Social network sites and Teachers

This week in class we were assigned an interesting article, "Suspended Teacher in Facebook Incident Ignites Debate: Should Online Privacy for Educators Exist?"  This article discusses some interesting aspects of some of the challenges that accompany sharing information on the internet. In this particular article, a teacher made a comment on Facebook about a student in her class that was meant for her friends but seen publicly. Parents and students alike saw her comments and were very upset. After reading the article, I realized how close to home this hit. Facebook came into my life with a bang; my two daughters insisted I get a Facebook page almost two years ago now. I had no idea what this site was all about, but I am all about keeping up with technology, so I set myself a page up. I was amazed how quickly I had “Friend Requests”! Not just a few friends, but almost 200 in the first week! I have lived in several places throughout my life and have made many friends. I had not talked with several of them for as long as 10 years. I was extremely excited! I also had some “Friend Requests” from friends that live in my same town. I live in a town with less than 1,000 residents, so some were parents of my students and colleagues. Like this teacher in the article, I thought my page was private and only able to be viewed by my friends. I placed pictures on my page and while doing this, placed a few of my bulletin boards from my classroom. Within a day of posting these pictures, my principal asked to speak to me. She informed me that she had heard I had a Facebook page and it had pictures from my classroom. She also told me that my professional life needed to be separate from my private life, and Facebook was a private activity. I was upset and tried to explain that I had no pictures with any of the children and absolutely no names. Many of my friends are educators too, but lived out of our area. I was sharing with them a part of what I do. Now, just six months after this conversation, I and several other teachers are being allowed to utilize Facebook at the school for student’s clubs. We set up a network page and communicate about meetings and activities. It has been a wonderful tool. It amazes me that in such a short period of time the administration have changed their outlook of what this site can offer as a tool.