Students Are Turning to TikTok for Homework Help. Is That a Bad Thing? - Education Week

Students are progressively turning to societal media platforms erstwhile they request to probe topics for school.

One of those platforms is TikTok, a video-sharing level fashionable with K-12 students of assorted ages. Kids ages 4 to 18 walk an mean of 91 minutes per time watching TikTok videos, according to data from parental power bundle shaper Qustodio.

In fact, a wide survey of TikTok users successful the United States recovered that 1 successful 4 usage the level for acquisition purposes, according to a caller survey from online learning level Study.com. And 69 percent of those who usage TikTok for acquisition purposes said it has helped them implicit their homework.

The Study.com investigation besides examined what world subjects had the astir views connected TikTok. English was first, followed by history, science, and math. Survey respondents who reported utilizing TikTok for acquisition purposes said they utilized it astir often for English classes.

Teachers who spoke with Education Week said they weren’t amazed that truthful galore radical usage the level for acquisition purposes.

“It’s the app wherever the bulk of students are,” said Chris Dier, a precocious schoolhouse past teacher successful New Orleans and the 2020 Louisiana Teacher of the Year. “So it does marque consciousness that a batch of them are getting their accusation from TikTok.”

While TikTok could beryllium utilized to amended prosecute students successful lessons, it’s besides been a large distraction. A drawstring of viral challenges connected the level person caused headaches for educators. And similar with different societal media platforms, TikTok could beryllium a forum for bullying and misinformation, on with information privateness concerns. The level is owned by Beijing, China-based tech institution ByteDance.

Plus, galore experts stay captious of utilizing societal media platforms—such arsenic Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter—for acquisition purposes. They accidental the platforms stress quick-hit learning, alternatively than heavy find and analysis.

“It’s besides important to separate the learning that mightiness travel from a TikTok video to that of a publication oregon a longer nonfiction oregon adjacent long-form video,” said Christine Elgersma, elder exertion of learning apps for Common Sense Media, successful an email. “We similar short, and sometimes that works erstwhile it comes to homework: Kids mightiness conscionable privation to cognize if they request a comma oregon however to mention a source.”

“But erstwhile it comes to captious thinking, forming opinions and values, oregon knowing cardinal moments successful history, aboveground learning conscionable doesn’t bash the subjects justice,” she added. “It whitethorn beryllium capable to supply 1 portion of a greater puzzle, but it isn’t suited to deeper thinking.”

Students bring accusation to people from TikTok

Still, immoderate teachers accidental they usage TikTok to conscionable students wherever they are, and past prosecute them successful deeper learning done different approaches.

During the pandemic, erstwhile Dier was teaching remotely, helium was making lengthy contented videos for students. That’s erstwhile his students told him to effort retired TikTok.

“At first, I thought ‘I decidedly don’t privation to articulation immoderate this app is. It’s for kids.’” Dier said. “But arsenic I started teaching, I noticed that students were bringing successful accusation from TikTok. I would inquire them, ‘Where did you larn this information?’ They would say, ‘Oh, I heard astir it connected TikTok.’”

Eventually, Dier created an account and started sharing speedy past lessons. “As teachers, we’re expected to conscionable students wherever they are, to prosecute and marque our contented travel alive. What amended mode to bash that than to utilize the app [where] students are already watching content?” helium said. (Dier’s TikTok relationship present has much than 146,000 followers.)

Claudine James, a mediate schoolhouse English/language arts teacher successful Arkansas, besides started a TikTok relationship aft she realized her students weren’t watching the grammar and vocabulary video lessons she posted connected YouTube.

During 1 agelong successful the autumn semester of 2020, she had much than 25 students absent owed to COVID quarantine protocols, but her YouTube video acquisition lone had 7 views.

When the students came backmost to class, James asked them wherefore they didn’t ticker the YouTube videos. Her students said they don’t ticker videos connected YouTube due to the fact that they don’t walk clip there.

“Someone said, ‘You should enactment them connected TikTok. [Students will] beryllium connected determination and they’ll conscionable hap to spot [the videos],’” James said.

Two years later, James said her TikTok videos connected grammar, spelling, and different English lessons person been adjuvant to her existent and past students. “I’ll person a past pupil nonstop maine a connection like, ‘If you haven’t already, bash a acquisition connected this, due to the fact that I privation you to explicate it to me.’” (James present has 4.5 cardinal followers connected TikTok.)

For amended oregon worse, TikTok caters to kids’ shorter attraction spans

When asked wherefore they usage TikTok for acquisition purposes, 60 percent of survey respondents said the app is casual to access, 57 percent said it’s casual to understand, 51 percent said there’s a batch of content, and 47 percent said it’s free, according to the Study.com survey.

TikTok “presented a caller mode to present accusation that corresponded with students’ attraction spans,” Dier said. “Attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. And present there’s an app that allows you to make contented that caters to the attraction span of younger generations.”

TikTok could besides beryllium utilized to stock accusation that’s often near retired of textbooks oregon the program that students mightiness person ne'er heard of otherwise, Dier said. For instance, Dier enactment unneurotic an acquisition TikTok video aft helium uncovered humanities records astir a reconstruction-era massacre orchestrated by achromatic residents against Black radical successful a Louisiana assemblage successful 1868, fueled by whites’ fears that Blacks had gained the close to vote.

But due to the fact that anyone tin station a TikTok video, misinformation tin beryllium a problem. The bulk of TikTok users judged the trustworthiness of the contented by its fig of likes (55 percent) and views (53 percent), arsenic good arsenic the fig of followers the creator had (51 percent), according to the Study.com survey. Less than half, 44 percent, said they fact-checked a video earlier deeming it credible.

“[Misinformation] is an contented due to the fact that I person heard students repetition things that they’ve heard from TikTok that are decidedly not true,” Dier said. But erstwhile helium corrects them, helium said the students are “really receptive.”

“As past teachers, we thatch students however to analyse the source, however to contextualize information, however to corroborate accusation with different sources. So successful galore ways, this propulsion to TikTok besides highlights the value of teaching these types of skills successful the schoolroom that tin transcend conscionable what we learned successful class,” helium added.

Elgersma echoed those sentiments.

“Likes and follows doesn’t mean a creator genuinely knows what they’re talking about, truthful it’s ever champion to fact-check and consult aggregate sources,” she said.

Lauraine Langreo is an Education Week unit writer, covering acquisition exertion and learning environments.