Teachers are no stranger to using social media tools and adapting them to be used for learning purposes- Twitter has become a huge learning tool particularly for professional development thanks to #EdChats.

But according to NPR, teachers are making use of an unlikely candidate in the classroom- Snapchat. Snapchat is an increasingly popular app where users can send videos or pictures that disappear almost immediately.

NPR spoke with one New York teacher, Michael Britt, who uses Snapchat to help students while studying for exams.

"Since last fall, Britt has built Snapchat videos into his introductory psychology class. He takes ‘snaps' of real-life examples of what he's teaching in class, and posts it to the app. He does this right before exams, so his students will look at them when they're studying,” NPR said.

Since students are already constantly checking Facebook, Snapchat and the like, it takes little additional effort for them to check out what their teacher has posted.

Britt’s students have said the effort may significantly help them perform better on exams.

"Salma Metwally, a freshman in Britt's class last semester, thinks that helped raise her grades. She recalls a specific snap of Britt's when she was learning about the biology of the brain. The snap featured Britt's niece in her ballerina tutu, standing on one leg. Britt used the snap as an example of how the cerebellum in the brain controls balance,” NPR said.

NPR points out that not all teachers will have an easy time using Snapchat in the classroom- some schools have banned it in from being used in school buildings in general.

Wake County public schools in North Carolina, for example, " found that Snapchat was not used instructionally and was not a classroom resource, says Lisa Luten, the district's director of communication. She added that, if a teacher found a good educational use for it, Wake County would consider removing the block. But so far that hasn't happened.”

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Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

3/29/2016