Yes as long as it in a cotrolled environment that the topics are subject related only. I encourage my students to go on my Chef Mulia Food and Art page so they can discuss food related topics and draw information that corresponds to their culinary education. On your page you then can delete any thing off topic or offcolor and reiterate the parameters with your students.
In our school it is actually frowned upon to connect with our students on social media, until they have graduated. However I encourage my students to connect together, it gives them a sense of belonging to something bigger. I also do allow them to facebook me after graduation and encourage them to start networking with other professionals.
I think it's a great idea to have a class Facebook page. A class Facebook can be both informative and educational.
I'm personally not a fan of student and instructor interaction on social media sites because fraternization policies can be questioned. Unless a Facebook or twitter page is created with not only instructor and administrators able to view the content discussions and comments. As much as I would like to stay in contact with my students I think social media is a slippery slope for educators.
I'm probably being labeled as old fashion, but I believe the instructor should remain disconnected socially from his or her students.Classroom time, office hours, and school e-mail should be enough contact time. The instructor can and should engage the students in the class envirnoment to know them better.
No outside contact with students is our policy at school. Only means of contact is thru email. We are not allowed to be Facebook friends until after they graduate from school. Company policies. Personally it would be a great way to bond with your students providing if you have portable units like a Ipad or smart phone. Not everyone owns one including myself.
I can see how it would be advantageous, but can also see the possible problems that may occur as a result. Some educators are hampered by school policies that do not allow instructors to use social media for the purposes of education. If this is the case, most student/faculty portals have group discussion boards and perhaps this is a great substitute.
Yes!
keeps them engaged both in and out of the classroom
Social networking incorporated into the classroom teaches proper internet etiquette and relates to employment opportunities.
interact in real time within a three-dimensionalenvironment daily with millions of people
wealth of resources
Blogs can post objectives, assignments, and act as a question and answer board.
Tweets short and sweet, provide a deeper context to the post.
Instructors may learn from each other and create a culture of collaborative learning end encourage peer coaching.
Craig,
In order to keep the student/teacher relationship professional, I limit my current student interaction to LinkedIn, Twitter (class feed only), and the forum built into the student portal. I do not feel it is old fashion to limit social media interaction.
Wishing you continued success in the classroom.
Theresa Schmitt
I do believe that it would work in building a relationship with your students. The real question is how responsive will you be when your student tries to contact you. My issue is that it's a conflict of interest at my school and we are not allowed to socialize with our students until after they graduate..............
I am curious as to whether or not you created a separate professional Facebook account for which you are friends with former students. I see the benefit of staying connected, however I do not want my former students following my personal life on Facebook.
Facebook has a been a great tool for our students to post their class work projects from their centerpiece classes, and some have been offered jobs because of this tool, but as an instructor, I do not feel comfortable using it to post personal information, since I have so many students out there, and they do not need to know my personal information.
Social media is a great way for students to interact and share information, pictures, etc..
It is also a way for a class to interact with one another as well as with the instructor. The problem comes when there is a blurring of personal/private lines. I do not need to know about my student's lives nor do they need to know about mine. If there was a way to set up private or closed sites strictly for a class then I would be all for it. Until then I feel it's best to keep the "social" aspect of the student/teacher life separate.
I do not think that instructors and students should interact in social media because as an instructor I want to keep my personal life seperate than my school life. I also want to only see my students in the same professional way.
I think teleconferencing is a benefit but other than that I don't see using social media to interact with students is a good idea. Just look at the name "social" media.I am there instructor not there BFF so I think we need to stay on that road.
This is difficult to answer. I agree that we should have that connection, but at the same time you should have the right to your personal information. How are postings about my family or friends on social media going to be any help with my students education.
I could see where a student and teacher could tweet about relevant class material or articles. At the same time, it should be kept to only relevant class material.
I believe being connected to a student via social media can be a good thing if used properly and professionally. Other perimeters would also need to be established to prevent conflict of interest within the classroom, and the maturity level of the student(s).
It is an issue that I often struggle with because of the sensitivity of nature in the contact perimeters.
I never really thought about the value of a twitter account for a class, but now that I have gone through this training I can see the benefit of sharing articles and current information that a lot of times if posted on the traditional class forums go ignored.
I have been wanting to connect my students with some sort of social media site to encourage learning and communication. I think it is important to set boundaries for the usage of the site. It is important that the site is used strictly for classroom educational use. I can see how a site can easily turn from informative to personal. A social media site would enable me to post pictures, links, and articles that would be beneficial for my students. It would also encourage class collaboration and sharing.
