PASAY CITY, Metro Manila- During the workshop on Education of the 2nd Philippine Healthcare & Social Media Summit on 21 April 2016 at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), speakers who were doctors themselves cited the use of social media in teaching and learning.

According to Dr. Nomar Alvia of UP Manila National Teacher Training Center for the Health Professions, maximizing social media is crucial in transmitting and constructing knowledge. Among the processes that social media can promote are feedback, interactivity, integration and reflection.

Dr. Alvia also cited that social media allows four interactivities such as with teachers, with other learners, with learning materials, and with one’s experiences. “Actually there are some teachers who use Twitter in teaching,” he added.

In using Twitter as a tool in teaching, Dr. Iris Thiele Isip-Tan of UP Medical Informatics Unit, emphasized that Twitter can be used as platform to convey credible information sources to students.

“Facebook [is] for connecting with people you went to school with, Twitter [is] for connecting with people you wish to be with,” she explained.

Citing the advantages of using Twitter in classroom, Dr. Isip-Tan said that maximizing Twitter leads to creating “real life” context for students, encouraging students to be creative by communicating with brevity and depth, and prompting self and group reflection.

Dr. Isip-Tan added that Twitter can be used for informal quizzes and polls and for setting up accounts for specific class or group.

However, she reminded the participants that setting ground rules for the use of Twitter is important. “You have to tell students that they should have full responsibility for their tweets,” she emphasized.

Aside from Twitter, the use of Tweetdeck, Pinterest, Periscope, Facebook Live, Youtube Live and Instagram were also recommended during the workshop.

The Education track is one of the six workshops conducted during the Summit. With the theme “Healthcare and Social Media: From click to brick,” the Summit brought together healthcare professionals, academe, healthcare industry, patients and advocates to forge partnerships that can help translate tweets, shares and likes to concrete action in transforming the country’s healthcare services. ■