This project aimed to provide guidance, training, and resources to secondary school teachers and their students, with the goal of enhancing their digital readiness and content creation skills for pedagogical and inclusive use of social media. It focused on the integration of these media into the curriculum, emphasising the Erasmus + Key competencies for lifelong learning. The project also promoted the principles and practical applications of microlearning on social media, an engaging, concise, and easily accessible format. A crucial aspect was addressing safety concerns by providing relevant resources for educational content creation, thereby enhancing digital literacy. Unlike previous initiatives focused on safe social media learning, this project primarily aimed to use social media for educational content creation. The project aimed to strengthen the digital skills of teachers and students while encouraging an educational and conscious use of social media.
Nearly 85% of students used social media in 2019 (Eurostat). The pandemic has heightened the use of ICT for informal learning, leading to the adoption of the Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027) by the European Commission. Social media provides a means to create educational content in alignment with this plan, as they are already integrated into the digital era. They offer natural accessibility, customisation, and learner-centric design. The OECD supports their utility for both formal and informal learning. However, a 2020 European Parliament study shows that teachers often use ICT for basic purposes rather than specialised learning. Concerning social media, teachers lag significantly behind their students, with a 30% difference in engagement on social media between young people and adults in the EU in 2019. Only 31% of adults have "above basic" digital skills. The challenge is to train and support teachers in adopting ICT, especially social media, as part of their teaching toolkit.