Private lesson in 60 seconds: How teachers are conquering TikTok screens
Many teachers are moving their arena of activity to social networks and garnering millions of views. Despite the dizzying success of 60-second videos in math and English, "TikTok teachers" and senior Ministry of Education officials agree unanimously: it is an excellent auxiliary tool for making material accessible and reducing anxiety. Nevertheless, it cannot replace in-depth learning in the classroom.
In recent years, it is impossible to miss the phenomenon where teachers of English, mathematics, Hebrew, and other subjects are moving their familiar arena of activity from the teachers' room to social networks, primarily TikTok.
These teachers break down complex differential equations in one-minute videos, teach grammar and tenses in English, and share effective tips for exams. While they do not completely change the rules of the game, they certainly bring a fresh breeze into the education system. TikTok Israel data illustrates the trend, as a quarter of Israeli users on the platform consume content on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, a rate that even climbs among teenagers and reaches about a third of all young users in the world.
"Students prefer double speed, just like us"
Tamar Langbord, an English teacher and content creator with about two hundred thousand followers and over 13 million views, explains that students look for short and focused videos for the same reason that adults listen to voice messages at double speed. According to her, students often turn to learning around a deadline like an exam or a matriculation test, and then they look for a quick answer to material they missed in class. Langbord emphasizes that although the videos are an excellent auxiliary tool and sometimes even life-saving for students who cannot afford expensive private lessons, it is impossible to truly learn a language from a few individual videos. English, she clarifies, requires practice and constant immersion of the learner in the language, something that is not possible in a short format only. She notes that most colleagues in the teachers' room are supportive, although some find it difficult with students who prefer to look for solutions online instead of listening in the lesson itself.
A new perspective on complex equations
Critics of the phenomenon argue that it is impossible to truly delve into complex study material while watching a frantic video saturated with effects, but in the field, the picture is more complex. The videos often serve as a trailer that makes the material accessible, lowers the anxiety level regarding challenging subjects, and creates initial motivation for learning. Elon Peretz, a high school math teacher in the Sharon region with 15 years of experience and over 80 thousand followers on various networks, reinforces these points. According to him, the advantage of online videos is not necessarily in their length, but in the student's opportunity to get an additional perspective on the material for free. Peretz, whose videos have received over a million views, warns of a prominent disadvantage of immediate accessibility, as today students rarely make an effort to solve challenging exercises as they did in the past, when they simply turn to the network for a ready-made solution. Despite this, he notes that the status of a "network star" helps him create a closer relationship with the students in the class, who see him as a more accessible authority figure.
Ministry of Education: "A TikTok video is not a substitute for deep learning"
The Ministry of Education is closely monitoring the phenomenon and understands that the network cannot replace a long-term learning process, self-practice, or personal contact. Tomer Bozman, the chief inspector for the Hebrew subject in secondary education, emphasizes that just as we would not want a doctor or a lawyer to learn their profession from TikTok, it is impossible to rely only on short videos for learning. However, Bozman acknowledges that the attention span has changed, which requires an adaptation of lesson plans so that they are more dynamic, experiential, and multi-sensory. He sees online videos as a welcome auxiliary tool to support classroom teaching, and does not believe they undermine the teacher's authority, as long as teaching methods continue to adapt themselves to the current reality.
The trend is also receiving a tailwind from the platform's management itself. Natalie Ziv, VP of Communications at TikTok for Israel and the Nordic countries, notes that there is an increase in the number of young people who turn to the application to enrich their knowledge in a variety of fields. As part of the trend, the network promotes collaborations around the world with educational institutions, and in Israel, a joint project was recently launched with the Science Museum in Jerusalem with the aim of bringing young audiences closer to the worlds of science in a creative and accessible way.
