Education is evolving, and so are teachers. Today, some are no longer just standing at the front of a classroom—they’re also creating bite-sized, engaging lessons on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. The rise of teacher-influencers or ‘edufluencers’ is responding to the way students consume knowledge. But is this an innovative leap forward, or does it blur the lines between education and entertainment? On this episode of #ConsiderThis Melisa Idris speaks with Muhammad Nazmi Rosli, Senior Assistant of Student Affairs at Sekolah Kebangsaan Long Sebangan in Lawas, Sarawak. Cikgu Nazmi is the Winner of the 2023 Malaysia Teacher Prize, and he was also shortlisted as one of ten finalists for the 2025 Global Teacher Prize.
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00:00Hi, welcome back to Consider This. I'm Melissa Idris. Let's continue our discussion about the
00:16rise of teacher influencers or edufluencers, educators who create content for social media.
00:24Joining me on the show now is Mohamed Nazmi Rosli, who is the Senior Assistant of Student Affairs at
00:31Sekolah Kebangsaan Lungsabangan in Lawas, Sarawak. Cikgu Nazmi was the winner of the 2023 Malaysia
00:37Teacher Prize and he was also shortlisted as one of the 10 finalists for the 2025 Global Teacher Prize.
00:46So Cikgu Nazmi, thank you so much for being on the show with me today. What do you think about
00:49teachers who create a content for educational content for social media? Can you share a bit
00:55about how you've used social media to enhance the learning experience for your students?
01:02All right, thank you, Malaysia. So I use social media as a bridge between the classroom
01:08and the real world. Through a platform like Facebook, IG and TikTok, I showcase student projects
01:14such as my Philippine Club short films, allowing them to share their work with global audience.
01:22I also use social media to gamify learning where students complete challenges and track with digital
01:29content and even get feedback from industry professionals. For example, when we created an anti-corruption film,
01:39social media allows students to engage with real anti-corruption officers. It gives students a sense of
01:49purpose and audience beyond just the teachers. Okay, so educational content on social media, does it actually
01:58help students learn? Because I'm just wondering, because students, they may enjoy social media content,
02:03right? But it doesn't mean that they're retaining that information. So what is the biggest advantage of
02:10teachers using social media for education? So for me, yes, educational content on social media did actually
02:19help students to learn. But only when used strategically. Social media provides bite-sized, engaging and interactive
02:30learning experiences that cater to modern students. The biggest advantage is that it helps student
02:38connect learning to real life application. For example, when we turn our class into a simulated laundromat,
02:46students met social media posts about business ethics, reinforcing lesson in a way that it felt practical, not for not only for me
02:57and the student, but they're also going to bring this at home. They're telling why this is important for the parents.
03:05Also, students who are very shy in classroom, sometimes they're a bit more comfortable interacting online,
03:13helping them get confident and expressing their ideas.
03:17So, Cik Nasmi, do your other teachers as well use social media the way you use social media? Do you see
03:23that happening more and more amongst your fellow teachers? Yes. There's a lot of program that helping
03:33teachers this day compared to what we have back then. To be a Google certified educators, to be Apple
03:40certified educators and more and more my newer staff, my senior staff who are happy to join all this kind of
03:48program. They're giving a lot of good advantage and giving them a chance to upgrade their pedagogical
03:57skill in the class. So, yeah, it's good to see this happening among my friend, my colleague and all the
04:04teachers across my district. Yeah. Where do they learn the skills? I mean, I'm just wondering if this is
04:11really a great tool for helping teaching and learning. Do you think that we should do more to help give
04:21the right skills for teachers to learn to become digital, to create digital content? So, actually, our
04:31Ministry of Education has been working on this for almost 10 years. They've been providing a lot of good
04:40courses for courses for teachers. They are giving training for Delima. They're giving training on
04:47teachers on how to make a good video editing skill, on how to produce content on social media. They're
04:56giving guidelines, clear guidelines for us on what to do and what not to do in social media. Right now,
05:03every school, we will encourage to create our own TV PSS. It's a club where students can create their own
05:12content and show it through their school official Facebook. So, it's like the kids are going to be
05:20a journalist. They're going to shoot. They're going to go to a scene. For example, recently, we have
05:25Bazaar Ramadan. So, my student and his crew are going to the Bazaar Ramadan. They wrote a script for it and
05:31then, one of them is going to shoot the scene and one of them is talking about it. They're going out
05:38interviewing people and all. And then, we teachers, we teach the kids how to edit and everything,
05:44share it in our social media. So, this thing was encouraged even by our district officers, even in
05:54Jabatan Pendidikan Negeri. And even a lot of competition that welcoming us to come out with
06:01all these kind of ideas. I remember coming back from Dubai after the Global Teacher Prize, a lot of
06:07schools, students want to interview me. So, I have to arrange my schedule on them. So, they learn how to
06:13make a good scheduling. They learn how to talk with, you know, people. They're meeting YBs. They're meeting
06:20all these kind of officers. So, they learn how to talk proper and well. They learn to be confident.
06:29They even learn how to do background checking. Oh, today, I'm going to make this icon. This is what I
06:35have to do. You know, seeing my kids doing all that is so great, you know. So, what we have
06:44in the educational scene in Malaysia is that we want all this not only for the teachers, but also
06:51everyone in the school, the students especially. So, yeah, I'm glad this is happening.
06:56The teachers can support the children using social media as a positive and confidence-building
07:02platform. But I can imagine that creating and managing social media content would be quite time-consuming.
07:11How do you manage that with your teaching workload? Because teachers already have
07:15so much. Their workload is already so heavy. Does it ever feel like it's just
07:21more and more and too much sometimes with the new skills that have come onto the scene now?
07:27So, I think when we talk about workload, it's like a more subjective question, you know.
07:38So, for me, when you love doing things that you love to do, you sometimes don't put that as a workload.
07:46So, you know. Our teachers this day, they willingly spend time on social media.
07:56And they already have this all kind of knowledge. They know how to use video editing. They know how to
08:02use shoots and record things. They have better gadgets than us, you know. So, most of them are willing to
08:11participate. Our admin won't force anyone to do it. But we are well-organized and we are well-guided to
08:22do it. And we are very well-motivated to do it. Our students, our teachers willing to spend a lot of
08:30money on doing it. They don't, they're not worrying going extra for this, buying. I have, there's a
08:38teacher who have this one camera that, that worth like 50k just to help the school, you know, with
08:45their own money. So, so I believe, yeah. Yeah, of course, it's a bit time consuming, but we do it
08:53together. Right. So, so what advice do you have to ask me for teachers who are interested and want to try
09:00but are new to creating social media content for educational purposes? Number one, start small.
09:06Don't feel pressured to go viral. Begin with simple content like posting class updates or short
09:12explainer videos. Number two, keep it authentic. Student engage more when they see real teaching
09:20moments, not over produce content. Number three, prioritize student safety. Always get concerned
09:29and be mindful of what's being shared. And then, um, I think last one for me, engage,
09:35don't just broadcast. Reply to student comments, ask questions, and make learning a two-way conversation.
09:43Wonderful. Cikgu Nazmi, thank you so much for your time and your advice and insights. I appreciate that.
09:50As, uh, Muhammad Nazmi Rosli from, uh, Sekolah Kebangsaan Lawas Sarawak wrapping up this episode of
09:57Consider This. I'm Melissa Idris signing off for the evening. Thank you so much for watching
10:03and good night.
10:12you