Should Teachers Use Facebook With Students? [Phillips]

                                                   

"Facebook doesn't get teachers fired, inappropriate behavior does".  The title of the article is very poignant and so true.  As the author suggests, it isn't the medium in which teachers communicate that cause a scandal and get teachers in hot water.  Rather, it's the behavior of that teacher and how they communicate with students that is actually to blame, not Facebook, twitter, or any other social media site. The author also suggests that in many of the cases involving teachers and inappropriate behavior online, they are also involved in inappropriate behavior offline as well.

Many students use social media in every aspect of their lives in today's day and age.  As teachers, our job is to engage students and one of the most successful ways of doing that is tapping into our students interests, likes, and desires.  Kids use social media to communicate with each other, so why wouldn't we use social media to communicate with them as well.  The author of the article states, " The reality is that when we remove the ability of adults to exist in children's worlds, we are doing just the opposite of keeping students safe.  Enabling students to operate in online environments devoid of the watchful eye, guidance, and advice of adult family members, teachers, and mentors, is not in the best interests of children.

There are many advantages to using Facebook in the classroom.  Some of which include:

• Creating an inviting and relaxed atmosphere which could possibly lead to more students feeling comfortable and participating in an assignment or activity and higher overall student engagement. 
• Students are comfortable using Facebook because they do it everyday.
• Facebook encourages collaboration and social interaction between students.
• Students can get engaged about their learning outside the classroom.  

There are also many useful Facebook educational apps that both teachers and students can use.

For students:

• WeRead : students use it to talk about books they read and get to know what others read.
• Notely : Students can use it to organize assignments, classes, notes and many more
• Study Groups ; They can use it to create study groups and collaborate with each other
• Used Text Groups : This is a group where students can sell and buy used text books
• CiteMe : Students use it to learn how to properly include citations

For teachers: 

• Calendar : Teachers can use it to keep their classes on track with upcoming assignments, test, due dates and many more
• Courses : They can use it to create instructor page and manage their courses
• Webinaria : This helps teachers record their class lectures and post them on Facebook for the class to review.
• To-do-list ; Easily create a reminder list
• Worldcat : easily search for material available at libraries around the world to help in with your research

The article also shows how a first grade teacher helps her elementary students harness the power of Facebook.  You can see how in this video: Teachers use Facebook to update parents.

Ultimately, it may be the easiest solution for schools and school districts to ban social media sites such as Facebook.  However, when we do this we are really handicapping our students and providing them a major disservice.  If we want to really prepare students for career and college readiness and prepare them as globally connected learners and leaders, then we need to focus less on ridding education of Facebook and other social media and focus more on enforcing policies that address appropriate and inappropriate behavior regardless of the medium being used.