To connect or not to connect? Teachers, is that the question?
By Morgan on April 13th, 2011
I came across two fascinating articles this week, both about teachers, social media, and the classroom. This one from Social Times talks about a new report out of Canada that outlines new guidelines for teachers on how they can — and can’t — interact with students online, while this one (interestingly, also by Social Times) announces that more than 80% of college faculty teach using social media.
Let’s talk about Canada first. The biggest takeaway from their new guidelines is that teachers should not friend their students on Facebook, either proactively or by accepting a request from a student. Social Times sees both the good and the bad in this: “social media is a record,” they write, and there are inherent risks in that; but on the other hand, “there are situations where a student might be more likely to interact with or reach out to a teacher – who could also be a mentor – online.”
Meanwhile, on college campuses, the numbers are pretty staggering. “In the classroom, 80% of respondents report using social media for some aspect of their course…Nearly two-thirds use social media within their class session, and 30% post content for students to view outside of class.” Perhaps even more interesting? “More than 40% of faculty say they require students to read or view social media as part of a course assignment, and 20% assign students to comment or post to social media sites.”
It’s easy to understand the differing viewpoints here — college students are, for the most part, legal adults. I’m interested in hearing from all you teachers out there, though: does your school have an official social media policy? Would if help you if it did?
Posted: April 13th, 2011 under Education, More News. Tags: social media, teachers, teaching.
4 comments
Comments
As a school Librarian, I manage our school library facebook page. In order to do this, I made a separate “professional” facebook account. I use this to friend students and interact with other professionals who I don’t know well enough, or just don’t want to share totally personal information. I think this approach is good. It keeps me insulated from sharing my family photos and personal after-school life with my students, but it allows me to connect with them, see what they are doing in life via their facebook and get to know them better. I think social media is part of life, and everyday students use it for information seeking. As a Librarian, I need to be there to meet them where they are.
Comment on April 14, 2011 at 9:58 am
I’m weighing in as a parent, not a teacher.
I think it depends entirely on the purpose and application of the social media being used.
If, like the college and library students, it’s being used professionally and academically to help the students in their courses and to learn how to use social networking on a professional level – then I see no problem.
But as a parent, if a teacher were socially friending and interacting on that more intimate friend level with my kids, then that changes the entire student/teacher relationship. It could be for the better or for the worse. Kids won’t feel as free to communicate online knowing teacher is watching. Or they might view the teacher as a friend instead of a person of authority. It could also raise red flags for parents, putting that teacher in an awkward position with allegations that for most teachers would be false. But on the plus side, having parents and teachers involved with kids online social life can temper their behavior and pick up on online bullying the kids won’t tell anyone about.
Kids need adult supervision with their online activities even when the parents can’t always be standing over their shoulder watching them. With many kids having cel phones capable of texting, tweeting, and social networking, parents can’t be everywhere they are. The real question is where the line should be drawn on that online soclal interaction with their teachers.
Comment on April 14, 2011 at 10:12 am
My brother is an amazing HS chemistry teacher and he doesn’t connect w/students on facebook til way after they graduate but he does have a fan page where he can be contacted w/homework questions or he’ll post interesting and funny chem related things or links to class info.
Comment on April 14, 2011 at 12:17 pm
I can definitely see why it would be a strict rule for teachers not to reach out to students on Facebook with their personal accounts. Would their be any harm in staying connected via a Facebook page?
Comment on April 14, 2011 at 6:59 pm
