Feb 4, 2008
Facebook as an education tool? Teachers friending students? Could soon be against the law in Missouri.
Teachers, educators, and librarians sometimes ponder the possible uses of Facebook as an education tool; students and teachers alike talk about the awkwardness and occasional utility that arises from online social networking interactions between-groups. The Education Committee of Missouri has weighed in with a proposal which paints its picture using a giant “sex offenders are everywhere, trying to sneak into our schools” brush. The Columbia Missourian reports:
Teachers would be restricted from connecting with students on Web sites such as Facebook under a proposal by the House Education Committee chairwoman.
The Education Committee added a section to a bill Wednesday regarding teacher-student interaction on social networking Web sites that parents cannot access.
The umbrella bill, aimed at keeping sexual offenders from teaching in Missouri schools, would prohibit teachers from using a “non-work-related Internet site” to communicate with students where third parties have no access. In other words, parents need to see profiles.
“Rep. Jane Cunningham, R-St. Louis, committee chairwoman and sponsor of the bill, said its purpose is to protect children from offenders that school administration cannot catch.” Thus, to protect children from the very small fraction of would-be teachers who might possibly be sex offenders or otherwise have villainous intentions for the youth of Missouri, a whole potential range of social interactions are set to be neutered. Why not ban e-mail, telegraphs, or carrier pigeons, too?
There’s a joke in here somewhere about Missouri being the “Show Me State” but I’m not even going to search for it, because this is just so poorly calculated in my mind–the goal and the means to achieving that goal seem very disconnected and its reminiscent of the deeply misinformed national debate on so many “protect the children from the scary internet” stories in Washington. Thoughts? Christian, other teachers and educators, your opinions especially wanted. Faculty + facebook — always no go?
I think the real question for faculty and staff is: what is there to gain by connecting with students via Facebook (and similar social networking sites) that can’t be achieved in other ways?
I believe that faculty and staff members (and future employers, and parents!) should not ever use Facebook to communicate with their students. Period. It wasn’t intended for interaction between students and faculty, but for interaction amongst friends, and we should all respect those boundaries.
Should that be legislated? No way. It’s unenforcable and won’t actually do anything to stop predators, most of whom –are known– to their victims. This legislation sounds like just another attempt to draw attention away from the real issues, which are so much more complicated than INTARWEBS BAD.
Food for thought: check out the Digi-Drama about Fear 2.0 presented at this year’s ELI 2008 conference regarding the “stranger danger” movement and the opportunities we might be denying our students by oversimplifying the risks and rewards of social networking.
Thanks so much for commenting, Ryan! What do you think of my hope to draw from the faculty / staff / marketer part of the site readership to provide scholarships to the student half? : ) (link here)
The question that arises in my mind from your comment is: What about where faculty and friend overlap? I’m friends with my residential college dean on facebook, and comment on the nice photos she tags of me from Trumbull events; although I know e-mail is a more reliable way to get in touch with her (or office appointments), to me, sending a message on facebook is pretty similar to walking up to her in the dining hall and asking something. …and why not parents? My mom would have some idea of what my friends and I were up to if were were all hanging out at my house watching movies, what’s such a big difference? I am totally aware of the potential for abuse in any and all of these situations (and know people who have had troublesome incidents for each category!) but I would hesitate, personally, to make a total generalization or prescription.
I think it’s fine for there to be a “friend” overlap between faculty and students. But friendship existed before Facebook, and friendship will continue when Facebook no longer exists. Same goes for parents. So why does Facebook -need- to be involved in that relationship?
I’m not saying that students shouldn’t trying to develop meaningful relationships with older adults. If you are friends with your parents, or with faculty members, that’s great. Really. I am, however, saying that those non-student adults should have the maturity and restraint to recognize that they don’t need to connect with students on -every- level to be effective friends, mentors, counselors, and parents. You know how the saying goes … good fences, good neighbors.
That’s all true if you assume that Facebook is some different level, rather than just a projection of someone’s normal personal network (in some form). If my residential college dean uploads a nice photo of me from a college event and tags me, that’s great; a photo I wouldn’t have seen otherwise. An alumni coordinator from my school uses Facebook to set up events in a way that will get people’s attention and help people (who *already know each other and are friends / acquaintances in real life*) meet up for reunions or gatherings. I think our disagreement here comes from a critical difference in perspective on what Facebook is. It has changed from its original vision, and is closer now to that MySpace ideal of “a place for friends.”
I do, however, completely believe that FB should offer better, stricter default privacy settings as well as more granular settings which would in effect normalize the defaults to something more like what you describe while leaving those who are interested to network more proactively with those more immediately outside their peer groups, rather than blanket granting access to the entirety of (sometimes very, very huge) networks. : \
I am a part time teacher at a small college. I am already on facebook and myspace. A few students have made friend requests on both venues. I did accept them as such. However, before I did, I did adjust my profiles to be a little more formal and I am careful to say nothing in the interactions with them on facebook that I would not normally say to them in class or in the library.
I have also found the facebook group as a useful tool to announce events related to the class. I am, however, the resident computer teacher and in my spare time I deliver seminars to parent and teen groups regarding responsible use of social networks. Not the big scary internet, but merely showing them how predators behave, how one can get socially engineered, and how one could use your information to befriend you on false pretenses. I encourage people to be judicious in the pics they choose, comments they make, and privacy settings.
Now, on the High School and Jr High level…I am not sure how the interaction should be…I would not be comfortable with a teacher of my daughter interacting with her on Myspace. That said, speaking from the college level, I think the teachers need to be judicious in their conversation and keep it on a professional level. One can be warm and have an open door policy and still be tactful.
Facebook has some wonderful tools that a college could use to improve interaction and encourage involvements. For that matter, student groups on campus can use some of the tools very productively as well.
So, since I am babbling, lemme wrap up. As long as the interaction is within the schools code of conduct regarding interaction with students, I am fine with it. Fear of a new tool cannot drive our decisions. Facebook is more than just a social tool, it is now being used for not for profit fund raising, commerce, job prospecting, collaboration on projects, and many other things. I see no reason why a college, administrator, or teacher could not sensibly utilize these tools.
A state law is just silly, each school and university needs to make their own determination on the matter.
One more thing. In the high school level, should they decide that interaction between students and teachers on Myspace or FB should be outlawed…fine. But I do take issue when you stand in front of a soda machine and claim it is harmful and not offer a juice machine as an alternative.
If technology is a part of our world, we cannot hide from it and keep the kids off it just because we fear it. I would love to see a high school create it’s own forum, blog, or social network that only students could use. You could easily set it up in such a way that students, parents, and teachers would need to be registered on site and the students would go in knowing all posts are moderated and monitored. This would allow an alternative where tools can still be used creatively, yet in an environment that would ensure oversight and safety.
Patrick, first, thanks so much for reading and commenting!
On your second comment: if a school were to create such a forum / network / blog, I think a lot of the time it would be used less just because of how limited it would be in nature as a monitored, moderated resource. If someone wanted to ask someone a homework question in a non-email, time-shifted way, they would go leave a FB or MS wallpost because their friend would be more likely to see it there. Following (I think Pew…?) guidelines that teens will use about 2 social networks fully and actively, if people are already engaged, they’re not going to have time to fully commit to the school one and so it will get underutilized… whereas if it were integrated into the other tools students already used (i.e., go to the school “page” somewhere, it carries over your FB cookies, voila, do something there) then it would be much simpler.
This was really clearly evidenced for me with the case of the Yale student blogs / social networking site which were for admitted students only; they were monitored and populated with admissions officers which was great, and they were a great resource, and people liked meeting other Yalies-to-be from the class of 2011 on there… but the prospective students would use FB more for their communication because it was more convenient and less monitored and consequently there was a greater density on FB, which then led to FB mindshare creep until the admitted students website became a ghost town.
BUT there is definitely a middle ground to be explored, and of course, something is better than nothing…
Sam,
A very well thought out retort to an off the cuff remark. You bring up some excellent points.
I suppose for me, the core of this issue boils down to legislating fear. The great irony here for me is how instrumental the government and the universities were in the foundation of the Internet. Now, it seems they fear the very creature they created and pass rules and laws that attempt to restrict it’s use.
In my second post, I suppose my point is that they should be looking at methods to innovate and invite as opposed to restrict. This is not only our future, but it is our present. Every so often a university or a politician will say we need a one computer per child ratio. That is fine, however, if said computer cannot be used to it’s full potential, it is useless.
Computer technology is neither a savior or villain. It is a series of tools. Social networking is a form of expression, communication, and sharing of interests and information.
If a school has a policy of no communication between students and faculty outside of the school, then it is incumbent on a school to pass and enforce it’s own rules and not the job of the government.
I was in a Christian Bookstore recently and saw a parental net nanny program for sale. On the box is proudly claimed that it blocks myspace. But what about FB, Xanga, Livejournal, blogger, blogsome, aim, irc, email, access to forums and wiki’s?
To this day, most child molestation is an inside job. In other words, parents have far more to fear from a trusted friend of the family or family member, but we are not legislating and restricting family reunions and babysitting.
It is possible for schools, governments, and families to take a positive and rational approach to social networking while still encouraging students to use privacy settings, common sense when posting pictures, and making “friends” with people you do not know.
I completely agree with Ryan the first comment on this thread. What would be the point of a teacher communicating with a student through a network like Facebook? As a parent of a teenager in high school, I have actually encountered this problem in my home. If there is a teacher who has a special way of reaching students by going that extra mile and befriending them, then that is fine. But why does it have to extend outside of the school day or school functions(games,clubs,field trips,etc.) I would not what my husband talking to teenagers in his spare time on the computer and he would not want me to do that . So, really, what is the point? Teachers should have their own friends and leave it up to the students to find theirs.