Instagram and Vine

I first started using Instagram about six months ago.  I used it to keep in touch with some of my nieces and nephews that live out of state and no longer use Facebook.  I only posted a single collage and the rest of the time I have simply followed them and commented on pictures that they have posted.  Instagram has become one of the most popular social network services out there especially for teenagers.   It allows you to take pictures and videos that can be shared on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Flickr.   Instagram videos are only 15 seconds long.  Instagram has many uses beyond just social networking.  Educators can use it in their classrooms to feature the student of the week or to showcase student work.  Students can use Instagram to share reading recommendations or record the steps of a science project.  Younger students can use it to go on scavenger hunts or to create ideas for writing.   The possibilities are endless.  Here are a couple of examples for you to view.

Ryan's cake... Minion craze

A photo posted by Liz Ramirez (@lizramirez2014) on Nov 11, 2014 at 5:50pm PST

Ryan's piñata was bigger than him!

A photo posted by Liz Ramirez (@lizramirez2014) on Nov 11, 2014 at 6:12pm PST

Another great service to try is Vine.  It is a short video sharing service.  The videos are short six second videos.  The videos loop and are great to use in the classroom to help students commit content to memory.  As an educator, you can create your own videos related to content.  Vines are also great for predicting.  They can be used by students to create videos, too.  Here are a couple of examples of Vines, I created.