Part of my job was to evaluate emerging education technology and to investigate its feasibility of it being implemented in the classroom. Steemit has thus far been an interesting platform because it works and after much use, I think Steemit has much potential to be used outside of the classroom. Of course, using it in the classroom can be rather impractical as I doubt students are allowed to blog or be in Facebook for an hour during class.
However, once used as a form of 'homework', Steemit has a few advantages of conventional social media platforms. First and foremost would be the motivation to want to write.
Motivation to write
The community on Steemit has been more welcoming as compared to other platforms. Trolls are rarely seen, at least from my experience. Most Stmeemians are a positive and a helpful group of people. Thus, this allows for interaction with others. This is applicable for the second language students, as some may not speak English as their first language. As such, with Steemit, it provides them with a platform to expose themselves in the language as most users use English as the medium of communication. This would help learners of English practice the language and through practice improve themselves.
Of course, there is also the monetary rewards. I am sure if given a choice, my students would prefer getting paid for what they write over my praise. Although, my praises can be very motivating, it is undeniable that monetary rewards is a huge incentive and will likely get students to write consistently. I have conducted other studies on using Facebook or Instagram in language learning. The motivation to use those tools was the 'likes' and the comments. This provides an element of gamification which makes the students come back for more.
On Steemit, you get 'likes', comments and even a monetary reward. With that, it is likely that people who start using Steemit are not likely to stop. With that in mind, if a teacher can motivate the students to engage in a particular activity, a large part of the daily classroom battle is won. Moving on, Steemit can also be used to benefit the teachers.
Support for teachers
Great avenues such as Steemiteducation are wonderful places for teachers to find support in teaching. There is a huge library of different lesson plans, teaching materials and how-to videos that can last a lifetime of teaching. As such, it is entirely possible for a teacher who is not bounded by a particular syllabus to just come on Steemiteducaton, download the materials and use it for his/her classroom.
In addition, Steemiteducation provides the teachers with a platform to share ideas. These ideas can range from classroom management ideas to cool lesson plans. Just publishing these ideas would help the teacher see the feasibility of their plan as the feedback from the other members would help the teacher ascertain the lesson's effectiveness.
If all else fails, just write something on Steemit, pour your heart out. Perhaps after a long day of class, you just want to complain about the school, the students and the system. Writing about it and posting it is therapeutic (trust me, I have been there.). After posting about your long day and taking a break, it's time to look at exams and Steemit.
A great tool for assessing certain subjects
Most tests do not test practical knowledge but academic knowledge. Steemit offers a place for the teacher to assess the students in a realistic manner. However, with the topics being discussed on Steemit, topics such as critical thinking, language use and art can be assessed on Steemit. It would be cool to complete an assignment on Steemit, so here's how it can be done.
If you are taking a course on critical thinking, you could take a few articles such as those on cryptocurrencies and evaluate which cryptocurrency is the best. The process of discussing and proving which cryptocurrency is the best requires critical thinking and is a valid way to gauge the students' critical thinking. Furthermore, the students can also publish an article about it.
Furthermore, if you are conducting an art assignment and you require students to publish their work on Steemit, the comments and feedback from the community could provide valuable insight for the students o better improve their work. Of course, there are limitations to this, such as receiving irrelevant comments. However, receiving approval or disapproval from the community may just provide the students with the needed advice to move forward in their projects.
Conclusion
As seen in the different points above, Steemit could potentially help in the learning and teaching of the classroom. it is good to see communities such as Steemiteducation whereby teachers can find support. However, for Steemit to become a platform for teaching and learning, akin to all those different learning platforms out there, I think Steemit would have to create a certain area where it caters only to teaching and learning, The general area of Steemit can be rather crowded, confusing, and unsuitable, especially with NSFW materials so easily accessible.
That being said, I believe in the teaching and learning potential of this platform. Hopefully its potential for learning would be realized one day in the future.
