English
Any social media platform, be it VKontakte, Facebook or Instagram, can, and should, be used for educational purposes.
This "natural" way of learning information is conducive to effectively committing it to memory. According to researcher Edgar Dale's "pyramid of learning", listening to information, watching videos, and interacting with them means that after two weeks of this kind of self-study, you will remember 50% of the new information. In comparison to reading, for example, when you will only retain 10% of the information. Do you want to test this theory for yourself? Start by following worthwhile Instagram accounts. We have collected some of the most interesting, educational profiles and divided them into four categories.
Learning a new language
One of the best accounts that will help you to learn German. The profile feed contains educational videos, flashcards, explanations of grammatical structures, lists of new vocabulary, and simple exercises that take less than a minute to complete. However, the effectiveness of self-tests is in no way compromised by the small amount of time it involves.
The account is a simple place to study French for those familiar with the language, at least for individuals at an A1 level (not suitable for beginners). If you are not at this level, you will not understand what is written here, as the account is in French. Every new word (which will be grouped by topic for convenience) is described in French. A short video lesson is provided for all new grammatical constructs.
Here you will find traditional grammar and vocabulary, tests, translations, flashcards for memorising words and videos with a detailed description behind the meaning of a particular grammar construction. This account will be easier to use for learning Spanish if you speak English.
You will discover Italian for beginners here, which is thorough and not too unconventional. The posts' subjects are often "attached" to holidays celebrated by Italians literally every day. Both educational videos and several vlogs have been uploaded to this account; the reason for this, according the profile author's assurances, who is a linguist, and Oxford graduate, exists so beginners can learn to understand Italian by ear.
This account is a digital dictionary that publishes accurate interpretations of complex concepts. Actually, you probably shouldn't use this profile to learn English, but it will come in handy for those who speak advanced level English or have been speaking it since childhood.
Studying art
We advise you to start your journey into the world of art here at the official Hermitage account. In addition to reproductions of paintings and announcements of new exhibitions, you will also find colourful historical references, excerpts from biographies of the masters represented in the museum's buildings, and stories about the process of creating a particular work. All posts are automatically, though not always correctly, translated into English.
Here you will find another Russian museum that is worth subscribing to. In addition to the traditional history of the paintings, the account's creators discuss how you can understand, accept and forgive contemporary art, reveal how the most incredible architectural masterpieces were created, and kindly share links to additional materials regarding the subject.
Beneath the photos of famous paintings exhibited at the Louvre, you will, as already expected, find stories about their creation. Occasionally the stories seem like a script for an action film with plot twists, thefts, shootings, and desperate searches for missing artefacts. The posts are written by the museum staff; however, 99% of them are written in French, so you may have to go back to learning foreign languages on Instagram or obtain an automatic translator.
In the wake of coronavirus, the New York legend, the Guggenheim Museum, provides photographs of exhibits and curator's comments about the displays at the newly opened exhibitions. You will also find exclusive interviews with contemporary artists and architects whose work has consistently been exhibited throughout the museum building.
The Los Angeles Museum of Art does not aim to tell you about every painting housed in their elegant building, along with a "picket fence" of illuminated installations at the entrance. Instead, the museum staff (as though specifically aiming to write for art school students) photograph works of art up close. They manage to convey the layers of oil paints on the canvas of a painting or cracks in a marble sculpture. While at the same time, they still include the educational posts we are so used to.
In London, the Victoria and Albert Museum has delighted us with pictures from its halls even before the coronavirus pandemic started. During the first lockdown, it hosted several online art meetings. Then the desire from regular visitors for learning migrated from webinars to their Instagram pages. Currently, in this account, there is a flourish of British (and not just British) art, interspersed with philosophical musings from historians about paintings and architecture.
Studying the Sciences
The traditional leader of any Instagram account rating list regarding space is NASA. Every day, the account creators post photographs of space objects, planets, and space phenomena. They describe in simple detail what their photo depicts. It is easy to understand even for those who simply know that space exists.
The Smithsonian University Journal, based in Washington, DC, publishes mostly breaking science news and exciting research by students and professors. The Instagram account belonging to the scientific publication, on the other hand, also includes the most invaluable photographs which have already been published on the pages of their physical publication.
Only scientific experiments and their results are posted on this page. What is there to learn? What you missed out on in physics, chemistry, and other science lessons at school. The post under the chemical experiment video might describe why the water turned from transparent to black and then wholly evaporated. Before the research photo from the physics world, the text will describe the theory you could not understand in 10th grade.
This is a curious historical account that until mid-2020 published old war photographs, stories of campaigns and battles (geographically ranging from Kolchak to Robert Lee), commemorative reports and documents that until recently were kept secret.
What can a library teach you? How to find books? The rules of behaviour in the reading rooms? Well, no! The world's most extensive library has its own Instagram account. Indeed, it does not verify any negative myths about book storage. Its page features posts about historical documents from different eras, unusual exhibits, and books kept secret. And no, we're not talking about the Mein Kampf, which is banned in Russia.
Random fun facts about everything in the world. The account was created to "broaden the horizons of the masses," which it does effectively. In their posts, you may stumble across an interpretation of Ukrainian legislation, a listing about the oldest cooking eggs' methods, and descriptions about complex neural reactions.
Every photo posted on this account's feed is accompanied by a detailed narrative. This could either be a colourful description regarding the process of creating an image of seals, as well as news reports about the lives of the orangutan, or the approximate translation of bird language. In a word, everything that you have forgotten from your geography lessons. Be careful though, you may find yourself frantically scrolling through their account feed for the second hour in a row!
Exploring Educational Initiatives: a section for EdTech Geeks
The profile creator is an American primary school teacher Joanna Miller, who discusses innovative offline learning methods. However, her account is crammed with detailed stories about effectively delivering lessons moved to online services without losing information quality during the lockdown.
Michelle Griffo, a preschool education expert, has been teaching parents the basics of pedagogy for several years. Her account has everything a budding teacher could possibly need, including expert advice, selecting the best teaching tools, and video tutorials demonstrating the process of creating virtual animated cursive workbooks.
Do you know how many hours a day you spend "on your mobile"? What does Screen Time on your iPhone let you know about this, for instance? "It's bad"? Try incorporating a few of the above accounts into your daily Instagram scrolling routine. Surprise yourself because you'll be looking for opportunities to continually educate yourself without our help in no time at all.
