Special Ed in Social Media: Under-Represented?
Special education needs to receive particular and distinctive attention because it involves teaching and learning styles that are distinct in comparison to regular or traditional teaching.
With social media taking the world by storm it is fair to ask the question of whether or not special education is being under represented.
How can social media be applied to special education and how can special education in turn benefit from social media and its applications?
1. Online Communication
Social media has become the main form of communication for people in all countries. There has never been such an incredible vehicle for communication as the social media and not using it to the advantage of the educational needs of children would be a mistake to say the least.
Social media can be a helpful resource for parents of special education students and provides them with an excellent opportunity to discuss with each other the various challenges their children face every day. This is an excellent way for these parents to gain some insight into the way that various students manage their educational goals from the perspective of other parents.
2. Benefits for Teachers
Social media can certainly be a great benefit for teachers of special education students. In such a venue they are able to propose ideas for successful educational techniques to other teachers and discuss any tools available that have worked well in their classrooms.
This is a great asset for these educators to find the best educational strategies that are working for other teachers and spread the word. Additionally, social media allows these individuals to express concerns they have for the overall education of these students and ways that they can change things for the better. They are able to work with one another to perfect suggestions and concepts for the teaching of these students and help these students at home for better performance in school.
3. How Social Media Benefits Special Education
Special education not only benefits from social media in the way that parents and educators can learn from one another about the challenges faced for these students, but can be a terrific vehicle for those charitable organizations working to help promote special education.
These various foundations and fundraising groups have a tremendous opportunity to enlighten the world regarding the many students who have special education needs and a lack of available funding for many of the programs that could provide better opportunities for these students.
Although social media started out as a great way for friends and family to keep in touch it has come into its own as both the hub for social networking as well as an amazing tool for generating awareness of business and social responsibilities. The special education needs of students are beginning to take a significant place in social media and continue to grow in awareness for many who frequent online networks.
The vast number of individuals that can be reached through social media is more than enough to warrant the use of these tools for further special education needs- understanding new media psychology also plays a big part in understanding psychological effects of new media and how to best work those into special education needs.
How do you think social media will be used in the future to help special education students?
