It's a whopper of a question, not mention a major bone of contention. Like everyone else, more and more teachers are participating in social networking sites like Facebook for the same reasons everyone else is. Where things start to get a bit murky is when we start talking about teacher conduct on these sites. The infamous 'Blue Pages' in Professionally Speaking have been bulking up these days, with increasing reports of teacher misconduct using technology and web-based applications. Look, adults behaved badly long before they had access to technology, so let's no vilify Facebook or Twitter and MySpace. There is endless research that supports integrating these applications in instruction for educational purpose. There is a real value to them.
One of the items I'm currently working on is a review of our Board's technology policies, including appropriate use by staff and students. I've begun to draft a list of considerations for teachers:
Content on Profiles or Sites
-refrain from including any content that conflicts with the teachings of the Catholic Church
-avoid posting any content that calls your professionalism and integrity into question
-this includes offensive or obscene language used on your profile page or site and questionable photographs and video
Privacy Settings
-whenever possible, restrict access to personal websites, blogs and wikis
-if the application allows, limit who can find you in the site’s search engine
-“invite” those with whom you have familial or social relationships to join your sites
Accepting Students as “Friends” or “Followers”
-do not accept current students in the system as “Friends” or “Followers”; the relationship between teachers and their students should be strictly a formal and professional one for the protection of both the educator and the student
-do not initiate friendships with students
-accept students who have since graduated as “Friends” or “Followers”
-limit access to your personal information as much as possible
-do not allow students to view personal contact information, photographs, etc.
-keep all communication with former students strictly to the public communication spaces on your site; avoid personal messaging
We have a professional image to uphold, and like it or not, we are held to a much higher standard when it comes to our behaviour after the school day is over. The idea of a teacher as a role model isn't a cheesy, outdated cliche. If we want the respect that so many of us think we're entitled to then we have to conduct ourselves accordingly, even when we're online in our own free time. When I'm getting sick and tired of is the misinformation teachers continue to get from local units of our unions. Our provincial association fully supports the ethical and responsible use of this sort of technology in our schools, but locally, teachers are being told to shut down Facebook accounts and avoid any sort of online interaction. I think there is a severe lack of understanding and knowledge and that is the only way I can even begin to rationalize all of this unnecessary fear-mongering. Are there teachers behaving badly? Sure. They're emailing students. They have inaapropriate and immoral content on their social networking sites. Not every teacher is like that and as I mentioned, it's not so much the technology as it is the teacher who is using it. Trust me, bad behaviour always manifests itself eventually, and you don't alway need a computer for that to happen.
Teachers should out Social Networking Best Practices. I also came across a Teacher's Guide to Using Facebook on a fellow blogger's site. It's quite good and thorough. I strongly recommend teachers giving this a whirl.
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