To use Facebook in the classroom or not use facebook in the classroom, that is the question. In our weekly announcements at Andersen Middle School we were informed that our school now has a Facebook page. I was really excited! BUT then I began asking myself many questions about where our district stands on using facebook in the classroom, and outside of the classroom. Facebook is blocked for both students and staff during the school day. So I suppose they allowed the district to set one up more so for general school information and communication purposes.
In a search for answers I sent an email to the Director of Human Resources asking if our district has any written policies about interacting with students on Facebook. In his response he stated that we don’t have a “policy regarding the specific use of Facebook or other medium.” He did however attach the link to our code of Ethics. Needless to say I didn’t find any real answers in this document. It served as more of a general reminder as to what good ethics are as an educator. He also copied in his response to the Executive Director of Technology and asked for her feedback.
This is certainly a hot-topic in our district because the Executive Director of Technology thanked me for posing the question and explained that in new-staff orientation they shared “pitfalls of using social media in the classroom and what may get you in trouble.” Her recommendation was in regards to using your personal Facebook account to interact with students. She tells all teachers not to friend any students enrolled in our district until after they graduate. I did think this was an important message to send however I was still left wondering how the district feels about teachers using Facebook as a classroom tool. So I replied with a request for more information. I will keep you posted via comments as soon as I hear a reply :)
The reason I want to keep digging on this is that Facebook is potentially a powerful classroom tool! We know that “kids do have access to these technologies outside of school. They are powerful tools, and kids need to be taught now to use them wisely. They need to develop critical skills to select information and to make decisions about information. They also need to be critical about who they meet on the internet and what they tell them, [and] what they post.” 
UPDATE! Here's the latest response from our Technology Director. I found it somewhat amuzing that the issue is not going to be addressed until the right person asks the right question....
ReplyDelete"Facebook terms of use say a user has to be 13 years old. Since most 7th graders would not meet this limitation, I would encourage you to follow their rules. However, a teacher "page" set up from your user account would be an excellent way to limit some of the pitfalls you might get into if your students were of proper age. Since no one who has students that are over 13 has asked this, I have never given a definite answer."
My opinion on this has always been the same, how can you not use facebook to communicate with today's kids? With that said schools must learn how to use facebook with students appropriately...I like the idea of a school wide facebook page, teachers can communicate with kids through that page, not there personal page. The school page can easily be divide into groups that have each class in them etc. The bottom line is that facebook works, the kids in my youth group and on the teams I coach instantly respond to messages on facebook when other mediums have failed....
ReplyDeleteHow odd. So the district has no real facebook policy, yet they create their own facebook account for communication purposes, yet they block access to facebook during the school day for staff and students? I hope that they're able to address this issue head-on and a constructive way that benefits students. Just throwing this out there, but I'm wondering if there were different types of social networking pages (like facebook) but more focussed on the professional relationships, such as between staff, teachers, and students.
ReplyDeleteThat is quite a question to chew on, Ladd. I think what you would run into with a different social networking page other than facebook is that students won't be used to using it.
ReplyDeleteOne of the reasons facebook works so well is that so many students check it religiously, are quite familiar with it, and use it as a major means of communication. -I know I'm quite addicted to it. It is a nice short break from my grad work- :-p
If facebook doesn't allow students to join it until they are 13 it seems like a good idea to find something else to use instead. This would then bring us back around to the thought Ladd added about a different social networking page similar to facebook. I'm sure there are students that have an account even though they are younger then that.