Young People's health-related learning through social media: What do teachers need to know?

Victoria A Goodyear; Kathleen M Armour

doi:10.1016/j.tate.2021.103340

Young People's health-related learning through social media: What do teachers need to know?

Teach Teach Educ. 2021 Jun:102:103340. doi: 10.1016/j.tate.2021.103340.

Authors

Victoria A Goodyear¹, Kathleen M Armour²

Affiliations

¹ School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
² Pro-Vice-Chancellor-Education, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.

Abstract

International regulatory bodies have argued that young people should be better supported to engage safely, responsibly and effectively with social media. This paper considers ways in which the introduction of structured social media engagement in schools could bring educational benefits for young people, particularly in supporting them to deal with challenges relating to health and wellbeing. New evidence is provided on: (i) the value of social media as a health-related learning tool to bridge informal and formal learning contexts; (ii) how teachers should be supported to better understand and respond to young people's learning needs; and (iii) the school-based policies, expectations and resources that will help teachers to offer relevant support.

Keywords: Digital literacy; Health-related learning; Professional development; School-based policies; Schools; Social media; Wellbeing.