Using Social Media in Teaching History: Pros and Cons from Teachers’ Perspectives

Abstract

This project paper discusses about using social media as a tool in teaching history. In this 21st century the whole world is witnessing the rapid growth of technology. The usage of social media has become a part of our daily life in this era. There has been explosive growth in the number of social media sites and the numbers of social media users keeps increasing. This study examines the effectiveness of social media in teaching history. This study used qualitative approach in an exploratory case-study to understand the perspectives of teachers’ using social media in teaching history. A total of 5 research participant who took part in this study were interviewed during data collection for this study. Data collection was done using a semi structured interview with open ended questions. Those respondents selected are history teachers who has various experience in teaching history. Both teacher and students are willing to use social media in education and enhance the educational experience thru the latest technology development. Most of the historical facts are in the form of video, images, and graphics. In this case, using social media as an effective platform to teach history is an undeniable fact. This study also suggests that using excessive social media would arise many problems among students. Researcher also suggest that there is a need of training to evaluate use of social media in teaching history and enhance the abilities to use the available social media sites.