to find and cite accurate sources is a key skill for students, especially at higher grade levels. Unfortunately, misinformation is easy to encounter on social media, where anyone can make a claim or spread false information without providing a source. Show students an inaccurate tweet or other social post and ask them to verify or debunk its claims. Have them document their research process and cite the sources they used to fact-check the post.
• Use LinkedIn to help older students craft their resumes. Marketing themselves in a professional sense isn’t always a skill young people learn in school, but it’s a skill that proves useful for nearly every adult. Have students use LinkedIn to craft a professional objective, organize and explain their work and educational experiences, ask for recommendations and start making connections with potential mentors and employers.

Best Practices for Social Media in Education

For many young people, social media is a part of their (and their parents’) everyday lives. Chances are, if a teacher chooses to incorporate social media into a lesson, many students will already be familiar with the platform and how to use it. Since students may be accustomed to using social media outside of an educational context, it’s crucial that teachers set ground rules and expectations for the appropriate use of these tools.

The following are some best practices that will keep social media a safe and productive place for students and their teachers:

Set professional boundaries: Many teachers also likely have personal social media accounts, so when using these platforms for lessons, it’s best to create an entirely new account dedicated solely to academics. Keep accounts private and invitation-only so that no one besides students and their parents can access the content. No one, teachers included, should be posting anything about their personal lives or content that is unrelated to the course. Invite students to create new user accounts as well to avoid mixing their personal and academic business.

Prioritize increasing digital literacy: Generations of digital natives (including today’s school-aged children and many of their parents) have likely already been practicing online etiquette, but it never hurts to review both practical and appropriate ways to use social media. Remind students that anything they post online has the potential to exist forever, which becomes especially important as they begin to apply to colleges and search for jobs. Students should conduct themselves online just as they are expected to in school.

Promote student achievements: You and your students put in a lot of work during the school year — share your accomplishments with the community! If your school has a public social media account, provide the account manager with information about your class’s latest project or an upcoming showcase so members of the community can see what students have been up to. Not only does this give students an opportunity to show off their work, but it also serves as promotional information for anyone considering enrolling their own children in the school.

Manage multiple accounts from the same place: If you manage multiple accounts for one or more classes, use a tool like Hootsuite or Facebook Publishing (which integrates Facebook and Instagram) to draft and schedule posts for multiple platforms at once. This is especially helpful when students and parents need the same information, but each group predominantly uses a different platform.

Part of a teacher’s job is to never stop learning, whether it’s about the subject matter they teach, new educational tools or innovative ways to engage students. The University of San Diego offers multiple courses for educators in the Professional and Continuing Education program, including classes covering educational technology , digital literacy , equity in the classroom and more. USD also offers certificate programs that focus on specific aspects of education, so that teachers can build a suite of skills in areas like STEAM education or supporting English language learners .

For a full range of USD courses available through the PCE program, explore all course offerings here .

How can I ensure students’ safety on social media?

To protect students’ privacy, keep all class-related social media accounts private or invitation-only and encourage them to set their own accounts to private or create new class-specific profiles. Review proper online etiquette and behavior with students and establish firm consequences for cyberbullying. As a teacher, it’s critical to maintain professional boundaries online, so avoid discussing or posting anything personal on school social media accounts. You may even want to grant access to students’ parents so they can monitor how their children are using these spaces.

How can I use TikTok in my lessons?

According to Pew Research, 67% of U.S. teens use TikTok , with 16% on the app almost constantly. Since so many students already gather in this digital space, teachers can engage them by creatively incorporating it into lessons. Ask students to film reactions to course content using TikTok trends, conduct research via subject matter experts’ posts, or create response videos in place of traditional project reports.

Which social media platform is best for communicating with parents?

It depends on what kinds of content you want to share and which platforms parents and guardians are comfortable using. At the beginning of each school year, send out a survey asking parents to indicate their preferred social media platform, then use the top two results for parent-facing communications. With so many people on multiple social media platforms, it’s best not to limit school news to just one; fortunately, managing multiple accounts at once is simple with social media management tools like Hootsuite and Facebook Publishing.

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30 Amazing lesson ideas using social media with students in your classroom

How many students in your class have social media? Correct, many!

Social media and the process of learning do blend better than anyone of us could have imagined. Who doesn’t like an innovative, creative way to work together? Social media not only helps the process of learning but also helps us to connect easier. That’s why social media is important to use in education.

In this blog post I’ll talk about the most popular social media tools and how to use those social media tools in your classroom. Prepare yourselves for this social media guide for teachers.

💡 Good to know : all the ready-to-use social media activities are created with BookWidgets. You can easily duplicate an activity for free, edit it if needed, and share it with your students. You can do so in the examples separately, or you can find all the social media lesson examples from this blog post (and more!) in the BookWidgets Blog group folder .

30 ways to use social media in school

To begin, it is important for students to think about their Facebook page. If they already have a profile, they can check if the information is correct and complete. The activity below guides them.

1. Create a classroom community

Thanks to Facebook groups, students will share more and dare to ask questions in a more easy way. You can help them or give the opportunity to students to help each other. Keep in mind: set some rules in the group, such as:

• What does and what doesn’t belong in the group.
• Make some boundaries that can’t be crossed.

It also allows shy students a way to communicate in a more easy way.

2. Poll your class

Use polls as an interactive teaching tool in class. It’s a fun way of getting to know one another. Also an easy way to measure the opinions of the students, and you show value to their opinions.

3. Keep up with the news

Thanks to Facebook or using social media in teaching in general, you can keep the students posted on the latest stories, the chance to follow organizations, companies, politicians. This way, you both keep up with the latest changes.

4. Make announcements and post homework

Students and tutors alike can post relevant articles or websites if they find some good resources back home. As a lot of the students will have a Facebook account, it’s easy to give them access to the given homework. Plus it will be written down very clearly what’s expected of them and when it’s due.

5. Teach digital responsibility

Teach students some digital citizenship . Give them guidelines for responsible and appropriate behavior when they are using Facebook or other social media channels. Let them reflect on their own use of social media.

6. One-way communication

Snapchat can be used for one-way communication, for example, a classroom/school account can broadcast content but not receive content from others. This way, they can follow your account without unnecessary reactions of students.

7. Real-life examples

If you’re e.g. a biology teacher, and you were teaching about a special animal species which you accidentally ran into while doing a hike, you can instantly show it to your students thanks to the Snapchat account. And what about learning through social media for math? Show your students real-life math hacks you come upon outside the classroom. This way, you prove to your students that math is actually really useful once they’re out in the real world.

8. Become a reporter

Schools or organizations can bring news to the entire community. Report on a musical play organized by your school. Or just show them live images of a high school football play.

9. Vocabulary exercises

Yes, I’m saying it! Every tutor has a responsibility to teach vocabulary! By using Snapchat, you can have students …

• … take pictures of their errors, let them mark it with the “pen” function.
• … share good experiences with one another, since they’re looking for confirmation from each other.

10. #Booksnaps

Students in any subject can easily take a Snapchat picture of what they’re reading, share their thoughts about it and send it to others. Yes, also back to you! Which offers a lot more engagement than standard practices. As a teacher, you can take screenshots to put the pictures in a collage. That way, you can show your students an overview of their reading experiences. Use the Random Images widget from Bookwidgets .

11. Class-account

There’s no easier way to share the best class moments together! Using an Instagram class account, you can share the best memories of when your class took a field trip.

12. Student of the Week

Every new week you introduce your followers to a new student, let the student have a ‘bio’ post with the favorite picture of themself. Don’t forget to give some guidance, such that the content is school-appropriate.

13. Progression

You, as the ‘general manager’ of your class, can post pictures of students’ work during the year (with your students’ permission of course). You can also let them think about making a post themselves, like in the example below. Their results can be posted online in a Class-account.

14. Hunting game

Let students use ‘Instagram stories’ to hunt down specific things or types of things in the big, big world around them. This way, without their knowing, you’ll open up the eyes of the students and let them see more.

15. Build a team

Last but not least! Build a staff of students who are willing to manage the account correctly and with passion. Since not everyone of us is a fan of social media, try to include everyone.

16. Engage parents

Parents interested in daily classes can follow you. Your way of tweeting will give them more of an image about what is happening in the classroom.

17. Summary

To conclude your class, ask the students to ‘tweet’ about the subject in a short summary. Let them give opinions about the subject. You’ll see they’ll open up to conversation.

18. Join some of these #hashtags

Connect easily with other teachers and stay tuned to the latest trends regarding education by subscribing to the #educhat or #edutech hashtag and participate in the community. Have your students create their own #hastags based on the lesson topic. Check it out!👇

19. Explore and tweet!

Nothing more fun for the students than to go out there and explore the things they learn. Let them tweet about their experiences. This way, family members can follow their journey and you can see the effort the students put into the fieldtrip.

20. Microreviews

Give your students the opportunity to react to certain book assignments, and let them express their thoughts. Maybe even send tweets to the author? Or summarize a book review with only 280 characters? Open up a conversation, and let them become more critical readers. Let them become the wolves, not the sheep.

21. EdTech school

22. Literature classes

Play videos of artists showing their own work. There is no better way of showing the work since the artists are the ones knowing all about it.

23. History archive

Smooth… By using YouTube in the classroom, you can easily use some videos to show the generation of tomorrow what it used to be. In this example, they will get a more proper idea of the history of Martin Luther King.

24. Let the student become the creator

If your school offers the opportunity to use cameras or tablets, students can be set on an assignment to write and produce. For example, let them create an advertisement video if you have a marketing class.

25. Mister Einstein

Become the crazy science teacher you’ve always wanted to be! Who cares if you haven’t got the means to create large-scale experiments, a lot of crazy peeps already have done it for you! Just search down youtube.

Would you like to get started with YouTube, but in a different way? Then, check out our ready-to-use lesson ideas based on short films from YouTube .

26. Challenges

Put your students in groups and offer them TikTok videos with different challenges. To begin, they are going to watch the videos. Then, they will try (one or multiple) the challenges themselves.

27. Dancing

Many trends around music and dances often appear on TikTok. Have students choose a dance they would like to learn from a number of suggestions. Then, during gymnastics classes, you will learn the dance steps.

28. Writing assignment

It is important that students learn to form opinions. To get them more motivated, it is best to involve their world, in this case Tiktok. Show them a video on which they have to write down their opinion. Note, it is not only about forming an opinion, but also about communicating it in a good way. So pay attention to spelling, content, ….

29. Lesson introduction

Search for a video about your lesson topic. Before you get started, show them the video. This way, you can get them ‘warm’ on the subject. And as you all know, if students find something interesting, they are more likely to remember it.

30. Processing lesson content

Looking for an original ending to a class? I have a great idea! Have them make their own TikTok where they incorporate the main content of the lesson in a playful way. Note: they are not required to create a TikTok account, it is also possible to do it through other tools such as Flipgrid.

These are just a few ideas to include TikTok in the classroom, of course there are many more! Would you like to know what else you can do with it? Check out our Complete TikTok Guide for teachers .

Oops… one more thing! You’ll be the expert on your course, but you probably are not an expert when it comes to social media. Interact with your students, let them show you the way! YES, students are happy to teach you something in return. Beware that not every student has a social media account. Make sure to include all of them.

Wrapping Up

These were my social media classroom tips. What’s your favorite social media tool: Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube or TikTok? Let us know on Twitter and join our Teaching with BookWidgets Facebook group to share your social media lessons with other teachers.

Wondering how to manage social media in the classroom, without students abusing your efforts or just want to have a look at more tips on using social media in education? Go see our other blog !

I haven’t talked about Pinterest in this post, but Pinterest also offers a lot of possibilities to use in the classroom. USC Rossier developed a Guide to Pinterest for Educators . Check it out!

If you’re integrating social media into your lessons, keep in mind that there are some rules to live by when it comes to privacy. Digital citizenship is a broad understanding. Vicky Davis from the Cool Cat Teacher Blog divides the term in 9 key learnings: the 9 P’s.

To learn more about the 9 P’s, you can go to this blog where we wrote more about the digital rules.

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Using a Social Media Account With Your Class

Students can learn how to use social media responsibly through teacher modeling and shared responsibility for posting.

Given the reality that most teens have smartphones and use social media daily , how can schools help support digital citizenship and the ethical and responsible use of technology in our schools?

One solution is a class social media account—an account created by the teacher and students together that provides students with opportunities to practice digital citizenship in context, with a teacher’s mentorship, and teaches digital literacy skills while countering the idea that social media is only for entertainment. I’ve seen kids as young as 5 help make decisions about what photos or learning artifacts should be posted to the class account, and the results have been very positive.

Setting Up for Success

There are several things to take into account to ensure that a class social media account is a positive learning space. First you have to decide on a platform. It might help to poll parents and guardians to see which platform(s) most of them already use, since they’ll be part of your audience.

Next you need to decide on the purpose of the account with your class. What will you post, and how often? How will you manage the posting? Even as early as kindergarten, kids can determine what to share, and teachers can gradually release responsibility as students get older. You can release responsibility to individual students or student committees that rotate.

After creating a class name, profile, and header with your students—so they feel like they have ownership of the account—review responsible use of technology and social media and reinforce ways they can lead in online spaces. It’s also important to follow accounts of other classes and organizations, which will provoke curiosity and learning.

Some educators post the learning of the day as a way of communicating with parents. But why not have students pick what will be shared? It can begin with the prompt: “Let’s look at the pictures we’ve taken today that capture our learning. Which should we share? What should we say about this?” This helps students reflect with you and reinforces lessons about appropriate posting.

Have a plan for what you will do together if you see something problematic. This can be as simple as asking students, “What’s our plan if someone we’re following posts something inappropriate?” The likelihood of this happening is small if you’re careful about who you’re following to begin with.

Parental Consent and Involvement

Share the details of the account with parents—see two sample letters here . Let them know that you feel it’s important to model what communicating online looks like, and that student privacy is very important to you.

It’s important to make parents a part of the conversation and respect their right to keep their kids offline. When this happens, it’s a wonderful learning opportunity for kids. You can have students participate without sharing their names or photos. You can also explore the many editing tools that blur or disguise photos, and help kids develop a culture of permission and respect for online privacy.

It may also be worthwhile to host a learning event for parents and students so that you can learn about your chosen platform together.

Uses for a Class Social Media Account

Learning course content: Many students think about social media only as a place for entertainment, yet it can be a great tool for learning. @MathInTheNews , for example, posts math questions on Twitter that are based on current events. And using your class account to ask an author or a scientist a question shows kids a way to use social media to satisfy their curiosity about things they’re learning.

Developing digital citizenship: A class account presents a teacher with the opportunity to reinforce important digital citizenship and digital literacy lessons that students may not be getting at home. One strategy is to discuss questions as they arise from content you’re seeing. What is sponsored content ? If students see information that doesn’t seem to be correct, how can they check? How can the words and tone of a post be misunderstood?

Spreading kindness: When I created a hashtag for a young girl in our community who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, I was amazed by the number of educators who, with their students, shared letters, videos, pictures, and even jokes to the hashtag to brighten her day. As a result, I’m always on the lookout for ways to show kids how to use online spaces to spread kindness. This can combine in-person and online connections. For example, we connected online with a local organization that collected and distributed cards for kids in long-term hospital care.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if students had opportunities to see social media as a way to make a positive difference in someone’s life?

Connecting with faraway peers: Social media can introduce your students to peers far beyond your school. For example, I’m a mentor for the Global Educational Student Chat (a Twitter chat led by students for students), where student leaders pick a topic and have a conversation about it every month. Follow @GlobalEdSsChat on YouTube Live or Twitter so your students can join the conversation. They can become guest panelists or help us pick our next topic.

A class social media account can help your students see what appropriate online interactions can look like and give them a way to learn with the world.

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15 ways to use social media for education

Written by by Jamia Kenan

Published on  September 6, 2023

Reading time  9 minutes

With remote learning and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), social media is an integral part of education more than ever. There are many different ways to use social media for education inside and outside the classroom.

Because we believe in the power of social media to make nearly anything easier, we will share 15 ways to use social media for education, based on insights shared with us from top institutions.

Benefits of social media in education

Here are our top three benefits of using social media in education:

Benefit 1: Extends learning opportunities

Social media unleashes more learning opportunities. Online classes and remote jobs are the new norm, so teaching students to work from a distance becomes a necessity for digital literacy and preparing them for their careers. Social media platforms support educators in various ways from sharing announcements to holding live lectures.

Benefit 2: Create connections with students and alumni

Social provides a way for institutions to quickly and directly communicate with students, faculty, staff and alumni, fostering connections across various audiences. Social content can attract prospective students, keep parents informed, grow alumni networks, promote on-campus events and more.

Focusing on nurturing community and publishing engaging content can also help increase enrollment. According to our Higher Education Social Media Benchmarks for 2023 report, 41% of school officials can directly attribute increased enrollment to social strategy.

For example, Keele University said their campus photos on Instagram help students solidify their college decision. One student came to the university because she saw their posts on Facebook and it helped confirm her decision, later becoming a digital ambassador for the school.

Benefit 3: Build brand identity

Social supports and amplifies university branding . University marketing teams use social media to maintain a positive brand reputation for their institutions. With the right strategy, colleges and universities can attract more students, increase endowments, promote events or initiatives and improve alumni relations.

Social media in the classroom

From preschool to college, there are so many methods for using social media in the classroom to communicate and educate. Here are seven ways to use social media in the classroom across platforms:

1. Use posts to broadcast updates and alerts

Instructors and colleges can meet students where they are by incorporating social media platforms they’re likely already familiar with like Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter).

Have students follow a class Facebook Page or join a Facebook Group to view posts about course updates, homework assignments and tests. Universities can have publicly accessible pages dedicated to specific schools or departments that students can see even if they aren’t active on Facebook.

When using social media for education, it’s important to maintain a professional boundary. Email students a direct link to the Facebook Group for access and avoid sending friend requests. Groups are the perfect “home base,” especially for online courses because it makes it easy to connect with students. Similarly, instructors and departments can use Posts on X to keep students informed.

2. Use live streaming for lectures and discussions

Instructors can use Facebook Groups, Instagram Live, YouTube Live or LinkedIn Live to stream lectures and facilitate more accessible learning. If a student can’t come to the lecture hall, they can join online or review later. Adding live captions helps students who may be deaf or hard of hearing, non-native speakers, or learn visually. And platforms like Instagram and YouTube allow live streams to be recorded, providing students with review material for midterms and finals season.

Recorded live streams also widen the institution’s reach and authority by making lectures available to scholars and professors from other colleges, states or countries.

3. Use X for class updates and more

X is a great option for providing quick updates and reminders to students. Teachers can create a single handle per class and reuse it every year, or they can create a new handle each school year. Use X threads to share resources like practice quizzes, interesting perspectives or thought-provoking quotes to foster critical thinking. Hashtags can mark specific discussions or chats with guest speakers.

4. Create a class blog for discussions and cross-channel learning

Blogs are another great outlet for incorporating social media in the classroom. Students can link to the class blog on other social channels. For example, a student might share a photo from their visual essay on LinkedIn to attract the attention of recruiters for job or internships. Using blogs as a semester-long assignment can improve students’ short-form writing and critical thinking.

Don’t feel limited to just an English or writing class; this use of social media in education can be transferred across all subjects. There are also several platforms professors can use to create class blogs, such as Tumblr, Medium or WordPress. The course syllabus, updates and resources can be shared on the blog as well.

5. Use Instagram for digital storytelling

Have students practice storytelling on Instagram by creating class-specific accounts where they can present photos or graphics (and delete them once the course is over, if they so choose). This can work especially well in visual-heavy classes: Have photojournalism students post essays or challenge the social media marketing class to create a faux-brand campaign.

6. Create a class-specific Pinterest board

Educators can use Pinterest to prepare and organize resources, lesson plans and worksheets for their classes in one place. They can also set up Pinterest boards for each of their classes and save pins that are relevant to lessons.

Create boards according to class or subject, and create sub-topic boards for weekly units, projects or worksheets. Pinterest can also be useful for students to curate a digital bibliography for research projects, papers or group assignments. Students can pin websites, books or videos to a board on a single topic and refer back to it when it’s time to write an essay or thesis.

7. Prep for post-graduation and create alumni relationships

LinkedIn can help current students develop networking skills, craft their personal brand and connect with alumni. Flexing these career muscles could help them earn internships, gain mentors and secure job offers before they walk across the stage on graduation day.

Institutions can use LinkedIn for university colleges as well.  For example, a business school may have several private LinkedIn Groups for regional alumni chapters to connect them with students and faculty for internships, fundraising, volunteer opportunities and events.

Encouraging students to post relevant articles, projects and research, internship experiences and other academic accomplishments helps the university develop social proof on the platform. This is also an excellent example of the importance of incorporating advocacy into your social strategy.

Social media for education marketing

Just as there were many ways to use social media in the classroom, there are also many uses for social media in education marketing. Social media marketing can help if you’re looking to reach a larger audience for your college or university. Let’s dive into how social media can empower education marketing.

8. Leverage TikTok creators and influencers for user-generated content

Although many public universities have banned TikTok from campus Wi-fi , some educators and institutions embrace the app to educate and connect with students. Student and teacher influencers can provide user-generated content that satisfies a prospective student’s desire to see authentic content from their peers and future professors.

For example, Chapman University professor @itsmattprince went viral after challenging his class to earn 1 million likes on a TikTok video in exchange for canceling their final:

Fun, yet real-world applications like this illustrate the power of social influence—plus who doesn’t love a canceled final?

9. Include social media links on your school website

In the Higher Education Social Media Benchmarks for 2023 report, we found that 68% of high school students use social channels to research schools. Many parents and prospective students will check a school’s website first if they’re interested, and offering even more ways to follow the school creates a different insight into campus life.

Make it easy for parents and students to find your school’s social media profiles by adding links to the website’s main navigation or creating a social media directory that houses them all in one place.

10. Give a glimpse into student life through photo and video

If you want to attract new students and parents to your school, share photos of campus events to showcase what they could expect. Use short-form video like Reels, TikTok or YouTube Shorts to help prospective students envision themselves attending college there.

Highlighting events, sports, extracurriculars and the beauty of campus can make your school stand out from the rest. While school and university websites tend to follow the same mold, social media allows you to be more unique and casual like this Barbenheimer-inspired post from the University of Georgia:

11. Create alumni community groups

Many alumni want to remain involved with their alma mater after graduation. Creating a dedicated community via Facebook Groups or LinkedIn Groups can increase engagement.

For example, the University of Newcastle has over 148,000 alumni. Their team features current students, staff and alumni to amplify the career opportunities that manifest from being part of their community.

Alumni groups, groups for different graduating classes or departments, and groups for different extracurriculars and organizations allow former and current students to engage and meet others with common interests. Take a look at our alumni engagement best practices guide to learn more ways to keep the school spirit flowing.

12. Incorporate a social media crisis strategy

How would you communicate to the entire campus during an emergency? Whether it’s a fire, tornado or other immediate campus emergency, a social media crisis plan can help institutions proactively prepare. Keep parents and students updated on the situation by sharing information about the crisis and if authorities are involved. Many campuses have automated messaging alerts set up, but using social also enables people to be updated in real time.

Institutions can use social listening , which involves analyzing conversations and trends related to your brand , to aid with public relations crisis management plans. Seneca College leveraged Sprout’s capabilities a few years ago when 12,000 staff members went on strike. Using Brand Keywords and the Smart Inbox, the social media team was able to sort through and respond to a deluge of inbound feedback from concerned students.

13. Use chatbots to support students outside of office hours

In our higher education social media playbook , we talk about the importance of social customer service. Using automated replies or chatbots can help the student body get their questions answered immediately, or at least guide them to a solution faster.

Keele University used chatbots via Sprout’s Bot Builder to respond immediately to common questions about courses and bursary information. In the five months after using chatbots, nearly 500 conversations addressed a variety of topics from housing applications to international student services.

14. Iterate social strategy to create student-centric content

Using social media for education allows educators and marketers to meet students where they are by connecting on channels they use everyday. Social creates an opportunity for institutions to be more even more student-centric. But to keep students engaged, institutions will need to produce content that caters to the wants and needs of their audience(s).

If you want to manage your institution’s social channels successfully, you’ll need to iterate and improve your strategy by reviewing the top and lowest performing content.

Dartmouth College uses Sprout’s Sent Messages report to determine content performance and iterate their overall social strategy as needed. After reviewing which posts performed well, they schedule new posts with similar content to inform their content calendar.

15. Manage your communities all under one roof

Social media empowers universities to bring their various audiences together. Many institutions have an extensive community of prospective and current students, faculty, staff and alumni, but this causes a common pain point: decentralization.

Since colleges and universities have multiple social media accounts, it can be difficult to manage them all seamlessly. However, using a social media management software centralizes multiple networks in one place, so overseeing various accounts becomes more manageable and scalable.

Texas A&M University , one of the largest public universities in the nation, uses social media to connect with these various communities. The university has hundreds of departments, 16 colleges and 19 NCAA sports, so using a social media management tool is essential. Their social team uses Sprout’s publishing suite to discuss strategy, collaborate on content creation and provide feedback to interns all on one platform. In just six months, between August 2020 and January 2021,  Texas A&M earned over 131 million impressions and 8.3 million content engagements across X, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

A tool like Sprout Social can help make social media management a breeze, regardless of whether you’re a solo marketer or a full marketing department. Multiple users can use the Sprout platform to create content with consistent messaging and schedule posts across networks at the best time using our ViralPost® feature .

And the Post Performance report takes the guesswork out of identifying what content resonates because teams can pinpoint top posts and view engagement across channels.

Sprout enables you to monitor and manage multiple accounts across different networks, which is ideal for educational institutions. Each department or teacher at your school might have their own separate social media accounts for specific information, and a social media management tool can help you ensure the right posts are going out on each of these accounts.

And if there is news or content relevant to multiple departments, Sprout enables users to share the same content across multiple profiles with a single click.

Start using social media for education

Using social media for education goes beyond the classroom because it helps educators shape a modern holistic learning experience, build community and establish academic authority.

Take some of these ideas for a test drive, and sign up for a free Sprout Social trial to help you manage it all.

• Data Report
• Higher Education

Higher Education Social Media Benchmarks for 2023

• Social Listening

Choose wisely: Higher education marketers take on College Decision Day

How Texas A&M uses Sprout Social to build communities and accessible content

• Social Media Strategy

How the University of Newcastle uses Sprout to power their full funnel marketing strategy

• Now on slide

Build and grow stronger relationships on social

Sprout Social helps you understand and reach your audience, engage your community and measure performance with the only all-in-one social media management platform built for connection.

Create a Social Media Profile for a Literary Character

• Jessica Cook
• Categories : High school english lesson plans grades 9 12
• Tags : High school lesson plans & tips

I don’t know a teenager alive today who isn’t familiar with social networking web sites like Facebook or MySpace. Since this is familiar territory for high school students, it provides the perfect platform to provide them with creative writing tips. When I teach Creative Writing, I have students of all levels and interests in the class. In order to get them to think creatively, I like to use give them creative writing exercises like this one. It helps them ease their way into the process of writing a story, one character at a time.

To get the kids started and help them understand what I want them, I model the activity with a full-class discussion. I tell students they are going to create a mock MySpace or Facebook profile for a character in their next story. To get them thinking in the right direction, we’ll start by having them create a MySpace profile for me.

The kids all find it hilarious that they will be helping me create my online persona. NOTE: We don’t actually USE MySpace or Facebook for this assignment, as those sites tend to be blocked by school Internet monitors. Instead, the students sketch out the basic profile format on their own paper. For the large-group discussion, I use an overhead projector to create the profile for myself.

Every online profile is broken down into blocks of text, pictures, links, and other fun facts. For this assignment, I use the following sections.

Sections of a Social Networking Profile:

1. Screen Name: I ask students to invent a screen name for me. They should be creative and use what they know about my personality. My actual name shouldn’t factor into the equation; I want them to think outside the box. Examples I have seen might be “HarryPotterluvr” or “EnglishGeek#1,” etc.

2. Avatar: The avatar is the image or photo that a person uses to represent themselves on a social networking site. For this activity, students choose the type of photo they think I would display. For instance, if my screen name is “Harry Potterluvr,” then I might use a photo of myself in a witch hat as my avatar.

3. Quote: On MySpace and Facebook, users can put in a famous quote or song lyric or other goofy phrase to display under their photo. I ask students to choose a quote for me; they might pick something from one of my favorite movies or a lyric from a band I’ve made them listen to, or a line from a Shakespearean sonnet. I tell them to choose a quotation that fits my personality in both content and source type.

4. “Favorites” List: Online social networking profiles contain a list of the user’s favorite things. In particular, these lists usually involve songs, movies, books, and foods. I ask students to create a few of these for me; sometimes they already know a few, and sometimes they make inferences based on what they know about me.

5. Friends List: It is a topic of much contention among teenagers: the “top friends” list. Kids will change and rearrange their friends lists multiple times a day in response to the current status of their friendships with other kids. So I will ask my students to give me a list of people they think would be on my friends list: they can use real people, historical people, or fictional characters. Some examples might include JK Rowling, Adam Sandler, or even Adolf Hitler (depending on their opinion of me that day).

6. Group Affiliations: Social networking is about networking, after all. So the kids come up with a list of groups they think I might want to join, such as “Daily Dictionary Readers” or “The I Love Red Pens” group. They can make up these groups or put me into groups that already exist on MySpace or Facebook.

Now, it’s the student’s turn to create a new profile for a fictional character. If we are doing this lesson than kids are getting ready to create a short story for my class; this is an early step in that process. Using the same 6 categories as we used for my profile, I ask the kids to draw out a profile sketch for the main character in their next story. They can choose a Facebook- or MySpace-style format, as long as they include all 6 sections discussed in the warm-up.

Participating in this creative writing exercise helps kids think about their character from several angles. What does that character look like? What kind of friends do they have? How do they represent themselves to other people? I ask students to remember as they complete this assignment that most people aren’t 100% honest on MySpace. So they need to consider what they know about their character, and what that character would choose to reveal to others online (and what they would choose to hide).

I collect and assess the assignments based on completion and creativity. I try to get them back to the kids quickly so they can use the ideas they generated as they move toward the creation of their next short story.

This post is part of the series: Creative Writing Exercises

This is a series of articles that can be used for creative writing exercises and lesson plans in any English class. Help students write poetry, short stories, and other creative writing prompts with these creative writing tips and tricks.

• Creative Writing Exercise: Character Swap n’ Sketch
• Creative Writing Tips: Character Profiles
• Lord of the Flies Lesson Plan: Creating a Travel Brochure

JEADigitalMedia.org

Help for your newsroom's journey with online and broadcast media

Curriculum for a High School Social Media Class

Through the motivation to finish my masters program, the help and support of my social media and in-person network of educators, professionals, and students, I had the tools to develop a social media curriculum geared towards a high school classroom. This social media curriculum will allow students to explore how social media has changed communication, how it affects their future, and how they can use it as an advantage. Hopefully, this curriculum can also show schools social media is not something to be scared about but rather how it does have an appropriate and useful place in the classroom.

The curriculum is broken into six sections:

• historical perspective
• social media writing process
• social media writing structure
• media analysis

Even though technology is constantly advancing, I believe these sections can be adapted for any type of technology or new social media network that will be developed.

For more information or if you have questions, feel free to contact me via email .

Download:  High School Social Media Class Curriculum

Related posts:

• Reasons social media should be in schools
• 8 Reasons for Having a Student-Run Website
• Cover It Live Chat: Social Media and the High School Journalist – Incorporating Social Media Into Your Program
• Join Us For Tonight’s Cover It Live Chat: Social Media and High School Journalism
• Taking a high school journalism class online
• ← Reasons social media should be in schools
• Nice post from journalism.co.uk on tools and apps every journalism student should know about →

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8 thoughts on “ curriculum for a high school social media class ”.

This is AWESOME, Beth! Thanks for sharing such a valuable resource here! I’ve been doing bits and pieces of this with my own mass media course, and I’m definitely going to adapt some of your curriculum and incorporate these ideas. Thanks for including DOK and Common Core!

Pingback: 10 Things Your Students Should Know About Their Digital Footprints

Hi Beth. I am a teacher at Medford High in Massachusetts working to establish a Social Media Literacy Program for the school. Your sample curriculum will help to inform our initiatives. Thank you very much. If you’d like to learn more about Medford’s program, please visit this blog: http://socialmedialiteracy.blogspot.com/

Likewise, I’m an English teacher in Brainerd, MN working to establish a Digital Media Literacy course this year. Your sample curriculum is a HUGE help as I work to create our course. Thank you so very much. I’ve included a link to my class site, which will eventually have a tab for the course. Again, thanks for so generously sharing your work.

Thank you so much for this resource. I am a new mass media teacher at a new school that has never had the program before. This is making my life!

This is a very good start to address a serious issue. I am a retired educator and sincerely believe that education (to be meaningful) must address the real world as it evolves. It is no longer the world in which I was a teacher and administrator. I haven’t researched enough to know if anything has been done at elementary and middle school levels. Parents allow their young children to have electronic devices on which they can connect to social media (often with no parental control.) Education needs to start in elementary school and progress through middle and high school with appropriate curriculum at all levels. Thank you for addressing this issue.

Thank you so much for this wonderful resource.

My family just had a discussion about The Social Dilemma. I suggested that we have media studies in high school and maybe earlier than that. I thought I would write a curriculum but I see you have one. I live in New York City. Are media studies taught here? Thank you, Debbie

Hello, I want to learn how to communicate well

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Teaching Sam and Scout

Teaching, Motherhood, and Life In-Between

Social Media Inventory for High School Students

October 14, 2014

Just popping in real quick to share a simple but, I think, meaningful activity I did with my students a few weeks as part of “Digital Citizenship Week” at our school…

Kids hear a lot today about being responsible with their social media accounts.  We warn them that potential employers and college admissions counselors look at what they post and tell them horror stories of people having their lives ruined because of one stupid tweet or thoughtless Facebook rant.  BUT, the truth is, most of them still have the “that wouldn’t happen to me” or “my stuff isn’t  that bad” attitude when it comes to their personal accounts… This activity at least attempts to personalize the concept of digital citizenship for them.  Here’s how it works:

– I started by introducing the concept of digital citizenship (basically being a responsible user of social media and other forms of technology) and talking about the impact that the things they post NOW can have on their futures etc.  We subscribe to Upfront Magazine by The New York Times (which I highly recommend by the way), and they had an awesome article in their October 5th edition titled “Guess Who’s Looking at Your Facebook Page?” that sparked some good conversation and debate among my students. (If you don’t have access to this magazine, I’m sure you could easily find something about this topic out there on the internet.)

– Once they seem to have a good grasp on what other people are doing, I tell them that we will spend the next class taking an inventory of their own social media usage… Basically, I students have to choose one or two forms of social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, whatever) that they use the most and look back as far as they can go (at least 100 entries) to see what they’ve been posting.

– Then, yes, I allowed them to use their smart phones etc. (Our school computers don’t allow students access to most of these sites, and every one of my students had a smart phone they could use.  An alternative, of course, would be to have them do this at home and bring the results to class.) to start scrolling through their old posts and keeping track of what they found.  Before we started, we made the following chart as a class to help them keep track of and categorize what they found

*I did this with eleventh graders and consider them a pretty mature group.  Therefore, I tried to give them free-reign as much as possible in the things they were looking for. HOWEVER, I did intentionally leave off categories like “drug use” or “illegal activity,” because – although those would obviously not be good to have on their accounts, I didn’t want the responsibility of knowing that kind of thing.  I said that information could go under “Wouldn’t want _____ to see” in their records. Other than that, I encouraged students to be as honest as possible in their data collection and to remember that I only wanted to see tally marks – NOT the actual content.

– Once all the data was gathered, my students actually worked in their graphic design class to create visual representations of what they found/ infographics like the ones shown below.  They used Photoshop, but there are lots of other free resources for doing this online.  It addition to showcasing the data found in their inventory, they were also encouraged to make a statement about their social media use and/or digital citizenship in general related to their findings…

– Overall, the kids really enjoyed the activity (who doesn’t love a class period – or several – devoted to scrolling through Twitter?), and it made them think.  I made it a point not to force them to edit their information or delete anything, but simply to make them aware of what was out there. While the vast majority didn’t come up with horrifying results, most of them were still surprised how negative, snarky, or just plain mean they could be through the safety of the screen.  LOTS of students told me after the fact that this activity made them think more about what they publish and spend some time “cleaning up” some of their accounts.

*I did have two (out of 17) students who claimed they didn’t use social media.  For those students, I simply offered an alternative assignment and had them work on calculating all the data/ producing a visual for the whole class’s combined results.  This worked out fine.

This was an easy activity to implement in the classroom and had real-world implications and connections.  I call that a teaching win.

P.S. I did this with my own Facebook account and – although I try to be very careful about what I post and how I present myself online – even I was surprised by some of what I found. I definitely recommend the exercise, even if it is only for you.

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October 14, 2014 at 1:30 PM

I love this!! I think my students would be SHOCKED with their results!! And, I love that you use UpFront! We use Scope because it’s a little easier for my kiddos to read, but I love all of Scholastic’s magazines! We just started using their math one this year and love it!

October 14, 2014 at 6:59 PM

I think I am going to do this with my 8th graders! What about those kids without smart phones? Any suggestions?

July 19, 2016 at 3:37 PM

I’m doing this activity for a teen group tonight! What is the alternate activity you had for the teens that didn’t have social media? I have three teens in my group claiming they do not. Thanks!

October 28, 2016 at 9:21 PM

I know this is an old post, but I stumbled upon it on Pinterest. I am SO excited to use this lesson in my high school marketing class, it is such an awesome activity. THANK YOU!!!

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The Student Online Branding and Social Media Marketing Project

Please try again

My niece Nina, a high school senior, recently showed me her new website and YouTube channel offering tips about makeup. Her homepage alone boasts more than 50 photos of creative ways to apply eyeshadow!

When I discovered this was all part of her AP English Literature assignment, however, I began to ask more questions.

Nina’s teacher had explained to the class how his cousin had been laid off and couldn’t find employment for over a year. The cousin eventually took to the web and began to brand himself on social media. His efforts finally paid off when an employer reached out and offered him a good job. This inspired Nina’s teacher to prepare his students for the competition of the 21 st century work world and to teach them how to market themselves on the internet.

All of which made me think: Should children of any age be promoting themselves on the world wide web? Although my initial response was no, I wanted more details and to know what Nina herself thought about its benefits.

This project-based assignment requires students to choose one aspect about themselves they wish to brand. The emphasis doesn’t have to be academic or a serious life goal; it can merely be a personal interest, talent, or hobby the student wishes to actively promote on the web. Popular subjects in Nina’s class include comedy sketches, cooking, music, pets, fashion, sports, art, social justice and the environment. The objective is for students to gain experience with making themselves appealing so that future employers and contacts come to them.

Students must create a website and YouTube channel for their brand, as well as use four types of social media (Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Snapchat, SoundCloud, etc.) to promote it. During this ongoing assignment, students are required to upload two new videos per month, to show growth in followers and views and to do monthly class presentations using Google Slides explaining the techniques they’ve used to expand their brand and to engage with the online community they represent.

(A similar student branding project could be justified through the Media Literacy Education & The Common Core State Standards : Expanding the Concept of Literacy; Empowering Students as Critical Thinkers through Media Production and Analysis.)

Lessons Learned

Even though this project is a large time commitment, Nina enjoys updating her social media platforms and interacting with her global audience. She often goes well beyond what is required because the subject she has chosen is intrinsically motivating to her and because she doesn’t want to disappoint her followers. In fact, Nina wishes she began this project as a freshman because she sees how the experience can be applied to her future chosen profession, most likely in finance.

When asked what advice she would give to students beginning a similar self-marketing project, Nina recommends personally reaching out to people you admire in your online community, as opposed to waiting around for others to find you. She sagely states that quality is always better than quantity and advises students to be genuine, not phony or halfhearted.

For my part, I suggested she explore Twitter chats and to perhaps create a chat of her own. To show off and refine her literary skills, I also recommended that she start her own blog.

Assessing Advantages

I know sincere self-promotion works in the adult world because the reason I am now a KQED In the Classroom blogger is due to the articles I have written and shared online. Although I have only been on social media for two years, I have been offered several professional opportunities, garnered many accolades and formed supportive friendships with colleagues from all over the globe — all directly stemming from my online presence.

When one diligently shares their passion, wisdom and experience in an online forum where others in your field gather and connect, tangible and emotional benefits follow.

Yet I come back to my original question: Is it right for us to encourage children to market themselves online?

Nina certainly thinks so, and she even asked me, “Uncle Robbie, don’t you wish you had begun your social media platforms way earlier?”

I do, and I know it would’ve been much easier to promote my first two books if I had the online following and recognition I have now.

In cyberspace, I have defined my professional brand. I write about meeting the needs of the whole child and how teachers and parents must be allies in education. In fact, my friend Rita Platt, who I met on social media, wrote a compelling article on why teachers themselves should define their own brand .

Balancing Branding With Benefit

When creating their own social media student project, I strongly suggest that teachers avoid these possibly pejorative terms: branding, marketing and promoting . Students can still gain valuable experience with those very real aspects of the work world while using words that instead emphasize contribution over consumption.

Encourage your students to share a part of themselves with the world that brings them joy. Embolden students to define what is important to them, to learn more about it and to interact with others of like minds. Ask students to pay homage to works and people who inspire them, so they can in turn inspire others. With children, make the measure of success less about followers and likes and more about message and meaning .

Before launching straight onto the web, students can first present their passions to the class. The Super-Ordinary Hero Project is an assignment that serves this purpose. By beginning small, by having the opportunity to view other projects that balance altruism with ambition, and by gaining formative feedback from classmates, teachers, and parents, our students will be better prepared to create online content worthy of deeper exploration and exposure.

Related Articles

• Personal Branding: A Must for the College-Bound, CEO and Everyone in Between
• Why Every Personal Brand Deserves an Early Start
• Developing A Personal Brand: The Younger, The Better Challenge
• Social Media & Personal Branding Tips for High School Students

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15 creative video project ideas for students (and their teachers)

Fall is here. The leaves are starting to change color and teachers everywhere are asking the same question: How do I come up with video project ideas for my students?

Video has been a staple learning tool for decades. But having students create, design, and edit video projects themselves is becoming a much more common classroom activity. Video projects are a great way to help students of all ages  actively engage with subject matter  and learn from one another.

Online apps like  Biteable  make it easy for students to turn video ideas for school into a reality. Templates and easy-to-use editing tools keep the process simple and offer plenty of inspiration for student video projects.

To help teachers and students alike leverage video as an  educational tool , we’ve gathered our favorite creative video project ideas for students. Each idea comes with a ready-to-edit video template so you and your students can get started right away.

Create videos that drive action

Activate your audience with impactful, on-brand videos. Create them simply and collaboratively with Biteable.

Elementary student video project ideas

It can be tricky to keep young students interested and engaged all day long. Creating videos gives elementary students a fun, creative way to learn about anything. And student-created videos are an amazing classroom learning supplement. If a video is produced by their peers, interest will skyrocket.

1. Create a book trailer

Instead of a traditional book report, have students design a movie-style trailer that drums up excitement about a novel or a non-fiction book. Creating a book trailer gives students the opportunity to think creatively, share a story with their classmates, and reinforce their learning in a new way.

2. Give a video tour

To supplement social studies curriculum, students can create a video showing off a significant location or their favorite part of the school. If you have a field trip planned, ask students to share their experience by recording videos throughout the day and adding voice over narration.

A video tour of the school is also a great way to share the campus with new students and visitors. As a way to pass the torch before they leave for middle school, how about asking your fifth graders to collaborate on an orientation video for incoming kindergarteners?

3. Celebrate the holidays

There’s always something to celebrate, no matter what time of year it is. Have students film letters to Santa, make video Valentines for parents or grandparents, or make short educational videos about lesser known holidays. Students can even create simple, digital thank-you notes for classroom visitors or parent volunteers.

4. Recreate a moment in history

Learning about historical people and events? Have your students research and recreate major moments in history, like the story of Rosa Parks or the Oregon Trail.

Videos help students visualize and remember these important moments. It also gives students the opportunity to experiment with digital storytelling. And students will be challenged to bring each scene to life accurately.

5. Try stop-motion video

Video learning isn’t limited to literary or historical topics. Encourage students to use stop-motion or create their own slides to explain science experiments or other STEM projects. With the right footage, like Biteable’s extensive collection of clay animation footage, students won’t even need to build stop motion models. They can just focus on the presentation and storytelling in their video.

Video project ideas for middle and high school students

Video projects for high schoolers can be a little more advanced, as students should be practicing editing and narrative skills in addition to learning about new topics.

6. Create a news channel

To supplement learning in a current events class, have your students film a news broadcast covering both local and international events.

Ask students to take on certain roles in the newsroom: anchor, sports reporter, weather reporter, or entertainment correspondent. Doing a news segment helps everyone get involved and promotes teamwork.

7. Start a portfolio

Many high school students are thinking about college applications. Give them the chance to  jumpstart their applications with a portfolio video project  and showcase what makes them unique.

Art students can show off their best work and design skills. Students applying to traditional schools can answer an application question or create a video showcasing their community service and extracurriculars.

8. Promote a good cause

Rather than writing a traditional essay or report, have students create a video advocating for a cause that’s important to them. This helps students build their identity and develop persuasive skills. And students can share their  promotional video  with everyone, not just their teacher and classmates.

9. Questions for your future self

Think ahead with a video full of inspiring questions. This project is great for incoming freshmen. At the beginning of the year, have students create videos with questions for their future self or with goals for their life and career. At graduation, send the videos back to them. It’s a fun, positive way to celebrate their success throughout high school.

Higher ed video project ideas

Higher education might not seem like the place for student-made videos. But in the real world, businesses use video for all sorts of things. Video projects build plenty of resume-worthy skills that college students can take with them to the workforce.

10. Create a university promotion video

It’s easy to forget that colleges and universities are businesses, too. And they need help with promotion. A solid college or university promotion video could open opportunities for internships or college employment. Promoting something that they’re already familiar with is a great way for students to build video persuasion skills.

11. Record and edit interviews

Being able to conduct a good interview and edit it in a way that’s appropriate for the purpose of the interview is a valuable skill in multiple industries. And interviewing experts in the field is appropriate for just about any class.

12. Make a video self-assessment

Grades are important. But being able to self-assess is also an incredibly valuable way for students to incrementally improve at any skill.

Making video self-assessments gives students a more active role in the grading process and offers them a creative way to highlight the work they’ve put into a course. It also gives them a chance to make an argument for the grade they feel they deserve — a skill that easily correlates to performance reviews in their future workplace.

13. Film a job interview guide

For most people, the interview is the most nerve-wracking part of getting a job. Practicing interview questions is a great way to prepare. But most students don’t know how to prepare for a job interview.

Creating a job interview  how-to guide  is a perfect way for students to learn how to prepare for a job interview and help other students prepare at the same time.

14. Create a video presentation based on a written assignment

Written assignments are the backbone of a university education (in most disciplines, at least). However, the audience for most written assignments is limited to the professor and assistants. Creating presentation videos for their assignments gives students the opportunity to share their hard work with their fellow students, while also learning valuable video editing skills.

15. Build a video resume

For most students, the job search starts even before graduation. A video resume helps students highlight the skills they acquired and the experience they gained during college. And, given the global workforce, a  video resume is a great supplement to a paper resume, especially when applying for remote or distant positions where an in-person interview may not be an option.

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I Have My Students Create “Fakebook” Profiles for Historical Figures

And it’s one of my favorite projects that we do all year.

I love to engage my middle school students by incorporating one of their favorite things: social media. And one of their all-time favorites is the Fakebook project.

Here’s how it works:

Students use their notes to create a Facebook-style social media profile for a historical figure. What I love most about this assignment is that it allows students to express their humor and creativity. Since nearly every chapter contains numerous notable figures, this project is versatile and can be used for virtually any chapter or subject area.

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A Fakebook lesson plan, step by step

The directions, rubric, and examples here accompany my sixth grade world history unit on ancient Egypt. While I expect their information to be relevant and accurate, I give them some creative license by allowing them to use modern phrases and hashtags.

Here’s a list of what I ask my students to include in their Fakebook profiles:

• A profile picture
• Five Facebook-style statuses. For  example: Hatshepsut is on her way to Punt for a trade expedition!
• Three interests or likes.  For example: Senusret likes mines filled with gold and amethyst
• Three comments from fictitious people ruled by that pharaoh. For  example: Tut commented to Ramses II: Thanks for keeping us safe from enemies! You are a great military leader!

I encourage my students to create their Fakebook page using a small piece of poster board, construction paper, Google Docs (format: two columns), or Google Drawings to keep it simple.

My more tech-savvy kids sometimes use other programs, if they are familiar with them. I am aware that there are a few templates available for online Fakebook pages. However, in the past my students have had trouble with the save feature, losing all of their hard work before it was handed in or complete. The templates I’ve seen also have tons of ads and do not look aesthetically pleasing. I’ve also experimented with paper templates, but they can be quite restrictive as they have limited space. They are great to use as a guideline, but I personally only use them as a reference for the set up of a Facebook profile for students who aren’t familiar with the platform.

I include Student goes above and beyond by including additional information under the requirements section of the rubric because this assignment leaves a lot of room for creativity. My goal is for students to put their own unique spin on the project, therefore I like to make the rubric flexible.

This project has always been a huge hit in my classroom. The students entertain themselves and one another endlessly with their ideas and get a real kick out of modernizing different historical figures. I find it works especially well with the Founding Fathers of the United States and various world leaders. The best thing about this assignment is that it’s FUN! The students enjoy themselves while creating high-quality work by applying the knowledge that they have of the class material. It’s a great form of assessment for teachers and an engaging, creative activity for our kids.

We’d love to hear—how do you incorporate social media into your lessons?   Come and share in our  WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group  on Facebook.

Plus, How to Use Social Media as a Teacher .

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Social Media Lesson: Social Media Stress in Teens

Spread the word:

While I do my stress management unit with my 7th graders, one thing always pops up as a stressor: social media. My students talk about everything from feeling like to need to buy cooler things to feeling like they need to look differently after comparing themselves to their peers and to celebrities online. Ironically, I got an idea for a lesson while scrolling Instagram. Social media can be awesome too, after all. If social media is a stressor for your students, keep reading to find the social media lesson that was a huge hit with my middle school students!

To kick things off, I had my students work with a partner to talk about this: how might social media affect your mental and emotional health? There were some really insightful thoughts that came from this activity:

• Can social media have positive and negative influences?
• If you don’t use social media, can it still affect your mental health?
• Can you get addicted to social media?

After this discussion, we watched a TedTalk about exactly this. Many of the students’ questions were answered by this talk!

Afterward, we talked about highlight reels and social currency. This really resonated with my students, as they said they often deleted pictures that didn’t get enough likes or felt the need to constantly check how many likes they get.

At this point, I had a few students who shared that they had actually deleted certain social media apps and talked about how they felt better. Others chimed in to say that they just unfollow accounts that make them feel bad about themselves. Some students said they could never delete apps or unfollow people for fear of being left out or making others upset. I was happy to sit back and let them take the lead on this discussion and it was a really productive talk! But at the end we arrived at one question: how can teens use social media in a way that doesn’t cause unnecessary stress?

Instagram Inspiration

You might remember I mentioned that my inspiration for this lesson came from Instagram. One of my favorite accounts to follow is Positively Present by Dani DiPirro. She’s an artist who posts encouraging, inspiration, and funny illustrations that I always find myself saving. She created an illustration of “apps I need on my phone,” and I knew this would be the perfect thing to show my students.

Creative Activity:

Then, I challenged my students to create their own phone apps to describe things that create happiness in their lives instead of stress. There were some really insightful responses like hugs from parents, puppy snuggles, time with a book, and more. I won’t post any of the students’ work here, but I will share the exemplar I made to show them:

Is social media a stressor for your students? This activity was loose and mostly student-led, which is what I loved about it! You can download the free outline and handout for the social media lesson here . It was a great way to get those students who do experience social media-related stress to think about alternative activities where they can put their attention.

Published by Counselor Keri

Keri Powers, MA EdHD, MEd, NCC I am a mental health counselor turned school counselor and curriculum writer hoping to spark social, emotional, and academic growth! This school counseling blog will deliver fresh ideas to help you deliver your best program yet! View all posts by Counselor Keri

One thought on “ Social Media Lesson: Social Media Stress in Teens ”

Love this lesson plan. I think I’ll offer it to my gr. 6/7/8 classes at the beginning of next school year!

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