Yes, TikTok Can Be Educational!

I have a confession to make: I'm a millenial and I love using TikTok. I do not make any content myself, but I do enjoy browsing through the videos made by others. Along with a few of my friends who have accounts, I like to follow content-makers who post recipes, skincare advice, workout routines, etc. While I was browsing through the app last night, I came upon this video of a man talking about his favorite snails. I was like, "Huh, this is weird but also engaging???" I looked at the username of the account that posted this video and almost couldn't believe my eyes. For a bit of background, I grew up in Pittsburgh, PA, and many weekend afternoons and field trips were spent at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in the Oakland neighborhood of downtown Pittsburgh. It was such a serendipitous moment to stumble upon the museum's TikTok account out of the blue! I checked the rest of the videos that the CMNH had posted and they are all just as nerdy and fascinating; if you would also like to take a look, check it out for yourself.

TikTok itself presents many privacy concerns so until those are addressed I do not think it is safe to include it as a tool to be used by educators for the classroom. I also think there would be a lot of context collapse associated with it by students because I imagine they see it as an app where they can blow off some steam by posting silly videos of them dancing, playing pranks on their friends and family, etc. However, I do think it might be interesting if educators perhaps included assignments where they asked students to find a set number of educational TikTok videos on a given subject or something along those lines. Admittedly, I have no experience myself creating a lesson plan as I have never worked as an educator; these are just some bursts of inspiration that I experienced while browsing through the Carnegie Museum of Natural History's account!

Have you ever used TikTok before? What do you think of it? Could you see it potentially becoming an educational tool of sort at some point in the near future?

"Tiktok" by TheBetterDay is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

Comments

  1. LeahJune 24, 2020 at 7:55 AM

    TikTok is one social media platform I've never gotten into. I see videos that other people share with me, but I don't have the app and have never spent time browsing it. I know it's become super popular among the younger crowd though. Maybe it's because I don't know much about the app but I can't see it working well in an educational setting. It's possible there's a good way to utilize it for the classroom but I can't seem to think of any examples.

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  2. DesmondJune 25, 2020 at 7:39 AM

    That is a fun account. Thank you for sharing. I too am concerned about TikTok's privacy but it that is able to get sorted out I think that it is a great way to connect and teach the students. A teacher that I taught with last year started a TikTok to create funny teacher and life videos. My students find it awesome. The context collapse is exciting for students in certain contexts.

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  3. IlvermonyJune 26, 2020 at 8:59 PM

    Interesting take! I have always found Tik Tok to be a little annoying along with issues with privacy. I am very resistant to the idea of using it as an educational tool. Nevertheless, it would be interesting to see how it can be used as an educational tool.

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  4. BDeviesJune 28, 2020 at 7:26 PM

    I do not use TikTok but I did use Vine when it was still around! I love that TikTok can be educational but I echo your concerns on context collapse in trying to bring this into educational spaces. I will say I do smile when a student educates me on something they learned through TikTok - it is good to know it is sharing educational content too!

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