Social Media in the Classroom: An Experiential Teaching Strategy to Engage and Educate

Abstract

This article outlines an approach to engaging and educating college students through the use of social media. The project is designed for a substance use course at the college/university undergraduate level. However, it could be adapted for any health education course/health issue where education and/or communication via social media are appropriate. It is well suited for both face-to-face and online classroom settings and has been utilized in both venues. This project capitalizes on the growing trend of technology and social media use among college students to build essential communication/education skills among future health educators, improve learning capacity in the millennial generation, and contribute to the amount of research-based information available to the public via the World Wide Web.