The One With A Kesha Song
For months, students of mine were talking about Tik Tok and making jokes about things they saw on Tik Tok. They'd ask me if I saw the hottest new video and I stared blankly. I had NO clue what Tik Tok was. This is one of those times I felt old and like one of the Digital Immigrants I've talked a lot about. I am pretty with it when it comes to social media and the latest trends, but this one I must have blinked and missed it. Another new social media craze had appeared and taken the world by storm. To me, I hear Tik Tok and I think of a fun, upbeat song by Kesha that I listened to in college.
To be honest, I still don't understand the Tik Tok phenomenon. I don't have an account, have probably only seen a handful of videos, by accident, but all I know is the younger generations love it! But why? What is so great about making silly little videos for everyone to see? Maybe because it allows people to be more creative than they can in just posting a picture to Instagram or a 400 character Tweet. But can't we post short videos on all the other social networking sites? And wasn't there something called Vine that came and went rather quickly? So, why is this different and how can it actually benefit these younger generations and not just be another silly platform for them to possibly embarrass themselves and post something they will likely look back on in years from now and regret. Remember those digital footprints we are constantly making on the Internet. To me, this is a prime example of a social network that will cause more problems and tarnish that online reputation than do good.
There must be something about Tik Tok that we can benefit from. So I did some research and my findings really opened my eyes to what we can get out of this application. Tik Tok enables everyone to be a creator, and encourages users to share their passion and creative expression through their videos. As an educator, I talk a lot about the importance of letting students be creators and engage in their own learning. Maybe Tik Tok can be another application and platform to aid in that. According to an article on Education Week, teachers around the country are using Tik Tok to teach some rather boring topics. Letting students make a Tik Tok about the Missouri Compromise, compare and contrast the historical trade routes and to share inventions of the Industrial Revolution. Allowing students to learn the material in a way they relate too, well, most educators will tell you that is the key to success. I thought Tik Tok was just another app on their phones to distract them from learning, but seems if you use it correctly by proving structure and guidance, it can really be another key learning tool to use in the classroom.
To be honest, I still don't understand the Tik Tok phenomenon. I don't have an account, have probably only seen a handful of videos, by accident, but all I know is the younger generations love it! But why? What is so great about making silly little videos for everyone to see? Maybe because it allows people to be more creative than they can in just posting a picture to Instagram or a 400 character Tweet. But can't we post short videos on all the other social networking sites? And wasn't there something called Vine that came and went rather quickly? So, why is this different and how can it actually benefit these younger generations and not just be another silly platform for them to possibly embarrass themselves and post something they will likely look back on in years from now and regret. Remember those digital footprints we are constantly making on the Internet. To me, this is a prime example of a social network that will cause more problems and tarnish that online reputation than do good.
There must be something about Tik Tok that we can benefit from. So I did some research and my findings really opened my eyes to what we can get out of this application. Tik Tok enables everyone to be a creator, and encourages users to share their passion and creative expression through their videos. As an educator, I talk a lot about the importance of letting students be creators and engage in their own learning. Maybe Tik Tok can be another application and platform to aid in that. According to an article on Education Week, teachers around the country are using Tik Tok to teach some rather boring topics. Letting students make a Tik Tok about the Missouri Compromise, compare and contrast the historical trade routes and to share inventions of the Industrial Revolution. Allowing students to learn the material in a way they relate too, well, most educators will tell you that is the key to success. I thought Tik Tok was just another app on their phones to distract them from learning, but seems if you use it correctly by proving structure and guidance, it can really be another key learning tool to use in the classroom.
I'm right there with you in using TikTok! But, I decided to try new things as the course progresses and guess what? I'm on TikTok, observing the platform, just that! Swipe up and down, left and right! It has been more than a month and I started to see a pattern related to what I'm interested in (e.g., #houseplants) and I'm decorating my room. I'm learning a lot about house planting and how I can manage to elevate the mood of my room! There're so many house plant experts on TikTok, I mean they're REALLY experts! And they're great learning resources for someone like me who knows almost nothing about house planting, but just interested in!
ReplyDeletePlus, you brought up a great point. I've tried to make a video clip and it was quite difficult for me and I thought that those who create video clips really learn some skills even if it's not so explicit something to be learned. In that case, students will also be improving maybe their digital literacies. I liked the idea of exploring TikTok world in education, why not? :)
Actually I'm sharing my TikTok experiences in my own blog. Want to take a look at it? I would love to hear from you (https://omereme6414.blogspot.com/). And here is a link to my 'silly' TikTok compilation. 'Girl don't do it it's not worth it! I'm not gonna do it girl, I'm just thinking about it! I did it!' See, how I even learned the lyrics... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cde8FKhjSZI). Have you seen or heard this before?
I have not heard of that "Girl dont do it" before. See, I am behind the times. This is what I dealt with when talking to my high school students-- never heard of any of the Tik Tok videos they were referring too! The compilation was very funny!
DeleteI think I need to make an account and start seeing for myself what its all about! From your blog, it seems as though you can actually learn things from it, which I like!
As soon as I saw the work TikTok on your blog I clicked to keep reading. It has become such a huge thing with teenagers that I am looking for any way to integrate it. If you can't beat them, join them....right? As a cheerleading coach, we are already using dance moves from TikTok, but as a classroom teacher it becomes harder to do this. And them the students sometimes don't want these worlds to collide. Just recently, I did a rap battle project for Romeo & Juliet. I let the students use what ever software/tool they wanted to perform/film the battle. I even allowed them to use TikTok. Some of them chose to do so. I figured starting small and simple like this was a good way to start and let them explore how to use tools like this for producing for more than just fun.
ReplyDeleteJess, I like the way you applied TikTok/media tools to your rap battle project. It is brilliant! If I were your student, I would enjoy it a lot. I haven't used TikTok, but I saw people uploaded TikTok videos on Instagram as well. It is a popular social media tool for sure. They all look goofy for me so far, but I can see the possibilities to utilize it in learning settings.
DeleteI still don't really understand TikTok well, but perhaps we can sort it out together this summer. I'm about to draft my 11 year old to be my expert.
ReplyDelete