Should teachers and students be "friends" on social networking sites?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by B L Ehrhardt on April 17, 2011 at 1:26pm

One of the issues at hand is that current college students who are in the education field and those students coming along behind them are avid users of social networking. Then there is the increasing use of Facebook by the commercial industry and community event organizations. It has become that public place where we run into our neighbors, classmates and teachers. If you are using Facebook with anything other than your public persona, you might as well be inviting everyone into your living room. As such, Facebook becomes more a tool for public communication than a private chat and should offer fewer opportunities for problems. However, the rules of decorum established by employers and society have always held teachers to a higher standard.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Patrick Maher on April 19, 2011 at 6:05am

I think that regardless of the content of your social life it is inappropriate for students to become to involved in it.  I work mainly in higher education and private tutoring so the lines are little blurry but I think that the distinction must be maintained for there to be teacher/student relationship.  At the same time I think it's now absolutely necessary that a practicing educator have an online presence and be accessible through the tech medium.  It's a tough area to wade  through and there are many solutions.  Personally, I maintain an educator page on Facebook that is publicly visible (My personal page is private and no students are ever added, despite the fact that there is nothing inappropriate there) and I police the content on a regular basis.  Additionally I maintain a twitter account specifically for communicating with students and/or colleagues and education based social networking.  I'm still adjusting exactly how I interact with the people I teach and work with online, it's likely that it will be a continuous process my entire career.  Good food for thought.

 

Patrick

• ▶ Reply

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 6
• 7
• 8
• Next ›
• Page