Many thanks to those who liked the Surfnetkids Facebook wall photos. Your encouragement has resulted in new wall photos (plus lots more to come.)
Teacher and Surfnetkids reader Maura Zeller , however, brought up a very interesting point. She says that in her school district it is considered unprofessional to have a Facebook account. She referenced the difficulty that Stacy Snyder ran into when she was denied her teaching credential because of a Facebook photo.
What do you think? I’ve asked this question before, and even took a couple of polls. At that time, you voted overwhelmingly that teachers should be allowed to use social media, and allowed to use their discretion when deciding what is appropriate.
But since I started promoting Facebook wall photos, it seems an opportune time to ask the question again.
Are social media sites (such as Facebook and Twitter) appropriate tools for teachers? Or to go even further, do think teachers should not have social media accounts in order to avoid even the HINT of unappropriateness?
Feel free to respond here, or to go back to my previous posts and answer there. You’ll find the links to my previous blog posts on the is subject linked in the second paragraph above.
I believe that it is great way to keep in touch and get information from other on topics of intrest to use within the class. I think that having a Facebook profile for this purpose is fantastic.
I am a teacher at a school in South Africa. I have had a Facebook account since I was in university and I have used a social network (MXIT) for a number of years now. I use my social networking accounts to keep in contact with my closest friends, fiance and family.
I honestly believe that if used correctly, social networks can be a good thing. Educators can use them as an educational tool or as a source of information. In the case of private use, of these social networks, educators should use discretion and integrity as not to become involved in any indiscretion.
Facebook is a social network that connects many people from around the world, mostly friends and family. It would be wrong to disallow any educator from partaking in such a network, specially if it is done simply because some educators do not know the social/moral boundaries between an educator and his/her student.