TikTok Teachers
By Katlyn Paslawski on May 20, 2020
Searching through the world of mobile technology I came across the post of TIKTOK Teachers. The title itself intrigue my interest. I recently discovered TIKTOK and I am finding myself scrolling from minutes to hours. The algorithm of TIKTOK has also peaked my interest. TIKTOK developers seen the bigger picture and possibility of their app. The app itself proves that no matter where you are on planet Earth, individuals can share experiences, knowledge, perspectives and events with the world. That also depends on the interests the individual decides to like. The idea of TIKTOK and education can be a double edged sword. Katlyn Paslawski also indicated it can be used for bullying, inappropriate content, numerous negative individuals and privacy issues. If TIKTOK is used to transfer knowledge from teacher to student the app needs to be monitored by an adult.
Thank you for writing this post Katlyn! I absolutely love using TikTok in my Spanish class. We use it to make Spanish skits, teach Spanish phrases, share vocab, and connect with the Spanish culture. Of course, TikTok is filled with “bullying, inappropriate content, numerous negative individuals and privacy issues” as you mentioned, and yes, it is very difficult to filter and effectively control for learning, but all these things can be modified and avoided with time and experience. I have used it ever since it came out and have learned how to manage all the issues mentioned above. For instance, first I get parent approvals at the begging of the course (there’s the odd parent that will not allow their child to engage with this learning tool). Then I have all my students create an account, create a new account, or use their existent one. I then show them how to turn on “Restricted Mode” under “Digital wellbeing” in Settings and Privacy to control inappropriate material. Every day at the beginning of class I ensure that is turned on. Most of my students are very good following procedures and expectations (I mostly due this with grade 12 Spanish, more trustworthy and mature). To support this even more, I activate “family pairing” on the app itself and become a “parent” to the TikTok account and even show parents this setting, and trust me, they love me for it. I even show them how to modify “content preferences” so that we only get Spanish TikToks and cultural Spanish content. With all these actions in place I give my class a new fun and safe tool to help us engage in the learning. If you have any questions, concerns, suggestions, or tips for me, please leave a comment on the section below!
Hey Katlyn, fascinating post! I’ve been pondering about using Tic Toc in my classroom, the students seem to love it and since I’m a music teacher it seems like a great resource to access and share music content. However, whenever I give the option of students posting performance assignments on Tic Toc or suggest using it in the classroom student are overwhelmingly against it. Which is very interesting…….On another note, Tic Toc has become a game-changer in the music industry, if you have a trending song an unknown indie artists can become world famous in a matter of weeks. I’ve even noticed songwriters are making songs shorter, this year alone the average pop song became 30 seconds shorter and a number of the songs that make it big on Tic Toc are even shorter. I find this very fascinating! Anyway, to sum up, my rambling, Tic Tok is definitely, a knowledge tool that presents many opportunities for learning and engagement however based on my experience students seem to want to access it on their own terms and not have it become part of their schooling.