iPads, MakerEd and More in Education

’ve long used Instagram as a way to reach out to my students.  It started back when I first got an iPad through DonorsChoose at my previous library (before I had a personal smartphone).  Some of my former students (now adults) still follow that account and keep in touch.  When I started at Tampa Prep, I created a new account for the library (@TPrepLibrary) separate from my personal account (@dianalrendina) to help conform to the school’s social media policies.  

During the lockdown and virtual learning time in the last quarter of the 2019-2020 school year, the library Instagram account became an essential way for me to keep in touch with my students and share with them.  During this time, I also had more time for PD, so I watched several AASL conference sessions on Instagram and took the fantastic eCourse, Dare to Grow: The Instagram Lab (called Grow Your ‘Gram at the time).  While that eCourse is geared more towards solopreneurs and not everything applied to the school library, I found SO many actionable tips in this course that I’ve utilized in my school library Instagram account.

No app is more integral to teens’ social lives than Instagram. While Millennials relied on Facebook to navigate high school and college, connect with friends, and express themselves online, Gen Z’s networks exist almost entirely on Instagram. According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, 72 percent of teens use the platform, which now has more than 1 billion monthly users. Instagram allows teens to chat with people they know, meet new people, stay in touch with friends from camp or sports, and bond by sharing photos or having discussions.


But when those friendships go south, the app can become a portal of pain. According to a recent Pew survey, 59 percent of teens have been bullied online, and according to a 2017 survey conducted by Ditch the Label, a nonprofit anti-bullying group, more than one in five 12-to-20-year-olds experience bullying specifically on Instagram. “Instagram is a good place sometimes,” said Riley, a 14-year-old who, like most kids in this story, asked to be referred to by her first name only, “but there’s a lot of drama, bullying, and gossip to go along with it.”

I love the power of social media in libraries. It’s an amazing way to share what you’re doing, promote your programs, and reach out to students and community members. Being a visual learner, Instagram is definitely one of my favorite platforms. It makes it easy to share striking visual images with as much or as little text as you prefer. This post isn’t here to convince you as to why you should have a library Instagram (check out Gwyneth’s awesome post if you are still on the fence). And it’s also not a post to share about best practices when posting to a school Instagram (although I think I now have my next post idea).

It’s not just the tweens and teens that are addicted to Instagram, it’s the teachers too! So instead of scrolling through your celebrity crush’s feed, we’ve rounded up some legitimate, educational ways you can use Instagram in the classroom.

Of course, it’s important to protect students’ privacy, especially when using a public channel like Instagram. If you’re interested in trying any of the ideas below, we recommend creating a classroom account that you set to “private” and carefully vetting any potential followers. You might also try adapting our suggestions to an educational social media platform such as Edmodo. Finally, be sure to check your school’s technology policies before you begin.

OK, disclaimer over! Here are 10 awesome ways you can use Instagram in the classroom

Instagram may be the your new book reader, thanks to a new breed of storytelling adapted to an Instagram format.

Instagram is a social media platform that is continuing to gain momentum. According to Wordstream, there are 800 million people on Instagram, and a third of the users are teenagers. If you have not begun harnessing the power of Instagram for your classroom, you need to consider it. Teachers across the world are finding ways to use Instagram to engage with their students and their parents.

If you follow your school’s internet and social media policies, Instagram can be a fun and safe social media tool for you and your students. The first thing you want to do, as a teacher, is to create a separate, private classroom account. This account should only be used for class-related things and only followed by students and their parents. Once you get your Instagram classroom account, you can get busy searching related #hashtags and posting images right away.

"Video is a powerful medium for communicating information—and as teachers know, students love using it, especially YouTube. From a viral video with a clip reminiscent of America’s Funniest Home Videos, to explainer videos and tutorials, YouTube is full useful (and silly) content.

But there is a new video medium that I’m super excited about. I think it has the potential to provide teachers with actionable information, including classroom strategies, lesson ideas and tips to support their professional growth. It’s called IGTV and it was launched earlier this year as a new way to “inspire, educate and entertain.” And in addition to providing a new way consume information, this platform can empower every user as a storyteller and creator of content."

Instagram isn't just for posting photos of food. Instagram can actually be a powerful learning and communication tool for educators, so I've written this guide for teachers. I'd like to show the kinds of things teachers can see on Instagram. I'd also like to tell you about the ins and outs of Instagram, starting with the basics and ending with crafting awesome posts.

After so many people asked me this question, I wanted to take some time and walk you through my process of editing pictures for Instagram.