No Facebook for Teachers

Should teachers be allowed to communicate with their students via social networking sites?

According to the state of Missouri, the answer is no.

A friend recently forwarded me this blog post, which describes the new Missouri law banning teachers from being friends with current or former students on Facebook and other social networking sites. The law is part of a larger act that protects children from inappropriate conduct by their teachers.

I agree that precautions need to be taken when dealing with our youth. I myself have taught students for the past two years, many of whom I know have been physically, sexually or emotionally abused by their parents and guardians. I certainly would not want them to be exposed to more hardship and trauma from their teachers. However, I feel that banning social networking of all kinds with teachers can have negative effects. I have a separate Facebook account especially for my students, where I post messages about upcoming tests and field trips and answer students' questions about homework and the content of my class. Since I will be leaving my current school, I plan to keep in touch with my former students using Facebook.

However, I am extremely careful in how I use Facebook. I never go onto my students' pages or look at what they have written to other friends. I monitor any pictures or notes that have my name tagged in them so that I am sure nothing inappropriate is tied to my name. I do not use the account for anything personal. I feel that, used like this, Facebook is an extremely valuable tool for communicating with students. Most of them do not check their email regularly, but they are on Facebook constantly. Should I stop using something that is working for me simply because others worry that it could be inappropriate?

I took the precaution this year of letting my principal know that I was using the account and offering to give him my password so that he could check my activity at any time. I think as long as teachers are willing to be open about how they are using Facebook and keep their activity in regards to their students on a professional level, things should be fine.

But that's just my opinion. Please comment if you have ideas about how social media should or should not be used as a tool for learning.

Comments

[mc]

I used a myspace when it was the social site for a grad paper also it is the best way in my opinion to communicate with the kids. Sometimes you need to adjust to the times. We all know social medium is this new medium that people use to communicate. It was also an easy way to post up notes, links to videos, vblog, etc. And it was transparent so all on the web can see. As long as you do the right thing and your transparent, its fine.

Twitter I think is great because the kids get your thoughts and announcements from any type of device and also you can retweet from other science related twitter accounts; USGS, NOAA, NASA, etc