Authors: Hannah Parsley, Jessica Torres, Carla Dalton, & Brittany Cole
Social media has changed the way we communicate and share our ideas. Of the 7.2 billion people on Earth, 2.1 billion actively use some type of social media (Bullas, 2015). A person may estimate a large portion of these users are digital natives under the age of 18, sitting in classrooms across the world. The true challenge in preparing said students for standardized testing and the demands of the outside world is learning how to reach them, though many are constantly “plugged in” to their devices and social media accounts. One solution is to invite the devices and social media accounts into the classroom. In this post you will read about ways to safely integrate social media into your classroom without compromising identities or revealing too much personal information.
Dangers of Social Media in the Classroom
The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry reported over 60% of 13 to 17 year old students currently have a profile on at least one social media network, and one in five teachers are using social media with their students (Tate, 2015). The natural tendency for parents and teachers is to protect the innocence of our children. Conversely, social media provides unprecedented access to content and activities society has deemed inappropriate for children. Furthermore, student actions that occur through the use of social media outside of school walls are impacting the learning environments administrators and teachers are tasked at keeping safe. There are a wide variety of potential hazards teachers and parents should be aware of as students become more prolific users of social media, and teachers begin integrating social media on a wider basis for learning.
Although every tool has some type of potential hazard, social media usage in the classroom centers around three specific pitfalls: teacher misconduct, teacher professionalism, and student confidentiality and privacy (Tate, 2015). These dangers must be brought to the forefront in order for parents and administrators to feel comfortable with social media usage in the classroom. Teachers must ensure that there are clear cut boundaries between themselves professionally and personally with students online.
A study completed in 2014 by the U.S. Department of Education found sexual misconduct between teachers and students had increased dramatically, and 35% of cases were found to have some attachment to social media (Rogers, 2015). Extreme diligence must be taken to ensure parents know who is contacting their child via their social media accounts, including those created through school. Professional language and discretion should be used when creating social media posts that students and their parents have access to. Pappas (2013) suggested teachers maintain two different Facebook pages (one for personal use and another for professional or classroom use). However, this does not allow for one to disregard professionalism on their personal page. Teachers have been disciplined or even dismissed for posting derogatory comments, photos of alcoholic beverages, and comments in bad taste.
The final, and most legalistic, of the three dangers centers around student confidentiality and privacy. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 is a federal law protecting students’ records in all schools that receive federal funding. Although we would all like to post photos of our students and brag about their academic accomplishments, these could be possible violations of their privacy dependent on parental consent or denial.
Although these pitfalls may seem dangerous, acknowledging and preparing for ways to avoid teacher misconduct, unprofessionalism, or violations of student privacy opens students’ access to global learning through social media.
Protecting Students from Potential Danger
In order to avoid the types of pitfalls mentioned above, it is helpful to produce an acceptable use policy (AUP) for your school and district. The first thing to consider is that the entire community of stakeholders need to be on board. Consider creating an AUP where students, parents, and guardians sign at the beginning of the year. Visit Bud Hunt’s wiki for ideas and examples of AUP (Hicks, 2008, para.1). Additionally, consider how students conduct themselves online. Teachers need to talk with students and discourage them from sharing any personal identifiers online. Determining policy for how students self-identify online, whether that be with first names only, pseudonyms, or something different needs to be addressed. Additionally, it is critical students know how to report any issues they encounter online. This includes content-related material, or anything that makes them feel uncomfortable (Brokamp, 2012, para. 11). Sanders (2015) provided the graphic below which contains examples of safety precautions to teach students as they navigate the Internet. These examples include stopping to think before clicking items or downloading and mixing characters to create stronger passwords.
The Role of the School District
When establishing district guidelines, school districts need to take into consideration a variety of issues when deciding on clear expectations for student safety and compliance with safety plans. Some of these items include utilization of student’s name, student or school location, and any other personal information that could end up in the wrong hands. Districts must also take into consideration and follow state and federal standards, of which some are incorporated in the Children’s Internet Protection Act. The Children's Internet Protection Act requires school districts develop an Internet safety plan addressing the unauthorized disclosure, use, and dissemination of personal identification information regarding minors (Willard, 2015).
In order to protect student records within programs purchased by districts, attorney’s for the district must thoroughly review each contract to make sure it is in compliance with district, state, and federal student record laws. Administration and teachers also have to be aware of what student information is posted on school websites. Parents must approve any and all information provided on school sites, such as names, grade level, pictures, and classwork. Teachers and students must be very careful not to disclose information regarding students. Staff communication and student internet policies should be established in order to address these concerns. When students are given student accounts at school, they should be given a unique student identifier that disguises the student’s real name to anyone in the outside world. Finally, student accounts should not be established unless there is a clear educational purpose and parents have been fully informed and approved the accounts (Willard, 2015).
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, as an educator in a world where students are sharing more personal information on social media than ever, special attention and care should be spent when planning to bring social media into the classroom. Of the students who actively use social media, 91% share photos of themselves, 71% share their school and/or hometown, 53% share or link email addresses, and even 20% disclose their cell phone number (Madden et al., 2013).
Most 21st Century classroom teachers have the resources and knowledge base to teach safety and caution when using social media to communicate and share information with others. Although students likely have already developed their sharing habits on their chosen platform, using the social media tool in the classroom under the guidance of an authority figure could result in using more discretion when revealing personal information. Classroom usage and acceptance of social media for educational purposes could serve as a catalyst for safer interactions in these public forums outside the classroom walls.
References:
Bullas, J. (2015). 33 social media facts and statistics you should know in 2015. Retrieved from http://www.jeffbullas.com/2015/04/08/33-social-media-facts-and-statistics-you-should-know-in-2015/
Brokamp, C., Corum, L., Isberg, J., Walsh, S., & Ward, E. (2012). Social media and the classroom. Retrieved from http://socialmediaandtheclassroom415.weebly.com/blogging.html
Hicks, T., & Hunt, B. (2008) Bud the teacher’s wiki. Retrieved from http://www.budtheteacher.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
Madden, M., Lenhart, A., Cortesi, S., Gasser, U., Duggan, M., Smith, A., & Beaton, M. (2013, May 21). Teens, social media, and privacy. Retrieved from http://www.lateledipenelope.it/public/52dff2e35b812.pdf
McEwan, B. (2012). Managing boundaries in the Web 2.0 classroom. New Directions for Teaching & Learning, 2012(131), 15-28. doi:10.1002/tl.20024
Posting Pictures to a School Website: Issues to be Aware of. (2014, July 17). Retrieved July 24, 2015. Retrieved from http://www.webwise.ie/teachers/posting-pictures-to-your-schools-website-2/
Sanders, J. (2015, March 18). How to start safely using social media in the classroom. [Web blog]. Retrieved from http://dailygenius.com/social-media-in-the-classroom/
Tate, K. (2015, May 7). Social media hazards and tips for educators. Retrieved July 20, 2015, from http://edutrendsonline.com/social-media-hazards-and-tips-for-teachers/
Willard, N. (2015). Ensuring student privacy on the internet. Education World. Retrieved from http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech120.shtml
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