Although using TikTok in the classroom (and outside of it) can be impactful for students, teachers need to be aware of a few potential issues before moving forward.
School Policies
No matter what type of school you teach in, whether public or private, it’s important to speak to school administrators about your intent to use TikTok educational content. Explain how you plan on using it and discuss how the school’s policies may cover social media usage. You may need to obtain permission, both from the school administration and from the parents of students in your classes.
Digital Privacy
It’s difficult to understate the importance of digital privacy and security, particularly when minor students are involved. Consider making your TikTok account private, which will prevent people outside of the school community from seeing your videos and your students’ interactions with them. You’ll need to accept students’ requests to follow your account so they can see your videos.
Access to TikTok
Not all students may have access to TikTok, and not all of them may have parental permission to use it. Anything that you post on TikTok should be accessible to students who do not use the social media platform. For instance, you could copy the videos to a Google drive folder and share access with all of your students.
Classroom Policies
It’s also a good idea to establish a TikTok commenting policy for your classroom. Implement commonsense guidelines that discourage students from engaging in cyberbullying. Explain to your students that any content they themselves upload for your class should follow the general school guidelines.
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1 Maheshwari, S. and Holpuch, A. (2023, May 23). Why Countries Are Trying to Ban TikTok. The New York Times. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
2 Langreo, L. (2022, November 16). Students are turning to TikTok for homework help. Is that a bad thing. EducationWeek. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
3 Malik, A. (2022, February 28). TikTok expands max video length to 10 minutes, up from 3 minutes. TechCrunch. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
Approved by the dean of the College of Education on July 28, 2023.