A classroom Instagram account is the perfect platform for teachers to show what is going on in the classroom. The sole purpose of doing this is to encourage and help other teachers learn unique methods, see every photo someone likes on Instagram to learn the teaching methods of other academicians, and more importantly, celebrate the achievements of students. Here is a quick guide on how you can set up a classroom Instagram account in a few simple steps.
- Decide on your target audience
Depending upon the material you have at hand, you will have to determine the audience you want to target. For example, an elementary school teacher will have other elementary school teachers as their main audience. However, you can always put up posts that are meant for more than one group.
- Have a clear understanding of school policies
Many schools have strict policies about the use of social media in the school setting. Here are some things that you need to know if you want to create a class Instagram account:
- Are you allowed to posts pictures of your students?
- Are you allowed to use the name of your school on your posts?
- Are you supposed to provide the details of your account to the administration?
- Are you allowed to interact with your students on social media?
Most school policies will provide clear answers to these students. But, if you want to be extra cautious, you should ask your administration for clear guidelines.
- Settle upon public or a private account
You will probably find the answer to this on your school’s social media policies. Most schools have social media release forms, which allow you to publish photos of the students on the internet. If you are not sure about these forms, however, it is best to set your account to private. Otherwise, you will be within your rights to set up a public account.
- Determine how to interact with your students
This should also be answered on your school social media policy guidelines. Usually, teachers and students are free to interact on the school’s social media page. However, it is against school policies for the students and teachers to interact separately.
Instagram as an instructional tool
There are plenty of ways in which you can use your school’s Instagram account for educational purposes –
- Instead of creating PowerPoint presentations, you may find all the information you need on an Instagram page.
- Exploring hashtags will help your students learn the art of building a community of like-minded individuals.
- At a later stage in their school career, you can have your students manage the Instagram page for them to learn the nuances of digital citizenship. In a highly digitized world, proper knowledge of the ethics of digital citizenship will help students later in their life.
- You can also create small contests and competitions on your page to encourage students to prepare their lessons for a small giveaway.