Learning and Leading - September/October 2009

READERSrespond
POLL RESULTS
Yes
17%

L&L wants your opinion! Send comments to letters@iste.org.

Participate in our reader poll at www.iste.org.

Should You “Friend” Your Students on Social Networking Sites? A healthy majority of readers argued that it’s inappropriate for teachers to fraternize with students via Facebook.

Beware Eavesdroppers

Would you let your students listen in to all the conversations with your personal adult friends? Would you invite them to your school reunions, where the intimate details of your personal past could be the topic of conversation? No, no, no. Socially befriending a student is inappropriate, in person or online.

Helen Crompton

Education PhD Student

Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Building Trust

I never initiate conversations but will post “congratulations,” “hope you feel better,” and “happy birthday” comments on their wall. I find this is another way to build a trusting student/ teacher relationship. What is most useful is when my students are working on projects and they have logged on to Facebook to ask me questions when they come to a trouble spot. It’s quick and easy, and they are more confident in their finished project.

Tammy Jones

Sixth Grade History Teacher Huntsville, Alabama

No 83%

Nothing to See Here

I’ve friended several of my 8th grade and high school students. I don’t really say anything I wouldn’t want a student to know about, and I don’t have much personal information available for anyone to see. In some cases, after a while I “hid” their posts, since they were not appropriate or a waste of time, and I didn’t want to be bothered with reading them.

Laurie Cohen

Technology Coordinator/Business Instructor Silver Spring, Maryland

TMI

Teachers may have access to more information about students than they want! A few years ago, I naively friended some former students. I learned more about them than I ever wanted to know—blog posts about illegal activities, pictures of them undressed, and updates about activities I didn’t care to know about—and I eventually deleted my whole account.

LeeAnn Lindsey

Professional Development Coordinator Phoenix, Arizona

Life Lessons

One might argue that Facebook’s place as a natural part of students’ daily lives makes it the best choice for school communication because it builds on their existing schemata to enhance learning. But there is conceivably a benefit to students recognizing one tool as appropriate for school (Wikispaces) and another as appropriate for social purposes (Facebook). Making this distinction might support future decision making regarding similar tools.

Kelli Zellner

High School Media Specialist Fulton, Maryland

Not a Hang-Out

In light of the recent well-publicized inappropriate relationships between students and teachers, the burden falls on us to avoid the appearance of impropriety. It is no more proper to hang out with our students on Facebook than it is to hang out with them at the skating rink, malt shop, or playground.

Herb Coleman

Community College Instructor Austin, Texas

Slippery Slope

There are too many opportunities in our society for a student to allege wrongdoings on the part of a teacher. Even if a student’s accusations are found not to be true, a lot of damage can be done in the meantime.

Jeff Anson

Tech Support/Special Ed Teacher Kalamazoo, Michigan

When They Grow Up

I’ve seen the last of my third graders graduate from high school and now gladly accept friend requests from young adults I never would have allowed into my PLN as underaged students. A month ago, one of my former students posted a Facebook status update saying, “I just can’t get to work. So much to do but I can’t get started.” I commented, “You can do it, (name), I’m about to log off after several hours of work—passin’ the torch to you!” He replied, “Thank you, Mr. Merrick! I guess you’ll always be my teacher.”