Internet Forums in Class: Innovation for Science Education by Focusing on Social Media

Internet forums are a part of the World Wide Web and are frequently used to ask questions and receive answers. They are popular platforms for exchanging information and comparing opinions. Many people query and retrieve information from Internet forums on various topics, many of which are related to science and technology. These include health, cosmetics, technical devices, and environmental issues. The reliability of the corresponding entries in Internet forums, however, should be approached with great caution. Answers found in general Internet forums are often provided by laypeople. Forum posts may contain information without scientific proofand are influenced by personal beliefs and opinions. This paper sums up the action research journey of a science teacher who looked into how secondary school students view and use Internet forums and how such Internet forums may be potentially useful for innovation in science teaching. The project encompassed different action research measures. It suggests that it is potentially beneficial for teaching to more thoroughly focus on social media in science education, like Internet forums. Such media provide examples of content and learning tools for science teaching, which can promote learning and develop critical (scientific) media literacy.