Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Facebook

Like it or not Facebook is here to stay and EVERYONE is using it! With that said many important issues come up when considering how teachers can use facebook in the classrrom to interact with students. Over the last few years many controversial issues have come up concerning what students post on facebook, i.e. pictures of them doing things they shouldn't and what professionals post on facebook, i.e. parts of their life they might not want their boss or in the case of a teacher their students to see. With that said many have become uncomfortable using facebook or even having an account. In order to get more people on board facebook has gone to the effort of increasing security in order to prevent some of these issues. With all that said the question remains, how can a teacher appropriately use facebook?

As you might of gathered from the first sentece of the post, I believe that everyone should use facebook as a tool for communication. With that said I believe teachers can use this electronic medium in the classroom particuarly when making announcments, giving assignments, or changing class schedules. Any groups formed on facebook by a teacher should have the highest security level and teachers should have a separate account for school work that does not include access to their personal facebook page by students. With those settings in mind facebook is a great way to let students know what is going on in addition to the time you see them in the classroom. When an announcement about the class is to be made it can be included on facebook, ensuring that both students and perhaps even parents see it! When you as a teacher forget to inform the kids of something in the classroom you can post it to facebook. When you give an assignment and then the student goes home and forgets what it was, you can make the assignments avaliable for easy access on facebook!

In conclusion I leave you with a personal expereince. When working with the youth group at my church I make many announcements and schedule many events. In doing so I have used a variety of mediums including; bulletin announcements, e-mail, snail mail, phone calls, and FACEBOOK! With that said I have come to believe that the only way to ensure that students have recieved the information is by using facebook. The other mediums are quite frainky hit and miss. However using facebook I have found that in most cases ALL of the students who I sent the message to reply within 24 hours of me sending the message...

6 comments:

  1. I think your point regarding having a separate "teacher" account is good advice. That way your personal versus professional life is kept segregated on the site.

    In my own life I think that line has been blurred too much. I always pause before posting something to think how the various circles I'm in will think about my post (ie, family, friends, colleagues, students).

    Although it brings a potential question - do you friend yourself on your 2nd account? =)

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  2. I have often wondered how I could make this work... I see that I would need to have a "teacher" page and a "private" page. So, should we then have our students create another account for themselves, as I really don't need to know their private business either? I'm also wondering if my district has guidelines on this? Would they approve? I hope so, because I think it would be one of the BEST ways to communicate with my students!

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  3. This is such an appropriate thing to consider concerning facebook. I had to deal with this at the beginning of the year. One of my basketball girls wanted to befriend me on facebook. After much thought, I decided to go with the same choice a teacher friend of mine has; he will befriend students after they have graduate from his high school. Outside of private settings or a separate facebook I don't see any other way to do it.

    I honestly don't think I would use facebook in that fashion. I would prefer doing something like a blog or wiki that they can just add to their google reader and have it inform them when a new post has been made.

    Claudia wondering what your district thinks is a great question! I've talked to some teacher friends in this area and their schools have rules for facebook. Granted, they are pretty simple. They aren't allowed to have an account. I guess Cleveland had some problems with students and administrators finding out different things about the teachers through their facebook accounts. I don't remember the details.

    Some times I wonder with this kind of communication (wiki, facebook, blog...etc) if we are really helping the students become responsible if we do not ask them to keep track of something simple like papers and things talked about/handed out in class? Are we really helping them become well-rounded global citizens? I can see the benefits to it and the fact that we are dealing with a digital generation, but I think the non-digital part of communication should not be neglected but encouraged and used as well.

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  4. Just saw this on the HuffingtonPost - be careful!

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/26/fired-over-facebook-posts_n_659170.html

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  5. I have faced the challenge with facebook when I became a coach. because I was friends with most of the players when I was a player I had to go in and change my privacy on my profile. It was not that I had things on facebook people should not see but I was important to make my private life and my coaching life two different things. Many of the players noticed but understood.

    The softball team has also considered using facebook as a tool to get new players. When have not started yet but it can be a good marketing tool and a great way to connect to the high school age students.

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  6. More and more schools are establishing Facebook policies for their staff. Facebook hit the internet in 2004, and since then schools have been scrambling on how/if it is appropriate to use it in a school setting.

    This is a hot topic of debate in a current issues course I teach, and it seems there is very little middle ground.

    From everything I've read on the topic, and watching an adolescent try to ruin a great teacher's career using Facebook because he did not like a detention he was given and wanted to retaliate, my own personal opinion is that Facebook is not the best tool for a teacher to use to communicate with students and parents.

    I might accept a K-12 student's invitation to be a friend, but not until they have graduated. I think we cross a line that should not be crossed with students when we open up our personal lives to them on Facebook. It has the feel of "Big Brother" watching and blurs the distinction between the role of teacher and student.

    If the argument for a Facebook connection is to communicate with students in a dimension they are familiar/comfortable with, I would argue that teachers can set up a webpage through the school network, or a wiki which have more controls and accomplish the same goal.

    Colleges already use Facebook to make sure students are complying with school regulations and policies (i.e. underage drinking).

    Employers increasing are looking at prospective employees' Facebook pages in the application process. That photo of them drunk, or acting crazy (which may have been funny when originally posted, or making some kind of a social statement) can be detrimental later on. We seem to forget that once something is out there in the virtual world, you can not get it back.

    Growing up with technology, adolescents post almost anything without thinking of the consequences. I would be more focused on teaching internet safety than becoming friends.

    I can share in class the parts of my life that I want with my students. My primary role is "teacher", not friend. Friend is a bonus (yes, I know we want to be the students' friend too), but that privilege has to be earned, not granted by the click of a button.

    To support my side of the argument, below are several articles/links that speak to the dangers of teacher/student Facebook connections.

    Schools' grapple with teachers' Facebook use
    http://www.eschoolnews.com/2008/10/10/schools-grapple-with-teachers-facebook-use/

    Suspended Teacher in Facebook Incident Ignites Debate: Should Online Privacy for Educators Exist?
    http://thejournal.com/articles/2008/11/19/suspended-teacher-in-facebook-incident-ignites-debate-should-online-privacy-for-educators-exist.aspx

    Teachers' Guide to Using Facebook
    http://www.scribd.com/doc/16957158/Teachers-Guide-to-Using-Facebook-Read-Fullscreen

    Teachers Face Dilemma with Facebook
    http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/tech/news/6174564.html

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