The use of TikTok in Initial Teacher Training

Abstract

The continuous evolution of technology and the increasingly massive use of visual content have given way to an era characterized by the use of short videos mainly through social media. Among these applications, TikTok has been chosen primarily by young people thanks to the unique communication strategies it offers. This paper presents the activities that have involved and will involve first-year students enrolled in the single-cycle master’s degree course in Primary Education Sciences of the University of Palermo in the a.y. 2022/2023. This study aims primarily at investigating the perceptions that university students have regarding the use of TikTok to implement learning and to highlight the advantages and disadvantages of this tool in teaching practice. The first results seem to present a great success from the point of view of the involvement of the participants, stimulated and motivated by the activity presented, they considered that the use of TikTok turns out to be an innovative approach for learning, capable of improving understanding and active learning. The contribution also presents an assessment rubric created to analyze the TikTok videos produced by the students during the activities.