I feel the need to add my voice to the national conversation about Teachers and Facebook.
So, here are my rules for Facebook:
1) I joined Facebook on the invite of a former student, and thought it would be a good way to stay in touch. So I've always approached it with the mindset of an educator.
2) When upperclassmen and former students ask to "friend" me, I generally do. I have found it to be an invaluable communication tool.
3) I don't respond to requests to "friend" 9th graders, who I just don't think can handle it.
4) I hide many students' statuses from my newsfeed. I really don't feel the need to know all about their lives.
5) I don't ask students to be my friend. Firstly, I think that's a little sad; secondly, I would never want any student to feel pressured.
6) It's nice to be able to post a status update about school work, particularly with my seniors, and know they will read it. It was invaluable during the three weeks of intense snow and missed school we had last year.
7) I totally used it as advertising for the baseball team this past year.
Now, onto the risks. I know about them.
1) A student could see something inappropriate that I post. I'm not really worried about this, because I never have the urge to post anything about getting drunk or anything dumb like that. Everything I put up there are innocuous details about my life (workouts, baseball), nothing serious. I don't discuss personal relationships or anything else I would consider "juicy".
2) One of my friends could post something inappropriate about me. It could be a photograph at a bar, I guess. I'm not too worried about this. I keep pretty close tabs on photographs of me, and would untag myself if alcohol were present. However, I'm not that worried about that, either -- it's not like there is going to be a shot of me doing a kegstand. I just don't do that kind of stuff.
3) Most importantly, I think there is risk with what my responsibilities are if I see something a kid posts that is illegal. Last year, I (accidentally) saw a video of a student that I thought I should take to my principal the next day. [I just decided to delete some details about the video, so sorry if this part doesn't make as much sense.]
A few of my colleagues have created "alternate" Facebook identities that are just school-related. I think this is an interesting idea, but it doesn't prevent #3, which, for me, is the biggest risk of Facebook -- seeing what the kids write and being legally bound to do something about it. I'm not sure if there is legal bounding or not. I knew when I saw the video, that I was obligated to do something about it -- at least by my own moral standards, if not professional (though probably professional as well). However, what if I had not seen the video. Similarly, if a kid writes, "I'm drinking straight vodka and am about to go driving" and I see it, then I know to do something about it, but, more than likely, I would not see it. Could anyone say I should have seen it and, thus, that I was legally bound to do something about it? Or, perhaps more seriously, if a student talks about hurting herself or someone else. What is my obligation, legally? What if, as I said, I have most of my students hidden from my newsfeed, or I'm not focused on my Facebook?
All this isn't to dissuade myself, because I do find FB pretty invaluable for me as an educator. I think I will expand it even more next year, as I plan to create a FB page for my senior class, as other teachers have done. But I go into it with my eyes wide open. I know there are risks.
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6 comments:
I figure it's like any other public forum. What if you were in the grocery store while a student was, and the student said something about hurting himself or someone else? Can someone say that you "should" have heard it, since you were in the store too?
Same principle follows - along with if you responded to what was said, and then didn't do anything about it. It's the same level of culpability whether it's facebook or the grocery store.
You raise a number of interesting points here. I have two facebook pages, one for myself and my friends and family, and a second for my students and co-workers. I use it to post links that relate to class and also to provide another way for students to reach me if they have questions about an assignment.
I don't spend much time on my school facebook account, and when I do, it's usually because I'm posting something. I don't spend much time reading their newsfeeds, as most of it is social in nature and doesn't relate to what we do in the classroom.
Facebook has proved useful to keep in touch with former students; it's a great way for them to keep me updated on their progress, share things they've written, etc.
As for your concerns regarding #3, I think if I were aware of something potentially harmful, I would share that information with a school administrator. To be honest, I likely miss 95 percent of students' status updates.
I've had a facebook account since 2005, and can't recall ever reading something about a student that required my intervention.
As for social media's role in the classroom, I plan on working with Twitter and Ning this coming year. I'm thinking about "tweating" my homework assignments, and I'd like to use Ning as a place for students to share and discuss work. I'm also going to look into using Google Documents as my preferred place to collect students' major assignments and writings.
As the start of the new school year gets closer, I'll post about how I'm using these tools in my classroom.
I don't think Clix's example really holds true--it would really be more like you were in line behind your student at the grocery store--you are deliberately connected to your Facebook friends in a way you are not to every shopper in the store.
When I was teaching college students, I made Facebook groups for each of my classes and used it often to communicate. Now that I'm teaching high school, my school has a policy only allowing teachers to friend students once the students have graduated, but it wouldn't surprise me to know that some are violating this. I agree that it's been a great way to keep in touch with former students.
Would you "friend" parents of your students?
Clix: I think it's a little bit more than that, more like if they said something in my classroom or outside in the hallway to their friends. Then, someone could make the argument that I should have heard because I'm more directly connected to them then just randomly in a grocery store.
Mr. B-G: Thanks for your thoughts. Yes, I rarely if ever have seen anything I thought I had to respond to, but it happened last year.
Jackie: Yes, a lot of schools forbid it. I think this is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. But I can understand it, because new legal issues are being navigated.
Kristine: Sure. I have a few on my friends list.
I just started a grad program for teaching English and haven't had any classroom experience yet, but I feel already like I need to have an answer about social networking already. The ability to participate and collaborate in Web 2.0 seems like a necessary skill to have nowadays.
You mentioned using it to post assignments. I've been curious about Edmoto. It's like a Facebook for school. I only know one person that has used it in a classroom setting and he said it's really great for a lot of things.
Anyway, I just discovered your blog and have really enjoyed sifting through your past posts.
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