social media presentation for college students

Social Media in Higher Education: 14 Essential Tips

As Gen Z goes to college, establishing a presence on social media has never been more important for higher education institutions.

Table of Contents

Social media usage is now the standard for higher education institutions. From student relations to recruitment to fundraising to crisis management, it’s a powerful communications tool for post-secondary institutions of all stripes.

That’s why we’ll be digging into the expanding role of social media in higher education in this post. Read on to learn how to use social tools to build your institutional reputation and foster a sense of collegiate community.

Download a free bundle of social media tools designed specifically for universities and colleges — including post ideas, a social policy template, a social media strategy template, and alumni reachout templates.

Advantages of social media in higher education

Social media is relevant at just about every level of education , but it can seriously benefit higher education institutions to understand how social tools work. If you work in the post-secondary world, here are some of the main advantages of learning the tricks of the social media trade.

Promote your values and achievements

Social media use in higher education is significant in setting the tone on campus. Promote and represent the kind of culture your school aims to cultivate by making your institution’s mission and values known.

It’s a way to show students (past, present, and future) that you share values with them. This is critical, given that value alignment can inform everything from small purchases to major life decisions.

Tufts shared its commitment to democracy with a video series spotlighting its faculty.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Tufts University 🐘 (@tuftsuniversity)

Whether you’re broadcasting commitments to sustainability, investments in the community, or advances in medical research, bragging isn’t just a chance to show off. It lets prospective students, faculty, and partners know they’re welcome and supported. It can communicate the types of behavior that won’t be tolerated, too.

Promoting your achievements also gives your current class and alumni a chance to take a little pride in their alma mater. So go on: show off! Take followers on a tour of your state-of-the-art labs, announce award-winning research, highlight student accomplishments, or rally school spirit by celebrating athletic victories.

The University of British Columbia, for instance, shared its recent collaboration with clothing brand Lululemon, highlighting its innovative research into technical fabrics.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by University of British Columbia (@universityofbc)

Connect with alumni and boost fundraising efforts

If you work in higher education, you already know that alumni are a major source of fundraising contributions. And if you’re looking to connect with graduates, social media is here to help.

Colleges and universities can use social networks to maintain connections to graduates. In fact, there are plenty of schools that maintain social accounts that are specifically geared to alumni relations—for instance, Facebook accounts to bring together alumni from specific cities.

Social can also be a great publicity tool for fundraising events, like Columbia University’s annual Giving Day campaign.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Columbia University (@columbia)

Social fundraising campaigns are a way to empower alumni, students, staff, and faculty to be active advocates for the school. Integrate these social campaigns with a CRM system. This will allow you to attribute funds, measure ROI , and see the cold-hard proof that your big Instagram push was a success.

Learn how to use social media to support enrollment, retention, and reputation management — and see real results from your marketing investment.

Take advantage of UGC (user-generated content)

Your campus is jam-packed with digital natives. On TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, and beyond, students are creating content around the clock. In other words: you’ve got a wealth of authentic student posts at your fingertips to help boost your institution’s profile.

Take advantage of all this juicy content with a hashtag like the University of Alabama’s #wherelegendsaremade. And encourage students to use it as they share photos and videos across various social media platforms.

You can even repost the best ones (crediting the authors, of course) on your official channels.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Alabama Football Lover (@loveralabamafootball)

Social media contests encourage students to share content you can use. Simple rewards like university logo clothing work well as motivational prizes. Plus, those promotional clothing items will likely appear in later posts, organically promoting the university.

Develop new learning opportunities

Social media in higher education presents powerful opportunities for creative thinking and presentation. As important as traditional information sources like books and academic journals are, social media can be a valid research or communication tool. Maybe students could use a course-based hashtag to collect Tweets and discuss their impact or meaning, or dive deep into Facebook for a critical look at misinformation and propaganda in the 21st century.

This Memorial University course used Twitter as a discussion forum: students discussed readings and research for their Human Kinetics and Recreation 1000 course using the hashtag #HKR1000.

#HKR1000 Term Assignment #1 is due today by 3:59pm (NL time)! You need 21 days of mood checks (MC); submit your mood heat map, total # of MC bar graph, and 250-300 word analysis of your moods in 1 docx. Look for patterns! Submit early to mitigate any technical issues! — Laura Squires (@MUNles162) October 26, 2021

The A. Holly Patterson Library at Nassau Community College provides resources for instructors to incorporate social media education in assignments. These include guides on information literacy and spotting fake news.

The importance of social media in higher education

Social media is a prolific and popular communication tool in our modern society: the way most people in the Western world build connections and exchange information. More than 4.6 billion people around the world use some form of social media—that’s more than 75 percent of the eligible global population.

Not every university should feel compelled to run out and start a TikTok account . But to ignore social media overall is to miss an opportunity to quickly and easily share important messages, build community, and expand your institution’s profile.

New York University, for instance, uses Twitter to share news about expanding their campus, exciting academic publications, new scholarships, and more. These posts reach 184,000 followers.

We couldn't resist SPRINKLING a little SWEETNESS around campus as students head into the final stretch of the semester. 🧁 Study well, NYU! 💜 pic.twitter.com/susnKNjDPC — New York University (@nyuniversity) December 13, 2022

Social media is flexible and approachable. It brings people together, and offers a platform for sharing important information.

If your job as a higher education institution is to educate and inform, consider your social media accounts to be digital classrooms. They are spaces where all are welcome to come and learn more about you, your accomplishments, and your values.

Meet students where they’re at with the tool that makes it easy to engage, recruit, schedule, measure, and win.

Using social media in higher education: 14 essential tips

Here’s how higher education institutions can make the most of their social media accounts.

1. Attract new students and staff

A recent study by Niche Partners found 73% of aspiring students use social media to research schools. Make it easy for students to picture their future at your university. Showcase college life with virtual tours (l ike this one of Wegner Library from Harvard ) and student takeovers.

Feature the clubs, communities, and social opportunities attendees can get involved in. Show off the campus, or a super-fun football game (wee see you, U or Idaho Vandals!). Help them understand the benefits your institution offers beyond academic study.

@uidahovandals POV your first home football game 🏈 Too many things to love about it. What’s your favorite? ⬇️ #vandalfootball #kibbiedome #uidaho #vandals ♬ original sound – University of Idaho

2. Listen as much as you share

Social media is a powerful broadcasting tool, but it can be a great space for listening, too.

Students are conversing, interacting, calling out their profs, airing complaints, participating in trends, critiquing cafeteria food, and engaging in rousing debate. This chatter can offer some intriguing insights into life on campus or highlight issues that are bubbling under the surface.

All this makes it essential to conduct active social listening , monitoring key accounts, hashtags and keywords to keep yourself in the loop.

Here’s an intro to social listening using Hootsuite streams.

3. Establish social media guidelines and policies

With so many people and accounts involved, it’s important to establish guidelines and policies to keep everyone on track. Solid documentation helps streamline onboarding, promotes best practices, and maintains a unified voice across channels.

Your complete set of higher education social media guidelines should include:

• A social media style guide
• Guidelines for dealing with negative messages
• A crisis communications and emergency management plan
• Social media policies
• Social media compliance agreements
• Contact information for relevant members of the social team
• Links to social media training opportunities
• Mental health resources

It may seem like a lot of ground to cover. But thorough guidelines provide crucial support to social managers. They also empower students and faculty to participate in an independent and authentic way. As a bonus, they reduce the need for support from the core team.

See the latest data and discover the top social media trends specific to education — and craft a strategy that’s too cool for school.

4. Share important updates in real time

No one hopes for crises or emergencies. But it’s important for institutions to plan for them . People increasingly look to social media for real-time updates and information, so social should be a key part of your crisis communications plan.

Think ahead about how you might address faculty drama, on-campus criminal activity, or even natural disasters, so that your communications team isn’t caught off-guard when the unthinkable happens. Rumors travel fast on social media, so ensure you take charge of chaotic situations with clear, concise messaging to help quell concerns early.

Even something like a bad snow day—like the one Simon Fraser University faced recently—may require a public announcement. Social is a great place to spread the word about the status on campus, or safety precautions.

All SFU campuses are open today, Dec 1. Remember to exercise caution and give yourself extra time as you make your way to campus. Visit https://t.co/rkT0MxjdGS for transit alerts and check https://t.co/s9I0q6OhCb and the SFU road report for the latest commuting conditions. pic.twitter.com/hkyFiDebba — Simon Fraser University (@SFU) December 1, 2022

Crisis communication can go beyond an on-campus scandal or weather disruption. It’s expected, in 2023, that institutions and corporations alike respond to social movements as well. Social media can be used to share concrete action plans to address social or institutional issues as they arise.

5. Streamline your social media operations

Higher ed social media operations tend to involve a lot of people… even more channels. Bring everyone and everything together with a central hub. With the support of a tool like Hootsuite , a core team can monitor all channels from a central dashboard.

This makes life easier for often under-resourced social managers. Use the dashboard to assign tasks, approve and schedule posts, coordinate content from contacts across the campus, and mobilize in the event of a crisis.

6. Reply to all messages

Speaking of streamlined — you’ll never miss a single message from a candidate, existing student, or alum if your team uses one inbox to manage all social media communications.

With Hootsuite Inbox, you can bridge the gap between social media engagement and customer service — and manage all of your social media messages in one place . This includes:

• Private messages and DMs
• Public messages and posts on your profiles
• Dark and organic comments
• Emoji reactions

… and more.

The all-in-one agent workspace makes it easy to 

• Track the history of any individual’s interactions with your digital campus on social media (across your accounts and platforms), giving your team the context needed to personalize replies
• Add notes to profiles that interact with you the most (Inbox integrates with Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics)
• Handle messages as a team, with intuitive message queues, task assignments, statuses, and filters
• Track response times and CSAT metrics

Book a free demo

Plus, Inbox comes with handy automations:

• Automated message routing
• Auto-responses and saved replies
• Automatically triggered customer satisfaction surveys
• AI-powered chatbot features

7. Engage students on and off-campus

A key advantage of social media in higher education is that it allows students to connect. That might be from home, different campuses, work study programs, or at a conference.

Not all students live on campus. That doesn’t mean they’re less motivated to engage and participate in student life.

Create a social media group to rally students. Base them on wide-ranging topics, interests, experiences, and activities. For instance, University of Chicago runs a Civic Engagement page to bring together students looking for community service and activism opportunities.

https://www.facebook.com/UChiEngagement/posts/6042083772488749

8. Livestream campus life

Nearly a third of all internet users report watching at least one video live stream each week.

And can you blame them? Live streaming is authentic, engaging, and—we won’t deny it—a little bit thrilling. Social media makes it incredibly simple to broadcast campus life to the world.

Whether a private livestream just for students of a particular class, or putting a commencement speech up for the world to see, it just takes a few taps to livestream on most social media platforms.

Check out our full guide to livestreaming on social here.

9. Develop a social media strategy

Behind every successful social media channel, there’s a strategy at play. Add more channels to the picture, and the need for strategy increases. But so do the challenges.

It’s an enormous challenge to create a strategy for a multi-channel organization, but it starts with creating an overarching social media marketing strategy for the institution itself. Then, each individual department or account should align its specific strategy back to the university’s core objectives. This creates a clear business case for social media and allows managers to better allocate resources.

Bonus: Download a free bundle of social media tools designed specifically for universities and colleges — including post ideas, a social policy template, a social media strategy template, and alumni reachout templates.

10. Pore over your analytics

Sure, you might be able to gauge student sentiment on campus by measuring the number of sweatshirts sold from the gift shop, or eavesdropping in the cafeteria. But social media analytics offers accurate data to help you understand your audience quantitatively.

Maybe you’re hoping to drive more traffic to your website or reach a specific demographic of potential students. With social media metrics , it’s clear as day how close you’re getting to your goals.

Reviewing your engagement, reach, and audience data can help you understand just how successful your communications have been—and guide you towards obvious areas for improvement in the future.

Hootsuite Analytics can package up intel from your various social platforms with one-off or regularly scheduled reports.

Try it free today

11. Use social media as a message board

Social media can act as a great hub for feedback or conversation for the community at large. It’s also a natural place for connection for specific classes, clubs, or identity groups.

Instead of spending time and money building a student portal no one is going to use, embrace the platforms that are already known and loved (or at least, tolerated) by the community.

Here are some ideas for digital gathering spaces for the campus community:

• Facebook groups for students seeking housing
• Twitter threads collecting input for the new student center
• Hyper-specific Instagram accounts dedicated to the experience of international students

View this post on Instagram A post shared by OISS at Yale (@yaleoiss)

Of course, social media’s messaging potential doesn’t have to be limited to social activities: professors can use hashtags to generate and track class discussions, too.

12. Build and empower communities

Create hashtags the student body can rally behind online. Develop an accessible intake program so students and faculty can apply to create and manage accounts. Let students and their creativity take over — it pays off.

The University of New Hampshire has an application form so any student can apply to take the reins of their social channels for a limited period of time.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by This Is UNH (@thisisunh)

Student takeovers are a powerful view into authentic campus life, whether you’re sharing the work of one dedicated creator or are sharing user-generated content from a various community members.

https://www.tiktok.com/@livheim/video/6872890621024029957?is_from_webapp=v1&item_id=6872890621024029957&lang=en

The point is, the more people who share content, the greater your institution’s reach and social share of voice , so invite in ambassadors to help whenever you can. With Hootsuite Amplify , faculty, staff, and students can share vetted, on-brand content and increase reach.

13. Adopt a platform-specific approach

Did you check out the social media directories we mentioned above? If so, you’ll notice the social platforms used vary across departments, faculties, and other areas of university life.

Does admissions need a LinkedIn page? Does information aimed at parents need to go on TikTok? It’s important to consider which platforms are most likely to reach the right audience.

But remember: You’re not just talking to Gen Z. Your audience includes students and potential students, of course, but they may not all be in their late teens or early twenties. In public four-year schools in the U.S., 90% of students are under 25. But for private for-profit four-year institutions, 66% are 25 or older.

Beyond mature students, you’ve also got to reach plenty of other adult audiences:

• corporate partners
• other institutions
• faculty and potential faculty

Get to know each of your social audiences. Look for trends in age range, gender, location, and, if available, occupation, education level, and interests. With these findings, tailor and personalize messages for each different audience.

For instance, LinkedIn may not be the best platform for recruiting undergraduates. But it could be the ideal place to market continuing education programs or recruit new instructors.

TikTok might be a good channel for admissions content, or recruitment. Just look at how University of Florida entices potential students with this 15-second campus tour.

@uf 15 second campus tour. #gogators #universityofflorida ♬ This Time – BLVKSHP

(It can also be a platform to experiment and simply build community in the inexplicable way that only TikTok can .)

Stay on top of platform and demographic trends to identify where your communities are most active. This allows managers to focus on channels that drive the most results. Management tools like Hootsuite make it easy to compare how channels stack up against each other.

14. Invest in building a team

Social media for higher education is not a one-person job. Nor is a job that should be left to interns . (Although it is a great idea to include student interns or work placement positions on your social team.)

Don’t yet have a full team? Create strategic alliances with other departments. You’ll gain access to more information and resources than you could on your own.

You can also maximize the time of a small team with a social media management platform like Hootsuite. Create posts in advance, schedule them for the best posting times, and upload batches of posts in bulk. You also don’t waste time logging in and out of different platforms.

There’s really no denying the benefits of social media for modern higher education institutions, as well as for students, alumni, and faculty of those institutions. But if you need to prove to higher-ups that you require more budget for social media, come prepared with plenty of information about your current return on investment , like a social media report .

Save time managing your social media presence with Hootsuite. From a single dashboard you can publish and schedule posts, find relevant conversions, engage the audience, measure results, and more. Try it free today.

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Stacey McLachlan is an award-winning writer and editor from Vancouver with more than a decade of experience working for print and digital publications.

She is editor-at-large for Western Living and Vancouver Magazine, author of the National Magazine Award-nominated 'City Informer' column, and a regular contributor to Dwell. Her previous work covers a wide range of topics, from SEO-focused thought-leadership to profiles of mushroom foragers, but her specialties include design, people, social media strategy, and humor.

You can usually find her at the beach, or cleaning sand out of her bag.

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15 ways to use social media for education

Written by by Jamia Kenan

Published on  September 6, 2023

Reading time  9 minutes

With remote learning and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), social media is an integral part of education more than ever. There are many different ways to use social media for education inside and outside the classroom.

Because we believe in the power of social media to make nearly anything easier, we will share 15 ways to use social media for education, based on insights shared with us from top institutions.

Benefits of social media in education

Here are our top three benefits of using social media in education:

Benefit 1: Extends learning opportunities

Social media unleashes more learning opportunities. Online classes and remote jobs are the new norm, so teaching students to work from a distance becomes a necessity for digital literacy and preparing them for their careers. Social media platforms support educators in various ways from sharing announcements to holding live lectures.

Benefit 2: Create connections with students and alumni

Social provides a way for institutions to quickly and directly communicate with students, faculty, staff and alumni, fostering connections across various audiences. Social content can attract prospective students, keep parents informed, grow alumni networks, promote on-campus events and more.

Focusing on nurturing community and publishing engaging content can also help increase enrollment. According to our Higher Education Social Media Benchmarks for 2023 report, 41% of school officials can directly attribute increased enrollment to social strategy.

For example, Keele University said their campus photos on Instagram help students solidify their college decision. One student came to the university because she saw their posts on Facebook and it helped confirm her decision, later becoming a digital ambassador for the school.

Benefit 3: Build brand identity

Social supports and amplifies university branding . University marketing teams use social media to maintain a positive brand reputation for their institutions. With the right strategy, colleges and universities can attract more students, increase endowments, promote events or initiatives and improve alumni relations.

Bonus resource : Current students, prospective students, alums, athletes and fans all want something different from your social presence. Use this higher education social media benchmark report to guide your strategy as you meet each of your audiences where they are.

Get the report

Social media in the classroom

From preschool to college, there are so many methods for using social media in the classroom to communicate and educate. Here are seven ways to use social media in the classroom across platforms:

1. Use posts to broadcast updates and alerts

Instructors and colleges can meet students where they are by incorporating social media platforms they’re likely already familiar with like Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter).

Have students follow a class Facebook Page or join a Facebook Group to view posts about course updates, homework assignments and tests. Universities can have publicly accessible pages dedicated to specific schools or departments that students can see even if they aren’t active on Facebook.

When using social media for education, it’s important to maintain a professional boundary. Email students a direct link to the Facebook Group for access and avoid sending friend requests. Groups are the perfect “home base,” especially for online courses because it makes it easy to connect with students. Similarly, instructors and departments can use Posts on X to keep students informed.

2. Use live streaming for lectures and discussions

Instructors can use Facebook Groups, Instagram Live, YouTube Live or LinkedIn Live to stream lectures and facilitate more accessible learning. If a student can’t come to the lecture hall, they can join online or review later. Adding live captions helps students who may be deaf or hard of hearing, non-native speakers, or learn visually. And platforms like Instagram and YouTube allow live streams to be recorded, providing students with review material for midterms and finals season.

Recorded live streams also widen the institution’s reach and authority by making lectures available to scholars and professors from other colleges, states or countries.

3. Use X for class updates and more

X is a great option for providing quick updates and reminders to students. Teachers can create a single handle per class and reuse it every year, or they can create a new handle each school year. Use X threads to share resources like practice quizzes, interesting perspectives or thought-provoking quotes to foster critical thinking. Hashtags can mark specific discussions or chats with guest speakers.

4. Create a class blog for discussions and cross-channel learning

Blogs are another great outlet for incorporating social media in the classroom. Students can link to the class blog on other social channels. For example, a student might share a photo from their visual essay on LinkedIn to attract the attention of recruiters for job or internships. Using blogs as a semester-long assignment can improve students’ short-form writing and critical thinking.

Don’t feel limited to just an English or writing class; this use of social media in education can be transferred across all subjects. There are also several platforms professors can use to create class blogs, such as Tumblr, Medium or WordPress. The course syllabus, updates and resources can be shared on the blog as well.

5. Use Instagram for digital storytelling

Have students practice storytelling on Instagram by creating class-specific accounts where they can present photos or graphics (and delete them once the course is over, if they so choose). This can work especially well in visual-heavy classes: Have photojournalism students post essays or challenge the social media marketing class to create a faux-brand campaign.

6. Create a class-specific Pinterest board

Educators can use Pinterest to prepare and organize resources, lesson plans and worksheets for their classes in one place. They can also set up Pinterest boards for each of their classes and save pins that are relevant to lessons.

Create boards according to class or subject, and create sub-topic boards for weekly units, projects or worksheets. Pinterest can also be useful for students to curate a digital bibliography for research projects, papers or group assignments. Students can pin websites, books or videos to a board on a single topic and refer back to it when it’s time to write an essay or thesis.

7. Prep for post-graduation and create alumni relationships

LinkedIn can help current students develop networking skills, craft their personal brand and connect with alumni. Flexing these career muscles could help them earn internships, gain mentors and secure job offers before they walk across the stage on graduation day.

Institutions can use LinkedIn for university colleges as well.  For example, a business school may have several private LinkedIn Groups for regional alumni chapters to connect them with students and faculty for internships, fundraising, volunteer opportunities and events.

Encouraging students to post relevant articles, projects and research, internship experiences and other academic accomplishments helps the university develop social proof on the platform. This is also an excellent example of the importance of incorporating advocacy into your social strategy.

Social media for education marketing

Just as there were many ways to use social media in the classroom, there are also many uses for social media in education marketing. Social media marketing can help if you’re looking to reach a larger audience for your college or university. Let’s dive into how social media can empower education marketing.

8. Leverage TikTok creators and influencers for user-generated content

Although many public universities have banned TikTok from campus Wi-fi , some educators and institutions embrace the app to educate and connect with students. Student and teacher influencers can provide user-generated content that satisfies a prospective student’s desire to see authentic content from their peers and future professors.

For example, Chapman University professor @itsmattprince went viral after challenging his class to earn 1 million likes on a TikTok video in exchange for canceling their final:

Fun, yet real-world applications like this illustrate the power of social influence—plus who doesn’t love a canceled final?

9. Include social media links on your school website

In the Higher Education Social Media Benchmarks for 2023 report, we found that 68% of high school students use social channels to research schools. Many parents and prospective students will check a school’s website first if they’re interested, and offering even more ways to follow the school creates a different insight into campus life.

Make it easy for parents and students to find your school’s social media profiles by adding links to the website’s main navigation or creating a social media directory that houses them all in one place.

10. Give a glimpse into student life through photo and video

If you want to attract new students and parents to your school, share photos of campus events to showcase what they could expect. Use short-form video like Reels, TikTok or YouTube Shorts to help prospective students envision themselves attending college there.

Highlighting events, sports, extracurriculars and the beauty of campus can make your school stand out from the rest. While school and university websites tend to follow the same mold, social media allows you to be more unique and casual like this Barbenheimer-inspired post from the University of Georgia:

11. Create alumni community groups

Many alumni want to remain involved with their alma mater after graduation. Creating a dedicated community via Facebook Groups or LinkedIn Groups can increase engagement.

For example, the University of Newcastle has over 148,000 alumni. Their team features current students, staff and alumni to amplify the career opportunities that manifest from being part of their community.

Alumni groups, groups for different graduating classes or departments, and groups for different extracurriculars and organizations allow former and current students to engage and meet others with common interests. Take a look at our alumni engagement best practices guide to learn more ways to keep the school spirit flowing.

12. Incorporate a social media crisis strategy

How would you communicate to the entire campus during an emergency? Whether it’s a fire, tornado or other immediate campus emergency, a social media crisis plan can help institutions proactively prepare. Keep parents and students updated on the situation by sharing information about the crisis and if authorities are involved. Many campuses have automated messaging alerts set up, but using social also enables people to be updated in real time.

Institutions can use social listening , which involves analyzing conversations and trends related to your brand , to aid with public relations crisis management plans. Seneca College leveraged Sprout’s capabilities a few years ago when 12,000 staff members went on strike. Using Brand Keywords and the Smart Inbox, the social media team was able to sort through and respond to a deluge of inbound feedback from concerned students.

13. Use chatbots to support students outside of office hours

In our higher education social media playbook , we talk about the importance of social customer service. Using automated replies or chatbots can help the student body get their questions answered immediately, or at least guide them to a solution faster.

Keele University used chatbots via Sprout’s Bot Builder to respond immediately to common questions about courses and bursary information. In the five months after using chatbots, nearly 500 conversations addressed a variety of topics from housing applications to international student services.

14. Iterate social strategy to create student-centric content

Using social media for education allows educators and marketers to meet students where they are by connecting on channels they use everyday. Social creates an opportunity for institutions to be more even more student-centric. But to keep students engaged, institutions will need to produce content that caters to the wants and needs of their audience(s).

If you want to manage your institution’s social channels successfully, you’ll need to iterate and improve your strategy by reviewing the top and lowest performing content.

Dartmouth College uses Sprout’s Sent Messages report to determine content performance and iterate their overall social strategy as needed. After reviewing which posts performed well, they schedule new posts with similar content to inform their content calendar.

15. Manage your communities all under one roof

Social media empowers universities to bring their various audiences together. Many institutions have an extensive community of prospective and current students, faculty, staff and alumni, but this causes a common pain point: decentralization.

Since colleges and universities have multiple social media accounts, it can be difficult to manage them all seamlessly. However, using a social media management software centralizes multiple networks in one place, so overseeing various accounts becomes more manageable and scalable.

Texas A&M University , one of the largest public universities in the nation, uses social media to connect with these various communities. The university has hundreds of departments, 16 colleges and 19 NCAA sports, so using a social media management tool is essential. Their social team uses Sprout’s publishing suite to discuss strategy, collaborate on content creation and provide feedback to interns all on one platform. In just six months, between August 2020 and January 2021,  Texas A&M earned over 131 million impressions and 8.3 million content engagements across X, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

A tool like Sprout Social can help make social media management a breeze, regardless of whether you’re a solo marketer or a full marketing department. Multiple users can use the Sprout platform to create content with consistent messaging and schedule posts across networks at the best time using our ViralPost® feature .

And the Post Performance report takes the guesswork out of identifying what content resonates because teams can pinpoint top posts and view engagement across channels.

Sprout enables you to monitor and manage multiple accounts across different networks, which is ideal for educational institutions. Each department or teacher at your school might have their own separate social media accounts for specific information, and a social media management tool can help you ensure the right posts are going out on each of these accounts.

And if there is news or content relevant to multiple departments, Sprout enables users to share the same content across multiple profiles with a single click.

Start using social media for education

Using social media for education goes beyond the classroom because it helps educators shape a modern holistic learning experience, build community and establish academic authority.

Take some of these ideas for a test drive, and sign up for a free Sprout Social trial to help you manage it all.

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Social Media: Do's and Don'ts for College Students

Be mindful of what you post and who you follow, experts say.

Social Media Tips for College Students

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Experts say good social media use is about setting boundaries around what and who to follow, knowing personal limits and avoiding content that might negatively impact your mental health.

Social media has become commonplace for most Americans, and particularly for college students. What was once used primarily for staying connected with friends and family and posting personal life updates has transformed into a landscape where users can build a personal brand, market themselves or their company, explore jobs or internships, promote social causes and more.

Depending on the content, social media posts can lead to trouble with the school or the law, and future employment can also be jeopardized. Employers often screen candidates' social media pages during the interview process, experts say, and a negative social media presence can be a turn-off when it comes to deciding who to hire. Graduate schools may also look at an applicant's social media pages during the admissions cycle.

“It is always unfortunate when someone posts something not thinking about the ramifications,” says Marcus Sanderlin, associate director of market readiness and employment for the Wake Forest University School of Business . “It’s important to remember that there’s a consequence or reaction to every decision made. When it comes to this idea of knowing what to say and what not to say, I encourage people to not say anything you wouldn’t say to anyone in real life to their face.”

And beyond the career implications, experts say good social media use is about setting boundaries around what and who to follow, knowing personal limits and avoiding content that might negatively impact your mental health. Here are some "do's and don'ts" that experts recommend students employ to help manage their social media use.

Do Make Sure Your Feed Best Reflects You

Your social media pages are an extension of who you are as a person. At least that's how employers will see it, Sanderlin says.

Assume employers will check out your social media pages to find out more about you, and make sure your profiles present you in a good light. That means avoiding sharing any insensitive content, for instance related to race, religion, sexuality or disability status, and generally any content that might reflect negatively on you.

Social media can be a way for students to market themselves, so that means taking time to curate your profiles to show that you are serious about pursuing a certain field and presenting yourself in a professional manner, Sanderlin says. Make sure to have a professional headshot on your profile and that the bio portion reflects an interest in and knowledge of the industry you want to enter into, he says.

“If you want to go into education, for example, and you have different pictures or images of being in spaces where you’re impacting the community, that’s a great look," he says. "If you want to go into finance, for example, and you have images and content that reflects an awareness of the market, those are ways that you can present yourself in a very marketable and intentional way."

If you have causes you're passionate about and feel like they’re part of your identity, you should display those on your social media, says Marlena Yang, senior career coach in the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities .

“That’s something I’ve noticed with Gen Z is that they’re very entrepreneurial-minded,” she says. “With that, you really get to decide how you want to be portrayed on the outside. An entrepreneurial way to do that is to think, ‘How do I want to sell myself online? What do I want to be known for?”

Don't Post Content With Drugs or Alcohol

Posting photos with illegal drugs or substances is something everyone should avoid, Sanderlin says. And even students who are legally able to use substances like alcohol or tobacco products, and marijuana in some states, should think twice about including them in social media posts.

"Say you have a 21-year-old who is clearly able to drink, I would be very intentional about not posting pictures of going to a club, going out to bars and drinking," he says. "For me, I’m not a fan of students posting club or bar pictures because it can lead to an association or particular affiliation with a habit.”

Students in a fraternity or sorority should be careful about posting photos that show their Greek organization's name in what might be considered questionable environments, to avoid bringing negative attention, he says. Even if nothing nefarious was going on, he says, photos can be misconstrued or mischaracterized, so it's best to be cautious.

Don't Forget That Social Media Is Public

Even when posted on a private account, content can still be shared with a wider audience. For instance, someone who follows that account could screenshot the content and amplify it. This includes content that is liked, retweeted or reposted. Students who might think they're sharing a meme or post to a small audience and that it will fade away in time should know that it can eventually float back up and cause issues, Sanderlin says.

Often, less is more when it comes to posting on social media, he says. Some people choose not to have any social media presence at all or a very limited one. But for those who do, Sanderlin says it's wise to be selective about what and when to post.

“You’d hate to find that one moment of time impacted the rest of your life,” he says. “And while that is scary and a very big thought, when it comes to your career search in the market, it’s high stakes."

While avoiding posting negative content from the outset is preferred, it might be helpful for some students to audit their social media and remove any questionable content they posted previously, Yang says.

"I think being careful with what you share is important," she says. "But also go back and do some cleanup."

Do Be Intentional About Who You Follow

Like the content you post, the accounts you follow are also public. Experts say students should avoid following accounts that have inappropriate or insensitive content.

However, following accounts that are aligned with your career goals or interests can be beneficial, experts say. It's also a good idea to follow companies in your target industry, Sanderlin says. This allows students to be aware of any happenings or job openings at those companies and can give insight into what the company values. That information can help students decide if it’s a company they ultimately want to work for.

“I know we talk about how the job seeker should be impressing the employer, but you also have to think about how the employer is impressing the job seeker,” he says. “I would encourage all seekers and young scholars to evaluate what the company is doing. If you’re looking for a company and diversity is an important factor for you, but their Instagram profile lacks diversity, that either could be a red flag or a great point of conversation in an interview.”

Yang says many of the students she works with use LinkedIn and TikTok to explore careers. Several of her students follow health professional influencers who are educating people about their industry and providing tips about entering the profession.

Aside from the business side of things, it's also important to follow other people who are authentic and real, says Jessi Beyer, an author who also often speaks to college audiences on the topic of mental health. This can help limit the negative effects of social media on your mental health, she says.

"Many influencers and public figures on social media share only the good parts of their lives - the successes, the celebrations, and the great hair days," Beyer wrote in an email. "There are some, though, who share the good and the bad, the ups and the downs. While it's totally fine to find motivation and aspiration from following those accounts, comparing your daily life to the highlight reels of other people's lives that you see on social media can actually lead to worse mental health."

Don't Spend Too Much Time on Social Media

Spending too much time on social media can have negative mental health effects , experts say.

That can be particularly true toward the end of the school year, when peers might be graduating and posting news about jobs or internships. For students whose plans haven’t worked out yet, too much exposure to such news from peers can lead to negative feelings of comparison and may impact someone’s self-esteem, Yang says.

"Shut off social media if you find that it is impacting your mental health and it’s not helping you make progress with your own development," she says.

When these feelings set in, it's helpful to find a different activity, Beyer says.

"We've all probably been at a place where a whole evening has passed us by while we're stuck scrolling social media on our phones," she says. "Creating and implementing a mindfulness practice, such as spending a few minutes a day meditating or even being intentionally focused on the present moment while completing daily chores, can help buffer against doom-scrolling and regulate use of social media."

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Social Media Do’s and Don’ts for Students

As a student, you probably have at least one account on Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook. And we all know that what you put on the internet, stays on the internet.

Did you know? It is a high likelihood that your future employers will search your name on Google to check for any red flags.

Because of this, a negative presence on social media might prevent you from getting the job. To avoid that, we’ve come up with a list of do’s and don’ts when using social media as a student.

This is Not a Lecture on Social Media… Sort of

Social media is great for making new friends or to network professionally . You've heard all stories about celebrities who make a fool out of themselves online, but this also applies to students. Because of this, you need to pay at least some attention to what you post. Even if you delete a picture you regret taking the next morning or a comment on a post, you might still be tagged in other people’s photos.

Of course, you don’t have to stop having fun altogether. No one expects a college student to stay at home 24/7 and stop socializing or going out. You should use social media to your advantage. This starts by being aware of what you are posting!

Let’s Do Some Social Media Management

• Make your profiles private, if that’s an option.
• Form as many connections as you can with other students, professionals, or people related to your studies or field of interest. This could be on a platform like LinkedIn.
• Upload pictures from your semester or year abroad! This can show you are interested in visiting new places and cultures and can show that you are an open-minded person.
• Show that you have interests and hobbies and that you are a well-rounded person.
• Add yourself to all the groups you are involved in. This type of information is usually displayed on your profile. If you are involved in a student association or volunteer, you should definitely showcase it!
• Share articles you find interesting. It might be a good idea to have some sort of social media presence in the field you are interested in!
• Google yourself to see what comes up. If there is something you don’t like the look of, you can edit or delete it.
• Are you a student entrepreneur or have your own business? Flaunt it! Use social media to promote yourself and your business and make international connections that might be useful for you and the future of your company .
• Be negative or aggressive online. Free speech is important and you are entitled to your opinions but be smart about it. Basically, don’t be a hater and don’t be a troll. Hateful, harmful and hurtful comments will not paint a positive picture of you. Beyond that, being a decent and courteous human being online isn't that hard.
• Post anything illegal. That means drugs, violence, or any sort of stealing or damaging of property!
• Share sexually explicit stuff. That can come back to haunt you in the long run.
• Rely on privacy settings. They aren’t always as reliable as you might think them to be.
• Have an embarrassing or inappropriate handle or name. This is on par with having an email address like [email protected] or markisthebest2406 or something equally bad and cringy.
• Use strange or inappropriate hashtags. Hashtags are often forgotten but you can also be found using them!

In short, be aware of what you post on your social media or networking profiles because what goes around, comes around. With these do's and don'ts, you'll be the most social media-savvy student ever!

Do you have any tips about using social media as a student? Leave a comment!

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The 10 Best Presentation Tools for Students in 2023

Presentation tools for students have come a long way.

Students have access to all sorts of digital presentation tools, from legacy slide-based tools like PowerPoint to truly inventive and experimental new formats that incorporate live and prerecorded video and audio. The rise in virtual, hybrid, and flipped classrooms has made the need for education-focused online presentation tools for students all the greater.

Wondering which tools will help your students create the best presentations? We’ve shown you tools before, like 20 classroom technology tools you may not know , but many of those were teacher-focused. Here are 10 of the best student presentation tools your kiddos can use in 2023. And listen to this episode of EdTech Heroes with Sultan Rana to see how you can revolutionize presentations for students this year!

Importance of students learning to use a range of presentation tech tools 🎬

Before we get into this list, it’s fair to ask: Is it really all that important for students to get comfortable using technology-based presentation tools? 🤔

We believe the answer is an emphatic “Yes!”

The modern world we live in already depends on all sorts of tech and that dependence will only increase. Today’s students are tomorrow’s adults, and it’s vital they develop media literacy skills now. This is behind the push for digital citizenship , or teaching children to use tech safely and responsibly so they can effectively participate in society in the future.  

Many students are already comfortable navigating smartphone apps, video games, smart TVs, and social media. But throw a PowerPoint or other business tool in front of them, and it’s another story. They aren’t technology averse. But neither are they automatically comfortable with all the different software and user interfaces that they’ll encounter in the professional and business world.

As the world grows more technologically complex 🤖, the professionals of tomorrow need exposure today to the language of technology. 

By engaging with a range of presentation tools — along with edtech tools like Google Classroom and other LMS platforms — students gain a more well-rounded understanding of how to interact with productivity-oriented tech. They learn how to communicate their ideas and collaborate across physical and virtual spaces with ease. 

With that question answered, let’s jump into the top 10 student presentation tools that will support your students’ tech skills and overall growth. 

1. Screencastify Submit

Screencastify Submit does many things. It allows teachers to create presentation assignments for students. It also allows students to easily record and submit these short video assignments on any device. It’s a great way to practice giving live presentations without the pressure of an audience, plus it helps students gain skills with talking and presenting on camera. 🎥

Another advantage for students: Students can practice their presentation skills and wait to submit until they’ve recorded their favorite take. 

Screencastify Submit is simple because it’s designed to be a secure, closed system between teachers and students. However, the broader Screencastify suite — one of the top Google Chrome extensions for educators and students — has plenty of integrations with popular LMSes and edtech platforms. 

2. PowerPoint and Google Slides

Two of the classic slide-building apps, PowerPoint and Google Slides feel very traditional compared to many of the other tools listed here. Still, both apps are easy introductions to the concept of creating basic 2D designs and visually appealing presentations. PowerPoint Presentations and Google Slides allow students to create slideshow content with transitions, animations, multiple slide layouts, and more.

These presentation software solutions help students prioritize the information that’s most useful to their audience and hone the ability to present that material in a visually engaging way. They can also be used in conjunction with screencasting or screen sharing to present in a more live or interactive manner.

These apps are both widespread and integrate seamlessly with a variety of tools. For Apple users, Keynote is another option in this same style, but it’s limited to only macOS and iOS, making it less widely adopted.

Note that Google Slides is free for everyone with a Gmail account, but PowerPoint requires an individual subscription or a school-wide license.

3. Prezi Next

The original Prezi was like a cooler, snappier version of PowerPoint. It did away with the feeling that every slide was a static rectangular image and let users create presentations that felt more like unique little worlds 🌍  than like conference room snooze-fests 😴 .

Unfortunately, it was built on Adobe Flash, which is dead and gone .

Prezi Next is the new generation of Prezi, built fresh in HTML5. It keeps the feel of the original and enables students to produce creative, imaginative presentations full of both whimsy and functionality. Templates in Prezi Next allow students to be creative, detailed, and look great in the process.

Prezi also integrates with major video conferencing apps like Google Meet and Zoom, allowing students to present their Prezi live. 

4. Haiku Deck

Haiku Deck is another slide-based presentation app. It’s entirely cloud-based, meaning you can access Haiku Deck from the web. The big differentiator with Haiku Deck is its automated image search. The app intelligently analyzes the text that your students add to their slides, then it suggests photos and slide designs that make sense for that text.

Haiku Deck gives users access to over 40 million royalty-free images (meaning no more watermarks or pixelated backgrounds) and includes dozens of themes designed by pros, complete with complementary fonts picked out for each one.

Haiku Deck is mostly a standalone tool. So, while you don’t get deep integrations with other tools, you might not really need them.

Related: Learn about the best tools for student engagement in this episode of EdTech Heroes !

5. Pear Deck

Before they ever explain what Pear Deck is, the team behind Pear Deck points to research showing that learning has both social, emotional and academic components and goes into great detail about the research-backed instructional strategies that the platform supports.

So, this tool comes from a team that’s dedicated to improving educational outcomes for all kinds of learners. But what does it do, exactly?

Essentially, Pear Deck operates as an add-on to Google Slides or PowerPoint and allows you to turn those static presentation tools into dynamic, interactive educational experiences. You can embed quizzes, tutorials, and other interactive content and see student responses in real time.

Although it’s aimed at teachers, it can be used by students to enhance their own presentations with engaging content like Q&A or audio and video, and gives them more creative freedom. 

Sutori is a tool that’s purpose built to help students create timelines and roadmaps and tell stories. It’s simple and streamlined, making it easy for students of all ages to use. Students can even embed media on their Sutori timelines, and Sutori is easy to use online and via remote learning.

Sutori’s timeline focus makes it perfect for social studies or history and any other linear, time-based lessons. The company also lists use cases for English, Language, Arts, and STEM teachers. It’s a great tool for fostering multimedia collaboration, critical thinking (via both primary and secondary sources), and research skills.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words 📸, and if that’s true, how much more is an infographic worth? A lot, when it comes to the classroom. Infographics are great storytelling tools, not to mention visual aids. The trouble is that making great infographics from scratch have required graphic design skills🧑‍💻  — until tools like Easelly.

Easelly lets anyone make quality infographics in a wide range of styles. Students can better visualize data and content, which is great both for their own critical thinking and logic skills as well as their public presentation skills.

Easelly includes numerous templates that make it easy to transform content from dry text and statistics into beautiful infographics.

Easelly doesn’t directly integrate with other tools, but infographics created in Easelly can easily (hence the name) be exported to other tools to be shared or presented.

8. Glogster

Glogster is a tool for creating multimedia posters that can include 3D elements. Students can embed a wide range of media into a Glogster, including screencast videos, graphics, images, audio, and even 3D and VR objects.

Glogster is somewhat like an oversized poster board to make a class project or report, but also interactive and zoomable. It’s a digital canvas that makes just about anything visual possible, all within one space.

Students can practice their visual storytelling skills and get comfortable navigating and embedding multiple media types with Glogster.

9. VoiceThread

VoiceThread is a unique tool that lets users collaborate and discuss just about anything: videos, images, documents and more using features like annotations, highlights, pausing, zooming. It’s essentially a media-focused video chat tool.

In the K-12 landscape, VoiceThread is great for students who want to share a specific media file with others and collaborate either in discussion or in a Q&A after a presentation. Viewers can add video comments and questions directly to a presentation, giving a more personal level of engagement especially for fully remote classrooms. Students can develop great conversational and presentation skills using VoiceThread, too.

Miro is a visual collaboration tool designed primarily for teams to get work done. In other words, it’s a business-focused digital whiteboard tool that has a lot of value for classrooms too. 

Students (and teachers) can use it for idea mapping 🗺, brainstorming, creating workflows or diagrams, and all sorts of other visual collaboration and presentation needs. 

It’s great for group projects where students might want to get a bunch of ideas mapped out prior to creating their polished presentation in another tool. Miro also has some effective templates that can help students work quickly.

Because it’s a business tool, Miro has all kinds of integrations with all the top business apps. Some of these are useful in education, such as Zoom, Google drive, and Microsoft Teams integrations.

Find out why students and teachers love Screencastify 🍎 

Screencastify is fantastic for any teacher who needs to create screencast videos quickly and easily. But it’s great for students, too! 

Students can use Screencastify Submit to easily create video responses to their teachers’ assignments, using the desktop, laptop, or mobile device they have at home. Older students can even use Screencastify themselves to create their own screencast presentations for virtual reports, class presentations, and more.

Click to learn more about what Screencastify can do for educators and students alike.

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The effect of social media on the development of students’ affective variables

1 Science and Technology Department, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing, China

2 School of Marxism, Hohai University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China

3 Government Enterprise Customer Center, China Mobile Group Jiangsu Co., Ltd., Nanjing, China

The use of social media is incomparably on the rise among students, influenced by the globalized forms of communication and the post-pandemic rush to use multiple social media platforms for education in different fields of study. Though social media has created tremendous chances for sharing ideas and emotions, the kind of social support it provides might fail to meet students’ emotional needs, or the alleged positive effects might be short-lasting. In recent years, several studies have been conducted to explore the potential effects of social media on students’ affective traits, such as stress, anxiety, depression, and so on. The present paper reviews the findings of the exemplary published works of research to shed light on the positive and negative potential effects of the massive use of social media on students’ emotional well-being. This review can be insightful for teachers who tend to take the potential psychological effects of social media for granted. They may want to know more about the actual effects of the over-reliance on and the excessive (and actually obsessive) use of social media on students’ developing certain images of self and certain emotions which are not necessarily positive. There will be implications for pre- and in-service teacher training and professional development programs and all those involved in student affairs.

Introduction

Social media has turned into an essential element of individuals’ lives including students in today’s world of communication. Its use is growing significantly more than ever before especially in the post-pandemic era, marked by a great revolution happening to the educational systems. Recent investigations of using social media show that approximately 3 billion individuals worldwide are now communicating via social media ( Iwamoto and Chun, 2020 ). This growing population of social media users is spending more and more time on social network groupings, as facts and figures show that individuals spend 2 h a day, on average, on a variety of social media applications, exchanging pictures and messages, updating status, tweeting, favoring, and commenting on many updated socially shared information ( Abbott, 2017 ).

Researchers have begun to investigate the psychological effects of using social media on students’ lives. Chukwuere and Chukwuere (2017) maintained that social media platforms can be considered the most important source of changing individuals’ mood, because when someone is passively using a social media platform seemingly with no special purpose, s/he can finally feel that his/her mood has changed as a function of the nature of content overviewed. Therefore, positive and negative moods can easily be transferred among the population using social media networks ( Chukwuere and Chukwuere, 2017 ). This may become increasingly important as students are seen to be using social media platforms more than before and social networking is becoming an integral aspect of their lives. As described by Iwamoto and Chun (2020) , when students are affected by social media posts, especially due to the increasing reliance on social media use in life, they may be encouraged to begin comparing themselves to others or develop great unrealistic expectations of themselves or others, which can have several affective consequences.

Considering the increasing influence of social media on education, the present paper aims to focus on the affective variables such as depression, stress, and anxiety, and how social media can possibly increase or decrease these emotions in student life. The exemplary works of research on this topic in recent years will be reviewed here, hoping to shed light on the positive and negative effects of these ever-growing influential platforms on the psychology of students.

Significance of the study

Though social media, as the name suggests, is expected to keep people connected, probably this social connection is only superficial, and not adequately deep and meaningful to help individuals feel emotionally attached to others. The psychological effects of social media on student life need to be studied in more depth to see whether social media really acts as a social support for students and whether students can use social media to cope with negative emotions and develop positive feelings or not. In other words, knowledge of the potential effects of the growing use of social media on students’ emotional well-being can bridge the gap between the alleged promises of social media and what it actually has to offer to students in terms of self-concept, self-respect, social role, and coping strategies (for stress, anxiety, etc.).

Exemplary general literature on psychological effects of social media

Before getting down to the effects of social media on students’ emotional well-being, some exemplary works of research in recent years on the topic among general populations are reviewed. For one, Aalbers et al. (2018) reported that individuals who spent more time passively working with social media suffered from more intense levels of hopelessness, loneliness, depression, and perceived inferiority. For another, Tang et al. (2013) observed that the procedures of sharing information, commenting, showing likes and dislikes, posting messages, and doing other common activities on social media are correlated with higher stress. Similarly, Ley et al. (2014) described that people who spend 2 h, on average, on social media applications will face many tragic news, posts, and stories which can raise the total intensity of their stress. This stress-provoking effect of social media has been also pinpointed by Weng and Menczer (2015) , who contended that social media becomes a main source of stress because people often share all kinds of posts, comments, and stories ranging from politics and economics, to personal and social affairs. According to Iwamoto and Chun (2020) , anxiety and depression are the negative emotions that an individual may develop when some source of stress is present. In other words, when social media sources become stress-inducing, there are high chances that anxiety and depression also develop.

Charoensukmongkol (2018) reckoned that the mental health and well-being of the global population can be at a great risk through the uncontrolled massive use of social media. These researchers also showed that social media sources can exert negative affective impacts on teenagers, as they can induce more envy and social comparison. According to Fleck and Johnson-Migalski (2015) , though social media, at first, plays the role of a stress-coping strategy, when individuals continue to see stressful conditions (probably experienced and shared by others in media), they begin to develop stress through the passage of time. Chukwuere and Chukwuere (2017) maintained that social media platforms continue to be the major source of changing mood among general populations. For example, someone might be passively using a social media sphere, and s/he may finally find him/herself with a changed mood depending on the nature of the content faced. Then, this good or bad mood is easily shared with others in a flash through the social media. Finally, as Alahmar (2016) described, social media exposes people especially the young generation to new exciting activities and events that may attract them and keep them engaged in different media contexts for hours just passing their time. It usually leads to reduced productivity, reduced academic achievement, and addiction to constant media use ( Alahmar, 2016 ).

The number of studies on the potential psychological effects of social media on people in general is higher than those selectively addressed here. For further insights into this issue, some other suggested works of research include Chang (2012) , Sriwilai and Charoensukmongkol (2016) , and Zareen et al. (2016) . Now, we move to the studies that more specifically explored the effects of social media on students’ affective states.

Review of the affective influences of social media on students

Vygotsky’s mediational theory (see Fernyhough, 2008 ) can be regarded as a main theoretical background for the support of social media on learners’ affective states. Based on this theory, social media can play the role of a mediational means between learners and the real environment. Learners’ understanding of this environment can be mediated by the image shaped via social media. This image can be either close to or different from the reality. In the case of the former, learners can develop their self-image and self-esteem. In the case of the latter, learners might develop unrealistic expectations of themselves by comparing themselves to others. As it will be reviewed below among the affective variables increased or decreased in students under the influence of the massive use of social media are anxiety, stress, depression, distress, rumination, and self-esteem. These effects have been explored more among school students in the age range of 13–18 than university students (above 18), but some studies were investigated among college students as well. Exemplary works of research on these affective variables are reviewed here.

In a cross-sectional study, O’Dea and Campbell (2011) explored the impact of online interactions of social networks on the psychological distress of adolescent students. These researchers found a negative correlation between the time spent on social networking and mental distress. Dumitrache et al. (2012) explored the relations between depression and the identity associated with the use of the popular social media, the Facebook. This study showed significant associations between depression and the number of identity-related information pieces shared on this social network. Neira and Barber (2014) explored the relationship between students’ social media use and depressed mood at teenage. No significant correlation was found between these two variables. In the same year, Tsitsika et al. (2014) explored the associations between excessive use of social media and internalizing emotions. These researchers found a positive correlation between more than 2-h a day use of social media and anxiety and depression.

Hanprathet et al. (2015) reported a statistically significant positive correlation between addiction to Facebook and depression among about a thousand high school students in wealthy populations of Thailand and warned against this psychological threat. Sampasa-Kanyinga and Lewis (2015) examined the relationship between social media use and psychological distress. These researchers found that the use of social media for more than 2 h a day was correlated with a higher intensity of psychological distress. Banjanin et al. (2015) tested the relationship between too much use of social networking and depression, yet found no statistically significant correlation between these two variables. Frison and Eggermont (2016) examined the relationships between different forms of Facebook use, perceived social support of social media, and male and female students’ depressed mood. These researchers found a positive association between the passive use of the Facebook and depression and also between the active use of the social media and depression. Furthermore, the perceived social support of the social media was found to mediate this association. Besides, gender was found as the other factor to mediate this relationship.

Vernon et al. (2017) explored change in negative investment in social networking in relation to change in depression and externalizing behavior. These researchers found that increased investment in social media predicted higher depression in adolescent students, which was a function of the effect of higher levels of disrupted sleep. Barry et al. (2017) explored the associations between the use of social media by adolescents and their psychosocial adjustment. Social media activity showed to be positively and moderately associated with depression and anxiety. Another investigation was focused on secondary school students in China conducted by Li et al. (2017) . The findings showed a mediating role of insomnia on the significant correlation between depression and addiction to social media. In the same year, Yan et al. (2017) aimed to explore the time spent on social networks and its correlation with anxiety among middle school students. They found a significant positive correlation between more than 2-h use of social networks and the intensity of anxiety.

Also in China, Wang et al. (2018) showed that addiction to social networking sites was correlated positively with depression, and this correlation was mediated by rumination. These researchers also found that this mediating effect was moderated by self-esteem. It means that the effect of addiction on depression was compounded by low self-esteem through rumination. In another work of research, Drouin et al. (2018) showed that though social media is expected to act as a form of social support for the majority of university students, it can adversely affect students’ mental well-being, especially for those who already have high levels of anxiety and depression. In their research, the social media resources were found to be stress-inducing for half of the participants, all university students. The higher education population was also studied by Iwamoto and Chun (2020) . These researchers investigated the emotional effects of social media in higher education and found that the socially supportive role of social media was overshadowed in the long run in university students’ lives and, instead, fed into their perceived depression, anxiety, and stress.

Keles et al. (2020) provided a systematic review of the effect of social media on young and teenage students’ depression, psychological distress, and anxiety. They found that depression acted as the most frequent affective variable measured. The most salient risk factors of psychological distress, anxiety, and depression based on the systematic review were activities such as repeated checking for messages, personal investment, the time spent on social media, and problematic or addictive use. Similarly, Mathewson (2020) investigated the effect of using social media on college students’ mental health. The participants stated the experience of anxiety, depression, and suicidality (thoughts of suicide or attempts to suicide). The findings showed that the types and frequency of using social media and the students’ perceived mental health were significantly correlated with each other.

The body of research on the effect of social media on students’ affective and emotional states has led to mixed results. The existing literature shows that there are some positive and some negative affective impacts. Yet, it seems that the latter is pre-dominant. Mathewson (2020) attributed these divergent positive and negative effects to the different theoretical frameworks adopted in different studies and also the different contexts (different countries with whole different educational systems). According to Fredrickson’s broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions ( Fredrickson, 2001 ), the mental repertoires of learners can be built and broadened by how they feel. For instance, some external stimuli might provoke negative emotions such as anxiety and depression in learners. Having experienced these negative emotions, students might repeatedly check their messages on social media or get addicted to them. As a result, their cognitive repertoire and mental capacity might become limited and they might lose their concentration during their learning process. On the other hand, it should be noted that by feeling positive, learners might take full advantage of the affordances of the social media and; thus, be able to follow their learning goals strategically. This point should be highlighted that the link between the use of social media and affective states is bi-directional. Therefore, strategic use of social media or its addictive use by students can direct them toward either positive experiences like enjoyment or negative ones such as anxiety and depression. Also, these mixed positive and negative effects are similar to the findings of several other relevant studies on general populations’ psychological and emotional health. A number of studies (with general research populations not necessarily students) showed that social networks have facilitated the way of staying in touch with family and friends living far away as well as an increased social support ( Zhang, 2017 ). Given the positive and negative emotional effects of social media, social media can either scaffold the emotional repertoire of students, which can develop positive emotions in learners, or induce negative provokers in them, based on which learners might feel negative emotions such as anxiety and depression. However, admittedly, social media has also generated a domain that encourages the act of comparing lives, and striving for approval; therefore, it establishes and internalizes unrealistic perceptions ( Virden et al., 2014 ; Radovic et al., 2017 ).

It should be mentioned that the susceptibility of affective variables to social media should be interpreted from a dynamic lens. This means that the ecology of the social media can make changes in the emotional experiences of learners. More specifically, students’ affective variables might self-organize into different states under the influence of social media. As for the positive correlation found in many studies between the use of social media and such negative effects as anxiety, depression, and stress, it can be hypothesized that this correlation is induced by the continuous comparison the individual makes and the perception that others are doing better than him/her influenced by the posts that appear on social media. Using social media can play a major role in university students’ psychological well-being than expected. Though most of these studies were correlational, and correlation is not the same as causation, as the studies show that the number of participants experiencing these negative emotions under the influence of social media is significantly high, more extensive research is highly suggested to explore causal effects ( Mathewson, 2020 ).

As the review of exemplary studies showed, some believed that social media increased comparisons that students made between themselves and others. This finding ratifies the relevance of the Interpretation Comparison Model ( Stapel and Koomen, 2000 ; Stapel, 2007 ) and Festinger’s (1954) Social Comparison Theory. Concerning the negative effects of social media on students’ psychology, it can be argued that individuals may fail to understand that the content presented in social media is usually changed to only represent the attractive aspects of people’s lives, showing an unrealistic image of things. We can add that this argument also supports the relevance of the Social Comparison Theory and the Interpretation Comparison Model ( Stapel and Koomen, 2000 ; Stapel, 2007 ), because social media sets standards that students think they should compare themselves with. A constant observation of how other students or peers are showing their instances of achievement leads to higher self-evaluation ( Stapel and Koomen, 2000 ). It is conjectured that the ubiquitous role of social media in student life establishes unrealistic expectations and promotes continuous comparison as also pinpointed in the Interpretation Comparison Model ( Stapel and Koomen, 2000 ; Stapel, 2007 ).

Implications of the study

The use of social media is ever increasing among students, both at school and university, which is partly because of the promises of technological advances in communication services and partly because of the increased use of social networks for educational purposes in recent years after the pandemic. This consistent use of social media is not expected to leave students’ psychological, affective and emotional states untouched. Thus, it is necessary to know how the growing usage of social networks is associated with students’ affective health on different aspects. Therefore, we found it useful to summarize the research findings in recent years in this respect. If those somehow in charge of student affairs in educational settings are aware of the potential positive or negative effects of social media usage on students, they can better understand the complexities of students’ needs and are better capable of meeting them.

Psychological counseling programs can be initiated at schools or universities to check upon the latest state of students’ mental and emotional health influenced by the pervasive use of social media. The counselors can be made aware of the potential adverse effects of social networking and can adapt the content of their inquiries accordingly. Knowledge of the potential reasons for student anxiety, depression, and stress can help school or university counselors to find individualized coping strategies when they diagnose any symptom of distress in students influenced by an excessive use of social networking.

Admittedly, it is neither possible to discard the use of social media in today’s academic life, nor to keep students’ use of social networks fully controlled. Certainly, the educational space in today’s world cannot do without the social media, which has turned into an integral part of everybody’s life. Yet, probably students need to be instructed on how to take advantage of the media and to be the least affected negatively by its occasional superficial and unrepresentative content. Compensatory programs might be needed at schools or universities to encourage students to avoid making unrealistic and impartial comparisons of themselves and the flamboyant images of others displayed on social media. Students can be taught to develop self-appreciation and self-care while continuing to use the media to their benefit.

The teachers’ role as well as the curriculum developers’ role are becoming more important than ever, as they can significantly help to moderate the adverse effects of the pervasive social media use on students’ mental and emotional health. The kind of groupings formed for instructional purposes, for example, in social media can be done with greater care by teachers to make sure that the members of the groups are homogeneous and the tasks and activities shared in the groups are quite relevant and realistic. The teachers cannot always be in a full control of students’ use of social media, and the other fact is that students do not always and only use social media for educational purposes. They spend more time on social media for communicating with friends or strangers or possibly they just passively receive the content produced out of any educational scope just for entertainment. This uncontrolled and unrealistic content may give them a false image of life events and can threaten their mental and emotional health. Thus, teachers can try to make students aware of the potential hazards of investing too much of their time on following pages or people that publish false and misleading information about their personal or social identities. As students, logically expected, spend more time with their teachers than counselors, they may be better and more receptive to the advice given by the former than the latter.

Teachers may not be in full control of their students’ use of social media, but they have always played an active role in motivating or demotivating students to take particular measures in their academic lives. If teachers are informed of the recent research findings about the potential effects of massively using social media on students, they may find ways to reduce students’ distraction or confusion in class due to the excessive or over-reliant use of these networks. Educators may more often be mesmerized by the promises of technology-, computer- and mobile-assisted learning. They may tend to encourage the use of social media hoping to benefit students’ social and interpersonal skills, self-confidence, stress-managing and the like. Yet, they may be unaware of the potential adverse effects on students’ emotional well-being and, thus, may find the review of the recent relevant research findings insightful. Also, teachers can mediate between learners and social media to manipulate the time learners spend on social media. Research has mainly indicated that students’ emotional experiences are mainly dependent on teachers’ pedagogical approach. They should refrain learners from excessive use of, or overreliance on, social media. Raising learners’ awareness of this fact that individuals should develop their own path of development for learning, and not build their development based on unrealistic comparison of their competences with those of others, can help them consider positive values for their activities on social media and, thus, experience positive emotions.

At higher education, students’ needs are more life-like. For example, their employment-seeking spirits might lead them to create accounts in many social networks, hoping for a better future. However, membership in many of these networks may end in the mere waste of the time that could otherwise be spent on actual on-campus cooperative projects. Universities can provide more on-campus resources both for research and work experience purposes from which the students can benefit more than the cyberspace that can be tricky on many occasions. Two main theories underlying some negative emotions like boredom and anxiety are over-stimulation and under-stimulation. Thus, what learners feel out of their involvement in social media might be directed toward negative emotions due to the stimulating environment of social media. This stimulating environment makes learners rely too much, and spend too much time, on social media or use them obsessively. As a result, they might feel anxious or depressed. Given the ubiquity of social media, these negative emotions can be replaced with positive emotions if learners become aware of the psychological effects of social media. Regarding the affordances of social media for learners, they can take advantage of the potential affordances of these media such as improving their literacy, broadening their communication skills, or enhancing their distance learning opportunities.

A review of the research findings on the relationship between social media and students’ affective traits revealed both positive and negative findings. Yet, the instances of the latter were more salient and the negative psychological symptoms such as depression, anxiety, and stress have been far from negligible. These findings were discussed in relation to some more relevant theories such as the social comparison theory, which predicted that most of the potential issues with the young generation’s excessive use of social media were induced by the unfair comparisons they made between their own lives and the unrealistic portrayal of others’ on social media. Teachers, education policymakers, curriculum developers, and all those in charge of the student affairs at schools and universities should be made aware of the psychological effects of the pervasive use of social media on students, and the potential threats.

It should be reminded that the alleged socially supportive and communicative promises of the prevalent use of social networking in student life might not be fully realized in practice. Students may lose self-appreciation and gratitude when they compare their current state of life with the snapshots of others’ or peers’. A depressed or stressed-out mood can follow. Students at schools or universities need to learn self-worth to resist the adverse effects of the superficial support they receive from social media. Along this way, they should be assisted by the family and those in charge at schools or universities, most importantly the teachers. As already suggested, counseling programs might help with raising students’ awareness of the potential psychological threats of social media to their health. Considering the ubiquity of social media in everybody’ life including student life worldwide, it seems that more coping and compensatory strategies should be contrived to moderate the adverse psychological effects of the pervasive use of social media on students. Also, the affective influences of social media should not be generalized but they need to be interpreted from an ecological or contextual perspective. This means that learners might have different emotions at different times or different contexts while being involved in social media. More specifically, given the stative approach to learners’ emotions, what learners emotionally experience in their application of social media can be bound to their intra-personal and interpersonal experiences. This means that the same learner at different time points might go through different emotions Also, learners’ emotional states as a result of their engagement in social media cannot be necessarily generalized to all learners in a class.

As the majority of studies on the psychological effects of social media on student life have been conducted on school students than in higher education, it seems it is too soon to make any conclusive remark on this population exclusively. Probably, in future, further studies of the psychological complexities of students at higher education and a better knowledge of their needs can pave the way for making more insightful conclusions about the effects of social media on their affective states.

Suggestions for further research

The majority of studies on the potential effects of social media usage on students’ psychological well-being are either quantitative or qualitative in type, each with many limitations. Presumably, mixed approaches in near future can better provide a comprehensive assessment of these potential associations. Moreover, most studies on this topic have been cross-sectional in type. There is a significant dearth of longitudinal investigation on the effect of social media on developing positive or negative emotions in students. This seems to be essential as different affective factors such as anxiety, stress, self-esteem, and the like have a developmental nature. Traditional research methods with single-shot designs for data collection fail to capture the nuances of changes in these affective variables. It can be expected that more longitudinal studies in future can show how the continuous use of social media can affect the fluctuations of any of these affective variables during the different academic courses students pass at school or university.

As already raised in some works of research reviewed, the different patterns of impacts of social media on student life depend largely on the educational context. Thus, the same research designs with the same academic grade students and even the same age groups can lead to different findings concerning the effects of social media on student psychology in different countries. In other words, the potential positive and negative effects of popular social media like Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, etc., on students’ affective conditions can differ across different educational settings in different host countries. Thus, significantly more research is needed in different contexts and cultures to compare the results.

There is also a need for further research on the higher education students and how their affective conditions are positively and negatively affected by the prevalent use of social media. University students’ psychological needs might be different from other academic grades and, thus, the patterns of changes that the overall use of social networking can create in their emotions can be also different. Their main reasons for using social media might be different from school students as well, which need to be investigated more thoroughly. The sorts of interventions needed to moderate the potential negative effects of social networking on them can be different too, all requiring a new line of research in education domain.

Finally, there are hopes that considering the ever-increasing popularity of social networking in education, the potential psychological effects of social media on teachers be explored as well. Though teacher psychology has only recently been considered for research, the literature has provided profound insights into teachers developing stress, motivation, self-esteem, and many other emotions. In today’s world driven by global communications in the cyberspace, teachers like everyone else are affecting and being affected by social networking. The comparison theory can hold true for teachers too. Thus, similar threats (of social media) to self-esteem and self-worth can be there for teachers too besides students, which are worth investigating qualitatively and quantitatively.

Probably a new line of research can be initiated to explore the co-development of teacher and learner psychological traits under the influence of social media use in longitudinal studies. These will certainly entail sophisticated research methods to be capable of unraveling the nuances of variation in these traits and their mutual effects, for example, stress, motivation, and self-esteem. If these are incorporated within mixed-approach works of research, more comprehensive and better insightful findings can be expected to emerge. Correlational studies need to be followed by causal studies in educational settings. As many conditions of the educational settings do not allow for having control groups or randomization, probably, experimental studies do not help with this. Innovative research methods, case studies or else, can be used to further explore the causal relations among the different features of social media use and the development of different affective variables in teachers or learners. Examples of such innovative research methods can be process tracing, qualitative comparative analysis, and longitudinal latent factor modeling (for a more comprehensive view, see Hiver and Al-Hoorie, 2019 ).

Author contributions

Both authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectual contribution to the work, and approved it for publication.

This study was sponsored by Wuxi Philosophy and Social Sciences bidding project—“Special Project for Safeguarding the Rights and Interests of Workers in the New Form of Employment” (Grant No. WXSK22-GH-13). This study was sponsored by the Key Project of Party Building and Ideological and Political Education Research of Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications—“Research on the Guidance and Countermeasures of Network Public Opinion in Colleges and Universities in the Modern Times” (Grant No. XC 2021002).

Conflict of interest

Author XX was employed by China Mobile Group Jiangsu Co., Ltd. The remaining author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Exploring College Students' Self-Presentation Behaviors, Motivations and Relationship with Presence in Online Learning Space

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75 Unique School Presentation Ideas and Topics Plus Templates

Are you tired of seeing the same PowerPoints repeating overused and unoriginal school presentation ideas covering repeated topics in your classes?

You know what I’m talking about; we’ve all been there, and sat through yawn-worthy demonstrations, slides, or presentation videos covering everything from the solar system, someone’s favorite pet, past presidents of a country, to why E=mC squared.

From grade school to university, first graders to college students, we are obligated to create, perform, and observe academic presentations across a plethora of curriculums and classes, and not all of these public speaking opportunities fall into the category of an ‘interesting topic’.

Yet, have no fear! Here at Piktochart, we are here to help you and your classmates. From giving examples of creative and even interactive presentation ideas, providing presentation videos , and suggesting interactive activities to give your five minutes of fame the ‘wow’ factor that it deserves, this article is your guide!

Our massive collection of unique school and college presentation ideas and templates applies if you’re:

• A teacher looking to make your class more engaging and fun with student presentations.
• A student who wants to impress your teacher and the rest of the class with a thought-provoking, interesting topic.

A Curated List of Interesting Topics for School Presentations

Did you know that when it comes to presentations , the more students involved improves retention? The more you know! Yet sometimes, you need a little help to get the wheels moving in your head for your next school presentation .

The great thing about these ideas and topics is you can present them either in face-to-face classes or virtual learning sessions.

Each school presentation idea or topic below also comes with a template that you can use. Create a free Piktochart account to try our presentation maker and get access to the high-quality version of the templates. You can also check out our Piktochart for Education plan .

Want to watch this blog post in video format? The video below is for you!

The templates are further divided into the following categories covering the most popular and best presentation topics. Click the links below to skip to a specific section.

• Unique science presentation topics to cultivate curiosity in class
• Engaging culture and history presentation ideas to draw inspiration from
• Health class presentation topics to help students make healthy lifestyle decisions
• Data visualization ideas to help students present an overwhelming amount of data and information into clear, engaging visuals
• First day of school activity ideas to foster classroom camaraderie
• Communication and media topics to teach students the importance of effective communication
• Topics to help students prepare for life after school

We hope this list will inspire you and help you nail your next school presentation activity.

Unique Science Presentation Topics to Cultivate Curiosity in Class

Science is a broad field and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed with too many topics to choose for your next presentation.

Cultivate curiosity in the science classroom with the following unique and creative presentation ideas and topics:

1. Can life survive in space?

2. Do plants scream when they’re in pain?

3. What are the traits of successful inventors?

4. How vaccines work

5. Massive destruction of the Koala’s habitat in Australia

6. Left brain versus right brain

7. What are great sources of calcium?

8. Recycling facts you need to know

9. Do you have what it takes to be a NASA astronaut?

10. The rise of robots and AI: Should we be afraid of them?

11. How far down does the sea go?

12. The stages of sleep

13. Will Mars be our home in 2028?

14. A quick look at laboratory safety rules

15. The first person in history to break the sound barrier

Engaging Culture and History Presentation Ideas to Draw Inspiration From

History is filled with equally inspiring and terrifying stories, and there are lessons that students can learn from the events of the past. Meanwhile, interactive presentations about culture help students learn and embrace diversity. 

16. Women in history: A conversation through time

17. The sweet story of chocolate 

18. A history lesson with a twist 

19. The history of basketball 

20. The origin of the Halloween celebration 

21. AI History 

22. What you need to know about New Zealand 

23. 1883 volcanic eruption of Krakatoa 

24. Roman structures: 2000 years of strength

25. The most famous art heists in history 

26. Elmo: The story behind a child icon 

27. 10 things you should know before you visit South Korea 

28. 8 things you didn’t know about these 8 countries 

Health Class Presentation Topics to Help Students Make Healthy Lifestyle Decisions

Want to learn how to engage students with healthcare topic ideas? Then consider using these templates for your next interactive presentation.

According to the CDC , school-based health education contributes to the development of functional health knowledge among students. It also helps them adapt and maintain health-promoting behaviors throughout their lives. 

Not only will your presentation help with keeping students engaged, but you’ll also increase class involvement with the right slides.

The following examples of health and wellness interactive presentations include fun ideas and topics that are a good start. 

29. How to look after your mental health?

30. The eradication of Polio

31. How to have a healthy lifestyle 

32. 10 handwashing facts 

33. Myths and facts about depression

34. Hacks for making fresh food last longer 

35. Ways to avoid spreading the coronavirus

36. Mask protection in 5 simple steps 

37. Everything you need to know about the flu

38. All about stress: Prevention, tips, and how to cope 

39. The importance of sleep 

40. Is milk tea bad for you?

41. How to boost happiness in 10 minutes

42. How dirty are debit and credit cards 

43. Why do you need sunscreen protection

Data Visualization Ideas to Help Students Present Overwhelming Amounts of Data in Creative Ways

Data visualization is all about using visuals to make sense of data. Students need to pull the main points from their extensive research, and present them by story telling while being mindful of their classmates’ collective attention span.

As far as student assignments go, storytelling with data is a daunting task for students and teachers alike. To keep your audience interested, consider using a non linear presentation that presents key concepts in creative ways.

Inspire your class to be master data storytellers with the following data visualization ideas:

44. Are we slowly losing the Borneo rainforest?

45. Skateboard deck design over the years

46. Food waste during the Super Bowl

47. The weight of the tallest building in the world

48. Infographic about data and statistics

49. Stats about cyberbullying

50. How whales combat climate change

First Day of School Interactive Activity Ideas to Foster Whole-class-Camaraderie

Calling all teachers! Welcome your new students and start the school year with the following back-to-school creative presentation ideas and relevant templates for first-day-of-school activities.

These interactive presentations grab the attention of your students and are remarkably easy to execute (which is the main educator’s goal after all)!

51. Meet the teacher

52. Example: all about me

53. Self-introduction

54. Tips on how to focus on schoolwork

55. Course plan and schedule

Give our class schedule maker a try to access more templates for free. You can also access our presentation-maker , poster-maker , timeline-maker , and more by simply signing up .

56. Interpreting a student’s report card (for parents)

57. Introduction of classroom rules

58. Assignment schedule

59. Daily planner

60. Course syllabus presentation

61. How to write a class presentation

Topics to Teach Students the Importance of Effective Communication

Visual media  helps students retain more of the concepts  taught in the classroom. The following media topics and infographic templates can help you showcase complex concepts in a short amount of time. 

In addition, interactive presentation activities using these templates also encourage the development of a holistic learning process in the classroom because they help focus on the  three domains of learning:  cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. 

62. Interactive presentation do’s and don’ts 

63. How to create an infographic 

Recommended reading : How to Make an Infographic in 30 Minutes

64. How to improve your internet security and privacy

65. What is design thinking?

66. What are your favorite software tools to use in the classroom? 

Presentation Topic Ideas to Help Students Prepare for Life After School

One of the things that makes teaching a rewarding career is seeing your students take the learning and knowledge you’ve instilled in them, and become successful, productive adults.

From pitching a business idea to starting your podcast, the following topics are good starting points to prepare students for the challenges after graduation (aka adulting 101):

67. How to make a resume

68. How to start a startup

69. Credit card vs. debit card

70. Pros and cons of cryptocurrency

71. How to save on travel

72. How to do a SWOT analysis

73. How to pitch a business idea

74. Habits of successful people

75. Starting your own podcast: A checklist

Find out how a high school teacher like Jamie Barkin uses Piktochart to improve learning in the classroom for her students.

Pro tip: make your presentation as interactive as possible. Students have an attention span of two to three minutes per year of age. To keep minds from wandering off, include some interactive games or activities in the lesson. For example, if you conducted a lesson on the respiratory system, you could ask them to practice breathing techniques.

Maintain eye contact with your students, and you’ll get instant feedback on how interested they are in the interactive presentation.

Make School Presentation Visuals Without the Hassle of Making Them From Scratch

School presentations, when done right, can help teachers engage their classes and improve students’ education effectively by presenting information using the right presentation topic. 

If you’re pressed for time and resources to make your school presentation visuals , choose a template from Piktochart’s template gallery . Aside from the easy customization options, you can also print and download these templates to your preferred format. 

Piktochart also professional templates to create infographics , posters , brochures , reports , and more.

Creating school-focused, engaging, and interactive presentations can be tedious at first, but with a little bit of research and Piktochart’s handy templates, you’re going to do a great job!

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EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON STUDENTS

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Celebrating Pride Month 2024 at UCL

30 May 2024

Pride Month takes place every June – read on for our round-up of events and key resources for students and staff, plus a foreword from Professor Anthony Smith, Vice-Provost (Faculties) and LGBTQ+ champion on the University Management Committee.

On this page:

• Resources and networks for students
• Resources and networks for staff

Foreword from Professor Anthony Smith, Vice-Provost (Faculties) and LGBTQ+ champion on the University Management Committee. 

Pride Month means so many different things to different people, a reflection of the diversity of our community, friends and allies.  

For some, it is a reminder of just how far we have come since the first Gay Pride parade in New York in 1970, a year after the Stonewall Riots were triggered by the NYPD raid on the Stonewall Inn in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village.  Marches followed in other large US cities and the first UK Pride took place in London two years later, on 1 July, 1972.  While it is a time to celebrate, Pride is also an important reminder, not just for the LGBTQ+ community but for the whole of society, that many people here and around the world continue to face oppression and marginalisation. And for others, participation in Pride is a much more personal moment in their journey as a member of our community. 

This year marks 40 years since the seemingly unlikely alliance between a Lesbian and Gay group from London and Miners in South Wales, during the tumultuous months of the 1984-85 Miners’ Strike – the longest strike in British history.  As memorably captured in the 2014 film Pride, the group raised more money for the miners than any other fundraiser in the UK and included driving from London to South Wales in a minibus emblazoned with the logo LGSM: Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners.  Those same miners showed their gratitude to the LGBTQ+ community by marching in Pride 1985, doing much to break down barriers and prejudices. 

Returning to the present, this year marks new beginnings for me.  In April I married Michael, my partner of sixteen years, and I retire from UCL at the end of July.  It has been an honour and privilege to be the LGBTQ+ champion on the Senior Management Team and University Management Committee for the past twelve years.  Thank you to everyone from Out@UCL and friends for your support and friendship – it has always been a great network. Whenever you go into Student Centre, see if you can spot the Out@UCL branding that I got in there to signal that building’s commitment to inclusivity. 

Happy Pride! Anthony Smith 

We'll be updating this page with additional events as they are announced so please do check back to see the latest updates! If you are hosting a UCL event for Pride Month that you’d like included in this article, please get in touch with the UCL Communications team .   

4 June, 7pm: The Aggressives + Behind Every Good Man- Film Screening

In person, open to all. Join UCL Anthropology for a new film screening series, Spectra – Queer Non-Fiction Films, at UCL East. This series aims to highlight diverse and powerful narratives within the queer community through non-fiction cinema and kicks off with this screening of the groundbreaking documentary The Aggressives (2005), followed by the short film Behind Every Good Man (1967) .

5 June, 2.30pm-4.30pm: Trans-inclusivity Seminar Series: 'Cancel Culture' and politics of vulnerability in queer/trans online spaces 

In person/online, open to all. Dr Kata Kyrölä will explore how notions of ‘cancel culture’ circulate online in relation to issues of sexual and gender diversity, and how conflicts around ‘cancelation’ speak to broader cultural-affective tendencies, theorised through politics of vulnerability, paranoid reading, and platform drama.   

6 June, 10am: LGBTQ+ Parents and Families Group launch

Online, open to UCL staff and students. Join us for the launch of this new group, co-chaired by members of the IOE LGBTQ+ Advisory Group. More information and contact details can be found on Staff News . 

26 June, 1-5pm: Faculty of Brain Sciences LGBTQ+ Research Showcase 

In person, open to UCL staff and students. The Faculty of Brain Sciences’ LGBTQ+ Committee is organising its 2nd Annual LGBTQ+ Research Showcase . This event is open to all LGBTQ+ staff and students and allies at UCL. Work from LGBTQ+ early career researchers, as well as research into subjects related to the LGBTQ+ community, will be presented at the event, in addition to a panel discussion on issues affecting LGBTQ+ people in academia.

19 July 2024, 2–3pm: Diverse Founders’ Network panel discussion: Support for LGBTQIA+ founders 

In person, open to all. This panel discussion on support for LGBTQIA+ entrepreneurs will be delivered in collaboration with the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). This event is free and open to all. 

Resources and networks for students  

• Students’ Union UCL’s  LGBTQ+ Network  aims to support lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and/or any other marginalised gender or sexual identities.  
• Students’ Union UCL’s  Trans* Students Network  provides an opportunity for students self-defining as Trans* to be part of a community of their peers, providing events, support and resources.  
• Students’ Union UCL’s  Gender Expression Fund  provides financial assistance for students to purchase items that will make them more comfortable with their gender presentation.   
• UCL Student Support and Wellbeing have  listed information and support for LGBTQ+ students , including our  policy and guidance for those transitioning gender .  

Resources and networks for staff 

• UCL’s  LGBTQ+ Equality Steering Group  is open to all lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer staff and those interested in promoting LGBTQ+ equality at UCL, and also steers the  Out@UCL staff social network .    
• UCL’s  Trans Network  is for staff and mature and PhD students at UCL who identify as trans (including non-binary, genderqueer and all other identities not identical with the gender assigned at birth).  
• The  LGBTQ+ STEM network  is for members of the LGBTQ+ community allies working in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) discipline. 

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PTSD Has Surged Among College Students

The prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder among college students rose to 7.5 percent in 2022, more than double the rate five years earlier, researchers found.

By Ellen Barry

Post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses among college students more than doubled between 2017 and 2022, climbing most sharply as the coronavirus pandemic shut down campuses and upended young adults’ lives, according to new research published on Thursday.

The prevalence of PTSD rose to 7.5 percent from 3.4 percent during that period, according to the findings . Researchers analyzed responses from more than 390,000 participants in the Healthy Minds Study, an annual web-based survey.

“The magnitude of this rise is indeed shocking,” said Yusen Zhai, the paper’s lead author, who heads the community counseling clinic at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. His clinic had seen more young people struggling in the aftermath of traumatic events. So he expected an increase, but not such a large one.

Dr. Zhai, an assistant professor in the Department of Human Studies, attributed the rise to “broader societal stressors” on college students, such as campus shootings, social unrest and the sudden loss of loved ones from the coronavirus.

PTSD is a mental health disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts, flashbacks and heightened sensitivity to reminders of an event, continuing more than a month after it occurs.

It is a relatively common disorder , with an estimated 5 percent of adults in the United States experiencing it in any given year, according to the most recent epidemiological survey conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services. Lifetime prevalence is 8 percent in women and 4 percent in men, the survey found.

The new research also found a sharp rise in the prevalence of a similar condition, acute stress disorder, which is diagnosed less than a month after a trauma. Diagnoses rose to 0.7 percent among college students in 2022, up from 0.2 percent five years earlier.

Use of mental health care increased nationally during the pandemic, as teletherapy made it far easier to see clinicians. Treatment for anxiety disorders increased most steeply, followed by PTSD, bipolar disorder and depression, according to economists who analyzed more than 1.5 million insurance claims for clinician visits between 2020 and 2022.

PTSD was introduced as an official diagnosis in 1980, as it became clear that combat experiences had imprinted on many Vietnam veterans, making it difficult for them to work or participate in family life. Over the decades that followed, the definition was revised to encompass a larger range of injury, violence and abuse, as well as indirect exposure to traumatic events.

However, the diagnosis still requires exposure to a Criterion A trauma, defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as “death, threatened death, actual or threatened serious injury, or actual or threatened sexual violence.”

It is not uncommon for young adults to experience traumatic events. A 1996 study of Detroit residents found that exposure to traumatic events — such as violent assaults, injuries or unexpected death — peaked sharply between the ages of 16 and 20. It then declined precipitously after age 20.

Research suggests that less than one-third of people exposed to traumatic events go on to develop PTSD.

Shannon E. Cusack, an academic researcher who has studied PTSD in college students, said there was division within the field about whether the profound disruptions that young adults experienced during the pandemic — abrupt loss of housing and income, social isolation and fear about infections — amount to triggering events.

“They’re causing symptoms that are consistent with the PTSD diagnosis,” said Dr. Cusack, a clinical psychologist and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Virginia Commonwealth University. “Am I not going to treat them because their stressor doesn’t count as a trauma?”

The prevalence data, she said, points to a pressing need for PTSD treatment on college campuses. Short-term treatments developed for veterans, such as prolonged exposure therapy and cognitive processing therapy, have proved effective in managing PTSD symptoms.

Stephen P. Hinshaw, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, said that the disruptions of the pandemic might have left college students emotionally depleted and less resilient when faced with traumatic events.

“Midway through this study, there may have been legitimately more trauma and death,” he said, adding that the lockdowns may have caused more general despair among young people. “With the general mental health deterioration, is it harder to cope with traumatic stressors if you do get exposed to them?”

Some changes to the diagnostic manual may have blurred the line between PTSD and disorders like depression or anxiety, Dr. Hinshaw said. In 2013, the committee overseeing revisions to the manual expanded the list of potential PTSD symptoms to include dysphoria, or a deep sense of unease, and a negative worldview, which could also be caused by depression, he said. But the changes, he added, do not account for the sharp increase in diagnoses.

Ellen Barry is a reporter covering mental health for The Times. More about Ellen Barry