Elizabeth, What are your thoughts on facebook and teachers/students? My high school kids think it most creepy should a faculty member be on facebook. Suan
It is possible to make facebook like a blog with the status updates they have there, but it would me more difficult to read in that form I think. A blog like this is much better suited to a class. I keep facebook as a more personal site (blocked to students). I know some colleagues who let students be their friend on facebook. I don't let my students be my friend there and I tell them politely that when they ask.
In K-12, I think you are asking for trouble if you "friend" your students on Facebook. It is unfortunate because it can add a very dynamic discussion tool. However, There are social networks (ie: Ning) that you can set up that are protected and probably better for teacher / student interactions.
Now, as a college professor, I think the student / teacher relationship is much different - and the opportunities for "trouble" are much smaller. Feel free to look me up on Facebook!
It is hard to say where facebook is going... There are some applications on facebook now that you can use to do a type of blogging. There are different ways to use each of the features, but the hardest thing is deciding which venue to use for your professional connections versus your personal ones.
I also use facebook as a personal networking tool, and to safeguard my profile I use my maiden name. I use other resources for professional networking such as Middle School Portal.
Please share your thoughts "out loud" as you navigate the differences between facebook and blogger. I would love to read your insights!
We once had an officer give a presentation to our staff and she encouraged us to look at students' MySpace and Facebook sites. I tend to disagree. Given the fact that teachers are mandatory reporters I steer clear of social networking sites. I've gotten into enough trouble with mandatory reporting ... I don't even want to go there.
This is a very interesting thread, I'm also on Facebook and have also come across deciding whether to accept students or not.
I finally decided not to befriend them on FB while I was teaching them. Originally, I allowed some students to add me as their friend after I graduated. However, after adding only a couple of them, when they started college, I was very disturbed by what they were posting and what was coming up on my page as their status updates. I guess I would rather remember them as innocent, sweet and studious seniors than wild freshmen in college with newly acquired total freedom... So I have decided not to add any more and debating whether to block the ones I did. I will probably send a message to my graduates that try to befriend them with some sort of email address where they can reach me in case they need a recommendation or something... and explain why I am not comfortable adding them.
I also find it tricky when I'm friends with other teachers who are completely open to befriending all their current students, because you really have to watch what you post as the kids can see it...
I agree with Randy, I'd rather not try to check out my students social networks to see what they're up to. My previous school regularly carried out searches to see if any of the kids had included the name of the school in any of their social pages. In doing so, they found a bunch of videos on Youtube posted by students that had the school name and in which they were doing less than appropriate things.. it was a HUGE deal.
Hello, I have done several blog pages and it still took me an hour to set up my new one. I'm too fussy I think. I don't do facebook. I keep in good touch with friends already and I am on the computer more than I would like to be already. My sisters and sons facebook and love it. Maybe someday. Concerning looking at my students personal pages, no thank you! I really think it would color how I see them. There are plenty of ways to get to know them without getting into their personal space. I did set up a previewer on my school blog accounts to that I have to read the post first then can post if it is appropriate.
I agree no to current students, but when they are in college I'm OK with it. The students I teach never come accross as angels from the beginning, but I teach in a poor rough blue collar town.
I like that this has come up. We have this ongoing debate at school amongst our teachers. Many of us have facebook accounts (myself included) and have the dilemma of whether to friend students particularly those that have graduated.
For me it was an easy decision to not be friends with them largely due to the small size of our school. Those that have graduated usually have strong ties to most students still at the school and they all talk. While I don't have anything that is inappropriate, I feel like it blurs the lines. It would invite them into my personal world and I would rather keep that separate and let them go on thinking that I have no life and that I sleep at school (because that's what they think). Similarly, I don't have ANY desire to know what goes on in their personal lives. We have had an issue lately where teachers were able to gain access to student's facebooks and found pics and negative comments about the school which all had to be addressed in many meetings and parent conferences.
The other issue I have (which Marta expressed) is that a few of our teachers don't have a probably being friends with recently graduated seniors or current students. This then gives those students access to some of my content (tagged photos, videos, etc.) via that teacher's facebook.
Some of you mentioned schools addressing inappropriate or negative content posted by students - how did your school address it? It's an ongoing issue that we address every year and discuss regularly.
I have to say that I'm enjoying this discussion also. I have been considering getting a FB account but I have yet to check out just how (and how much time) I would manage it regarding who I accept and who I don't. Like many of you, I also agree that I won't be friending any of my students though. The former students situation is trickier. I don't want/need to know tremendous detail about their personal life (and vise versa). I suppose a little naivity is o.k. right? For those of you that do use FB, something similar, may I ask how much time you spend on it per week? Just curious.
I've been facebooking for about a year, and I'm friends with several of my students and former students. I'm also friends with their parents. I've found that the sense of virtual as well as real community is important for me. If it is indeed true that it takes a village to raise a child, these children need to know that their village is supporting them whether they are in our town or have moved to the ends of the earth.
I'm careful what I post because I am by nature a careful person. However, I am extra careful when I'm not very happy about the way things went at school because not only are my students my facebook friends, but so are my children, their friends, and most of my extended family.
As I read most of the comments here I realized that most of you lead personal lives which are very separate from your professional lives. However, for me my professional life IS my personal life.
To answer Steve's question - I probably spend about 3 hours a week on facebook, less time ifthe internet is fast.
Our students use FB way too much. It is the home page for the majority of students and they use it mostly to keep up w/ status updates. It is amazing to me that they all want and think they need to know what is going on 24-7. I've been on FB for a year and a half and I enjoy it. I play games mostly and take those silly quizzes. But, it is pretty neat getting friend requests from people that you haven't seen in a long time. As far at blogging vs. FB, I think it is much different. I know teachers that assign students blogging assignments, therefore they do them. I also know of students that just do them b/c they like to get their thoughts out. I had never done one, or monitored any students before this last week. I would say though that status updates and Twitter are similar (from what I understand of Twitter up to this point).
You mention teachers assigning students to blog... I just got this book from the library called "RSS for Educators", and glanced through the first few pages. The authors works in a county in Virginia which REQUIRES ALL their teachers to blog as a way to communicate with parents, etc. What are your thoughts on that?
I am hesitant to use facebook with my students - only if it was set up as a separate account from my personal account. Too much information exchange can be a bad thing. I've been on facebook for about a year and during that time I have friends with my college age nieces and 16 year old son. Funny, they de-friend me form time to time, (they don't want me to follow and they feel its their territory!) It has been useful in order to communicate when they've been out of the country. My son was in China over the summer and 2 nieces attended Oxford last year. We were able to keep in touch without the long distance, internation calling charges. And, they shared pictures and stories as they occurred. I din't have to wait months to hear all about it. Now that they are back in the US they are not as open to me following them on facebook.
I can see the advantages and disadvantages to its use in the classroom having had such experiences with family. I'll have to think about using it in the classroom a bit more!
Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteWhat are your thoughts on facebook and teachers/students? My high school kids think it most creepy should a faculty member be on facebook.
Suan
It is possible to make facebook like a blog with the status updates they have there, but it would me more difficult to read in that form I think. A blog like this is much better suited to a class. I keep facebook as a more personal site (blocked to students). I know some colleagues who let students be their friend on facebook. I don't let my students be my friend there and I tell them politely that when they ask.
ReplyDelete~Stephen
In K-12, I think you are asking for trouble if you "friend" your students on Facebook. It is unfortunate because it can add a very dynamic discussion tool. However, There are social networks (ie: Ning) that you can set up that are protected and probably better for teacher / student interactions.
ReplyDeleteNow, as a college professor, I think the student / teacher relationship is much different - and the opportunities for "trouble" are much smaller. Feel free to look me up on Facebook!
It is hard to say where facebook is going... There are some applications on facebook now that you can use to do a type of blogging. There are different ways to use each of the features, but the hardest thing is deciding which venue to use for your professional connections versus your personal ones.
ReplyDeleteI also use facebook as a personal networking tool, and to safeguard my profile I use my maiden name. I use other resources for professional networking such as Middle School Portal.
Please share your thoughts "out loud" as you navigate the differences between facebook and blogger. I would love to read your insights!
We once had an officer give a presentation to our staff and she encouraged us to look at students' MySpace and Facebook sites. I tend to disagree. Given the fact that teachers are mandatory reporters I steer clear of social networking sites. I've gotten into enough trouble with mandatory reporting ... I don't even want to go there.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting thread, I'm also on Facebook and have also come across deciding whether to accept students or not.
ReplyDeleteI finally decided not to befriend them on FB while I was teaching them. Originally, I allowed some students to add me as their friend after I graduated. However, after adding only a couple of them, when they started college, I was very disturbed by what they were posting and what was coming up on my page as their status updates. I guess I would rather remember them as innocent, sweet and studious seniors than wild freshmen in college with newly acquired total freedom... So I have decided not to add any more and debating whether to block the ones I did. I will probably send a message to my graduates that try to befriend them with some sort of email address where they can reach me in case they need a recommendation or something... and explain why I am not comfortable adding them.
I also find it tricky when I'm friends with other teachers who are completely open to befriending all their current students, because you really have to watch what you post as the kids can see it...
I agree with Randy, I'd rather not try to check out my students social networks to see what they're up to. My previous school regularly carried out searches to see if any of the kids had included the name of the school in any of their social pages. In doing so, they found a bunch of videos on Youtube posted by students that had the school name and in which they were doing less than appropriate things.. it was a HUGE deal.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI have done several blog pages and it still took me an hour to set up my new one. I'm too fussy I think. I don't do facebook. I keep in good touch with friends already and I am on the computer more than I would like to be already. My sisters and sons facebook and love it. Maybe someday. Concerning looking at my students personal pages, no thank you! I really think it would color how I see them. There are plenty of ways to get to know them without getting into their personal space. I did set up a previewer on my school blog accounts to that I have to read the post first then can post if it is appropriate.
I agree no to current students, but when they are in college I'm OK with it. The students I teach never come accross as angels from the beginning, but I teach in a poor rough blue collar town.
ReplyDeleteI like that this has come up. We have this ongoing debate at school amongst our teachers. Many of us have facebook accounts (myself included) and have the dilemma of whether to friend students particularly those that have graduated.
ReplyDeleteFor me it was an easy decision to not be friends with them largely due to the small size of our school. Those that have graduated usually have strong ties to most students still at the school and they all talk. While I don't have anything that is inappropriate, I feel like it blurs the lines. It would invite them into my personal world and I would rather keep that separate and let them go on thinking that I have no life and that I sleep at school (because that's what they think). Similarly, I don't have ANY desire to know what goes on in their personal lives. We have had an issue lately where teachers were able to gain access to student's facebooks and found pics and negative comments about the school which all had to be addressed in many meetings and parent conferences.
The other issue I have (which Marta expressed) is that a few of our teachers don't have a probably being friends with recently graduated seniors or current students. This then gives those students access to some of my content (tagged photos, videos, etc.) via that teacher's facebook.
Some of you mentioned schools addressing inappropriate or negative content posted by students - how did your school address it? It's an ongoing issue that we address every year and discuss regularly.
I have to say that I'm enjoying this discussion also. I have been considering getting a FB account but I have yet to check out just how (and how much time) I would manage it regarding who I accept and who I don't. Like many of you, I also agree that I won't be friending any of my students though. The former students situation is trickier. I don't want/need to know tremendous detail about their personal life (and vise versa). I suppose a little naivity is o.k. right? For those of you that do use FB, something similar, may I ask how much time you spend on it per week? Just curious.
ReplyDeleteI've been facebooking for about a year, and I'm friends with several of my students and former students.
ReplyDeleteI'm also friends with their parents. I've found that the sense of virtual as well as real community is important for me. If it is indeed true that it takes a village to raise a child, these children need to know that their village is supporting them whether they are in our town or have moved to the ends of the
earth.
I'm careful what I post because I am by nature a careful person. However, I am extra careful when I'm not very happy about the way things went at school because not only are my students my facebook friends, but so are my children, their friends, and most of my extended family.
As I read most of the comments here I realized that most of you lead personal lives which are very separate from your professional lives. However, for me my professional life IS my personal life.
To answer Steve's question - I probably spend about 3 hours a week on facebook, less time ifthe internet is fast.
Our students use FB way too much. It is the home page for the majority of students and they use it mostly to keep up w/ status updates. It is amazing to me that they all want and think they need to know what is going on 24-7.
ReplyDeleteI've been on FB for a year and a half and I enjoy it. I play games mostly and take those silly quizzes. But, it is pretty neat getting friend requests from people that you haven't seen in a long time.
As far at blogging vs. FB, I think it is much different. I know teachers that assign students blogging assignments, therefore they do them. I also know of students that just do them b/c they like to get their thoughts out. I had never done one, or monitored any students before this last week.
I would say though that status updates and Twitter are similar (from what I understand of Twitter up to this point).
You mention teachers assigning students to blog... I just got this book from the library called "RSS for Educators", and glanced through the first few pages. The authors works in a county in Virginia which REQUIRES ALL their teachers to blog as a way to communicate with parents, etc. What are your thoughts on that?
ReplyDeleteJust found this comment box on my blog - will have to read more often to keep up.
ReplyDeleteI am hesitant to use facebook with my students - only if it was set up as a separate account from my personal account. Too much information exchange can be a bad thing. I've been on facebook for about a year and during that time I have friends with my college age nieces and 16 year old son. Funny, they de-friend me form time to time, (they don't want me to follow and they feel its their territory!) It has been useful in order to communicate when they've been out of the country. My son was in China over the summer and 2 nieces attended Oxford last year. We were able to keep in touch without the long distance, internation calling charges. And, they shared pictures and stories as they occurred. I din't have to wait months to hear all about it. Now that they are back in the US they are not as open to me following them on facebook.
ReplyDeleteI can see the advantages and disadvantages to its use in the classroom having had such experiences with family. I'll have to think about using it in the classroom a bit more!
Find a need and fill it
ReplyDeleteBlogging is the best way of them all. Come visit my Blog and you'll see why.
ReplyDelete