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One of the immediate benefits that the internet has always had was allowing people to connect instantaneously regardless of distance or location. This capability has yielded a number of benefits including instant text communication, long-distance video calls, and in more recent years, instant learning from preferred teachers, regardless of where the person comes from. Whereas before, a school or an educational program would have to seek the services of experts that lived near their facilities or were willing to relocate to their area, thus cutting the pool of potential teachers by a significant amount. Through internet learning, and in particular, social media, this barrier has been eliminated almost entirely. To that extent, it might be interesting to get a glimpse of how social media has influenced learning or has integrated the practice entirely.

There are more formal measures like web services and sign-up sites that directly offer classes. These days, people see advertising on their own social media sites for places like Masterclass or Skillshare, who offer video training programs hosted and taught by known experts in a particular field, such as Masterclass having Serena Williams teach tennis or James Patterson teach novel writing (Rudin, 2019). In a sense, Masterclass and Skillshare run similar to university-run online programs. However, the difference is that there are no formal requirements to sign up for these websites, just a filled-out registration form not that much different from Facebook or Twitter. Of course, there’s the matter of payment for the classes. To sweeten that pot, however, is that these websites even feature a social media-like feature where they can exclusively interact and collaborate with other students signed up for that class, and even at times, the star instructor (Rudin, 2019). However, social media-influenced learning does not stop here.

Some local teachers or professors might opt to use Facebook or Instagram as a way to integrate lessons, or at the very least, keep these lines of communication open so that students can contact them for question. This at least cuts out the hassle of having to show up in person all the time. Similarly, classmates can work together without being physically near each other, all thanks to places like Skype, Facebook Messenger, and Google Meet, programs that facilitate live video calls from any smart device or computer. Again, there is a return to the importance of instant connectivity, instant sharing, and the breaking down of distance-related barriers in order to deliver the best possible, at any time. Ultimately, learning can only be enhanced by social media in general.

Source:

Rudin, D.S. (2019). The idea that successful people can teach their secrets isn’t new. Vox. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/1/16/18177077/masterclass-subscription-video-serena-williams-how-to-famous