Christos Begkos (Lecturer in Management Accounting, Alliance Manchester Business School)

Christos has taken a novel approach to learning by utilising social media and gamification techniques, which has proven to be extremely effective at generating student engagement before, during and after his lectures. Described as innovative and deeply motivated to developing accessible and fun pedagogical practice, his work has been well received throughout the Alliance Manchester Business School.

Recognising the importance of keeping students engaged in the course both during and outside of lectures, Christos utilises Instagram to deliver content to students in a flexible and approachable manner. Doing so serves to build rapport with students, while complementing the information he is delivering in lectures by maintaining certain themes or areas of study in the minds of the learners in his cohort. His use of Instagram 'stories', and the options they provide such as quizzes and question submission panels, ensures active engagement from students following the account. The metrics from Christos’ account speak for themselves, with 212 new students following the account after the first week of lectures, and more than 7000 views on his ‘stories’ per week throughout the course.

You can read more about Christos' use of Social Media as a Pedagogic Tool on the Institute of Teaching and Learning blog, TEA: Teach, Explore, Apply