Classroom Technology Video

In Defense of TikTok: A Teacher on the App’s Power to Build Connections

By Kaylee Domzalski — March 19, 2024 2:25
Devotees of TikTok gather at the Capitol in Washington, as the House passed a bill that would lead to a nationwide ban of the popular video app if its China-based owner doesn't sell, Wednesday, March 13, 2024. Lawmakers contend the app's owner, ByteDance, is beholden to the Chinese government, which could demand access to the data of TikTok's consumers in the U.S.
Education Week
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For teachers, TikTok has been a place of community where they can share ideas with each other, and lessons with a world outside their classrooms.

Emily Glankler, a high school history teacher in Austin, created her account, Anti-Social Studies, in 2020, two years after starting a podcast and Instagram account under the same name. As of this month, she has more than 500K followers and uses the platform to discuss how she approaches different lessons in her classroom, while also providing engaging and in-depth history lessons for the general public.

Here, she discusses her concerns around the legislation recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that would force a sale of the popular app, or result in its removal from app stores entirely. The legislation now awaits action in the U.S. Senate.

Kaylee Domzalski
Video Producer,  Education Week
Kaylee Domzalski is a video producer for Education Week.
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