HOLY TRINITY COLLEGE OF GERNERAL SANTOS CITY

Fiscal Daproza Avenue, General Santos City

GRADUATE SCHOOL
2nd Semester 2021

ADVANCED EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

(EDUC 203)

Journal reading/Critique paper

LADY ELAIZA P. ULAMA

MAEd- Educational Management

JOSEPHINE DE CASTRO
Professor
THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AS A LEARNING RESOURCES TO SUPPORT THE

NEW NORMAL

I. Introduction and Thesis Statement

The COVID 19 pandemic and the associated social and economic downturn are

undermining children's educational and developmental outcomes. Across the world,

due to the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), children are affected by

physical distancing, quarantines and nationwide school closures. Various types of

human behavior (e.g., shopping, learning, working, meeting, and entertaining)

shifted from offline to online in order to meet this mandate while attempting to

maintain the status quo, resulting in an accelerated diffusion of emerging digital

technologies among ordinary people, while the digital divide between citizens with

and without access to the technology widens. As a result of extraordinary changes in

human behavior and increasing technology dispersion, the administration decided to

pursue a new program in order to recover the economy. Because the world of work

may not be forever limited, the economy must continue to operate, the government

is seeking a new strategy to restore the situation (New Normal) following the

implementation of the PSBB with the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic (Ministry of

Health, 2020). During the PSBB time, this strategy stresses the reopening of

previously closed activities, but with the appropriate health protocol in conformity

with the Ministry of Health's standards. The New Normal policy affects not only the

economy but also education. The use of social media as a learning resource is

deemed necessary. The background for using social media is because this platform
has become a virtual life for the community. In other words, in daily activities, the

community is attached to social media. Therefore, the social media that the

researcher offers is used as a user-friendly digital learning resource so that students

can learn without feeling burdened and e use of social media can be conducted

anywhere and anytime, in schools, parks, even at home, and can also be used with

various positions.

II. ARTICLE SUMMARY

Educational technology is a scientific foundation for making learning easier. In

facilitating the learning, the researcher examined relevant sources, especially related

to social media. For these reasons, the researcher looked into online learning that

was place through existing social media. The reason for using social media is that it

has evolved into a virtual life for the community. In other words, the community is

heavily reliant on social media, particularly Youtube, Instagram, and WhatsApp, in

their everyday activities.

The government's New Normal Policy is a response to the recovery in many

sectors, which had initially slowed owing to a temporary shutdown. One of the

sectors impacted by this strategy is education. In this article, the government come

up with a solution or strategies to maximize the use of social media’s in education

platform. Indeed, social media is used for socialization medium. It utilizes cellular-

based technology and websites to create highly interactive platforms and enable

people to communicate, share, collaborate, and modify the created content. Based

on Permana's (2018) research, social media can be used as a learning resource

since it influences increasing the ability to think critically and creatively because the

increase in motivation, critical thinking skills, and creative thinking abilities depend

on its use. The researcher recommends using three social media as learning

resources during the New Normal period, Youtube, Instagram, and Whatsapp. How

can it help as a learning resource in social media? In this article, several studies

have revealed Youtube-assisted learning could increase student motivation and

learning skills because the media was easy to access. the considerations in making

Youtube content as a learning resource are (1) shortening the video duration with a

brief, concise, and clear explanation because the shorter video will not be boring for

students in the implementation of the learning process, (2) signaling or the emphasis

in every material on Youtube because students prefer the clarity or conclusions of a

material provided and (3) management of learning videos centered in one Youtube

channel. How can we use Instagram as a Learning Resource? Instagram is a social

media that functions as a place to share photos (also videos) to other users. It

makes this social media tends to attract many users because of the freedom to

share photos. Similar to business, we teachers should see this opportunity as a

learning resource. Instagram facilitated the development of students' writing skills in

terms of new vocabulary and increased motivation to learn. With simple media,

someone will be more motivated to learn. It could also improve social skills, creativity

skills, and technology literacy. In the study, it was also revealed that Instagram could

practice higher-order thinking skills. The use of WhatsApp as a Learning Resource is

to cross-platform instant messaging application for smartphones. It allows users to

send and receive location information, images, videos, audio, and text messages in
real-time to individuals and groups for free. It is a recommended learning tool

currently implemented at various levels of education to assist students to learn

anytime and anywhere using their smartphone. It is elaborated in three main

methods: teachers, student-peer, and students-content interaction. Therefore, it is

divided into two challenges, device connectivity, and networked connectivity. For

that, what needs to be mended in developing learning through WhatsApp is the

same as YouTube and Instagram, but some additions are (1) ensuring stable

internet, (2) providing students time to respond, (3) using a scientific approach, and

(4) maximizing learning resources such as e-books, e-magazines, or other

resources to share with students.

III.  Critique/Personal Reflection

It is estimated around half the world’s students’ schools remain shut down.

Overall, this has been a possibly harmful disturbance in a generation's education.

However, one of the few positive results of this experience is the opportunity to

reconsider how digital technology may be used in schools to help teaching and

learning. But for me, any platforms of social media will do as a learning resources.

But making sure that this social media’s platforms will be used in accordance with

the needs of every pupils or learners. Any technology that is overused can be

dangerous. We have to bear in mind that we should be responsible in using different

technologies and different social media platforms as our learning resources. If it is

for the Good of Everybody then we can join our hands one on one and make a

better learning environment.