REFLECTION
I looked at a wide variety of resource material before choosing the items to put on the blog page. In so doing, I uncovered a number of different issues involving teachers and social media:
- The potential for inappropriate communication between teachers and students
- The risk for teachers of damage to career and reputation caused by the posting of material they did not intend to share with school boards, administrators, other teachers, students, and parents.
- Legal issues with attempting to balance circumspection in the behavior of teachers and their freedom to express themselves using social media.
- The use of social media to further the goals of the classroom by giving students access to their teachers out of school to clarify assignments and explain material.
Most of the material I found in scholarly journals came from the legal profession, discussing the history and resolution of cases involving either inappropriate teacher-student communication or teachers posting material damaging to their reputations. On the wider web, I found thoughtful postings from teachers and parents discussing the value (or not) of using social media to meet students where they are. Also on the web were reports covering events in the news that relate to the topic. Teachers themselves were largely silent on the issue of inappropriate communication with students, as one might expect.
As in any public discussion, opinions were many and varied. They ranged from “teachers should shun social media because of the danger” to “teachers should embrace social media as fully as possible to support classroom goals”. From public news sources I saw very recent evidence of the beginning of a framework for dealing with the issues. The Missouri law forbidding teachers from any contact with students via social media was found to be, as was claimed, overly restrictive and was overturned before taking effect. I believe that the fairest approach will be for state boards of education to require each district to formulate its own policy. This will allow for consideration of local feelings and circumstances, and result in a better fit of the policy to the situation. All sources agreed that care should be taken in all circumstances to avoid “crossing the line” of inappropriate teacher-student behavior. The problem is that the line is being defined as I write this.
One approach that I find reasonable is to allow teachers to communicate with students concerning classroom activities and goals, but neither initiate nor accept “friend requests” involving students. In this scenario a teacher could set up a classroom page on Facebook. Students could visit the page for discussion and clarification without needing to be in a “friend” relationship with a teacher. Neither side would have access to personal profiles of the other. Similarly, a teacher could have separate Twitter accounts for both professional and personal use, only sharing with students what is useful and appropriate for them.
Based on our class discussion, I feel that out-of-school communication has great potential to motivate students and reach those who are not comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas in the classroom. However, I believe that blogging is a much better way to achieve those goals. The teacher has total control of the format and rules of the blog and can make it focus solely on learning issues, without the distraction of personal information.
STANDARD
ISTE|NETS-T 5. Teachers continuously improve their professional practice, model lifelong learning, and exhibit leadership in their school and professional community by promoting and demonstrating the effective use of digital tools and resources. c: Teachers evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning.
ISTE|NETS-T 5. Teachers continuously improve their professional practice, model lifelong learning, and exhibit leadership in their school and professional community by promoting and demonstrating the effective use of digital tools and resources. c: Teachers evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning.
