Instagram
Introduction: Instagram is one of the more popular apps used in the world
today. Along with Twitter and Facebook, Instagram provides social networking
opportunities for students. It also can be used for educational purposes.
Tool identification: Instagram is an app that allows users to capture, edit, and
share images and short (as in 15 seconds or less) videos using their mobile
devices. People can comment on their images, and they can upload the images to
Facebook and Twitter, for even more sharing and discussion. Others can tag and
comment on what is uploaded, similar to other social media sites. Millennials are
the dominant users (some sources say this app is preferred over Facebook or
Twitter), but others also use this tool.
How to get the tool: Because this is an app, you will need to download it via
Apple’s App Store or Google Play. You can edit photos on your computer via
www.instagram.com . You do need to create an account, with a username and
password. This app is free.
How to use the tool: This tool can be used in many different ways:
1. Describe a concept: Students can take photos, edit them, and share them with
their classmates to demonstrate understanding of a concept or theory.
2. Research a subject: Have students research a subject’s presence on campus by
taking photos of images throughout campus. Perhaps it’s theories of gender and
space, or variation of art throughout campus, or depictions of history or
marketing on campus, or depiction of race and ethnicity , students can take
photos and analyze what they see or what they mean.
3. Discussion Prompt: Upload a photo with a discussion question and have
students discuss what it is, why you uploaded it, what it means to them, what it
means in terms of the lesson for the day…
4. Discussion of Ethics and Privacy: Use photos or have students find photos that
they think may be unethical or break a privacy barrier. This is a great opportunity
to discuss the pluses and minuses of social media and sharing among a group of
students who may not have considered that issue.
5. Promotion of upcoming event: This could be used by clubs to promote their
upcoming events, but also by students to promote class project poster sessions,
surveys, and other events in their classes
6. Photoessay: Instead of having students write an essay about a subject in the
course, challenge them with a photo essay that demonstrates a thesis in action as
they upload images.
Conclusion: Students enjoy creativity with various social media tools. Why not
harness that interest and let their creativity shine in your course?