Here is a link to my A1 assignment. I review the benefits and downfalls of using a popular app called TikTok as a tool for teachers. I would love to hear your feedback and if anyone uses TikTok I would love to follow you and your journey online!
https://sway.office.com/Zq29w4ycUHESHcUh?ref=Link
That math teacher has a fantastic voice. And I learned that rectangles can be squares. Who knew?!
I love the idea of using TikTok to engage with students. But I can’t see myself using it – I think my students would see me doing it as being a try hard. I wanted to try an Instagram based project last semester but I got some concerned looks from colleagues and some pushback from kids, so I just dropped it. God bless anyone who can pull it off and engage authentically with their students though, as you mentioned in your project. The drawbacks you mentioned are all real – but I don’t think it’s really what should prevent us from diving in. Those realities exist with or with a teacher led activity. And as you mentioned on your site, lessons around digital citizenship are always a good choice!
“Instead of fighting it, I’m finding ways to engage with it in my classroom.” Kathryn Byars, High school teacher (Klein, 2019).
This quote stood out for me because it is essentially, “If you can’t beat them, join them”. Although I haven’t used TikTok yet as my students just tell me all they do is learn dances or watch funny videos on it, which doesn’t particularly interest me, I can see value in education in the format of it. TikTok videos are essentially 1 minute long videos that need to get its point across quickly. You provided many great examples of how TikTok is already used effectively by educators and students. I’ve used templates that mimicked Facebook and Instagram for projects where students need to analyze characters, so it wouldn’t be too big of a stretch to come up with projects that mimic TikTok as well.
As James said, the worry of using these actual apps is the blurred line between teacher and students. There are ways around it where teachers make separate accounts for their “teacher life” compared to their personal life. And from the student’s side, if TikTok implements something similar to Instastories where you could choose to post to your “Close Friends” group, send to a specific account, or to post to everyone, the line can become more clear as long as the student uses those functions correctly and has the maturity to handle it. A huge emphasis on digital safety and citizenship would be needed to educate students on proper use before this becomes a mainstream tool in education.
I love this! I considered TikTok for my A1, as I think it has a lot of educational potential, as well. I downloaded the app not too long ago, and I’ve enjoy discovering how folks use the app creatively and to share educational opportunities with others. The #howto, #skillbuilding and #plantlover videos trending today have been fantastic.
One functionality of TikTok I think is great for educational use is the ability to create a video, post it privately for only your view, and then download it. Educators and students could then share the video as they wish instead of having to publish for everyone to see.
Hey Mel,
I will have to check out those hashtags sometime.
I agree, being able to download the video and then hand it into the teacher using the school platform is a good function of the app that would limit having to follow the students or publicly display their assignment. I am looking forward to asking for TikTok videos as an option for assignments in the future. Do you see yourself using Tiktok as an educational tool?
Hi Katlyn,
This topic makes me smile. It looks so fun to incorporate TikTok into assignments and projects. I appreciate the balance of your presentation, where you demonstrated both the positives and the negatives. You mentioned that you would try it in the future, what sort of videos would you make? Would it be instructional content? I thought it might be an excellent introduction to a project where they could use Tiktok as an optional presentation tool. I have limited experience with TikTok, but more and more, I am receiving videos with questions from my students in this way. I didn’t even realize that the videos could be without music. I had the exact same reaction as James, I looked at Tiktok as another social media tool that teachers were asked to be removed from like when Facebook became public. I am worried about privacy issues and blurred lines between the student’s educational and social lives. Do you think from the research you completed that there is an upwards trend to include Tiktok as an educational tool?
Hi Kristin,
If I were to use TikTok in the future I would be looking to make creative instructional content for concepts that require more repetition so students could watch it when needed and have the video be really short. I also like the idea of giving students the option to create a tiktok as an assignment, it really encourages creativity and the ability to summarize the concept into 90 seconds or less. From what I found there are more teachers allow students to create tiktoks for assignments and having them hand it is using whatever school platform they have, that appears to be the most common thus far.
Thank you for this, Katlyn! My brother-in-law actually works for TikTok (in the London, UK office, but focusing on the Czech market), so I’ve taken some time to familiarize myself with the app. I definitely think it’s an interesting app, though I haven’t really looked at it as an educational tool because I’m worried about all the cons of its use, namely the fact that it’s a public forum where a lot of hypersexualized messages are displayed (and I agree, there is a stigma with teachers that use it). I appreciate that you highlighted positive educational uses beyond simply the building connections between teachers and students. We used to be warned not to befriend students on Facebook, and connecting through TikTok feels like a parallel to that with a lot of blurred lines. I have to admit I take issue with those teachers using the platform to be “the cool teacher”; I worry about boundaries being unnecessarily pushed by those more comfortable with risk and healthy barriers between teachers and students being broken. At the same time, if the videos are used in a catchy but instructional manner, I see how it might build interest and help students with understanding and memorization, like that video about transformation and reflections. I’m definitely curious to check out more educational TikTok accounts now.
Hey James,
I totally agree with you about the issues surrounding teachers on social media. Voiding social media publicly was definitely ingrained in me during my education and is something I am very much so on the fence with. This is why I wanted to explore further how it could be used in a more educational manner. There is some really great Math tiktoks out there! If I was teaching Math this semester I may have given it a try.