3 Essential Social Media Guidelines for Teachers
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many teachers are forced to recreate learning environments that are 100 percent virtual. However, they must remember to follow ethical guidelines when using social media professionally and personally.
Even as computers and mobile devices become more important to the world, students are expected to understand how to navigate these tools. A 21st Century education provides students with skills and confidence to utilize technology and use it in intelligent ways. While social media is becoming a fundamental part of learning, teachers are expected to serve as a guide or mentor for their students. In addition to being used as a learning tool, social media is intended for pushing the positive, celebrating student successes, sharing resources, and connecting with parents and the community (Jones, 2017). As teachers continue to find productive and purposeful ways to implement social media inside and outside of classrooms, they must remember to use it responsibly.
Using social media as a teacher can be hard to manage when trying to balance personal and professional use. However, teachers should always consider the impact of consuming and communicating information through social media. To ensure the safety and well-being of students and the entire educational system, teachers must follow a social media code of ethics. A social media code of ethics establishes principles for best practice and helps prevent ethical problems from emerging. Having said that, here are 3 essential social media guidelines for teachers:
Do not follow students’ personal social media accounts
There is too much risk involved when teachers follow their students’ social media accounts. Generally, using social media can encourage informal communication, which means that people want to speak without social restrictions. A lack of social restrictions can lead to possible ethical issues, especially in an educational setting. Therefore, it’s best for teachers not to follow and engage with students on their personal accounts. When a student graduates from high school, an exception can be made. It’s not uncommon for a teacher-student relationship to develop into a mentor-mentee relationship between two adults.
Do not share students’ identities on social media without direct consent
As a rookie teacher 13 years ago, my mother told me, “Only use district-approved internet content and NEVER reveal a child’s identity without permission from their parents.” This was before the era of social media, so these types of regulations were of little importance to me back then. But in 2020, her words are more relevant than ever. If teachers plan to share activities in their classrooms, they should always use parental consent forms. Most school districts distribute opt-out forms during the registration and enrollment period. This ensures that classroom guidelines always align with school policy. For non-consenting students, teachers should use photo-editing tools to remove sensitive information from images before posting.
Create a separate social media account for professional use
Many teachers use social media to share best practices, provide an authentic audience for student work, cultivate digital citizenship among their students, and build more connected school communities (Higgin, 2017). If social media is being used to enhance educational practices like these, teachers should consider creating a professional account. Professional accounts often have very few privacy restrictions and any student or parent could easily find and follow it. Along with a professional page, teachers can also create a classroom account to post class updates, share assignments, and encourage discussion. A classroom social media account can help your students see what appropriate online interactions can look like and give them a way to learn with the world (Casa-Todd, 2019).
Using social media in classrooms can be a scary and confusing thought when you’re working in a school environment, from FERPA-compliance issues to headline-making incidents (Higgin, 2017). It’s no wonder many teachers avoid it entirely. As scary as it may seem, social media can be a valuable tool used to communicate and build healthy relationships. Instead of being fearful, teachers must learn to use social media with the best interest of their students in mind.
Sources:
Casa-Todd, J. (2019, April 5). Using a Social Media Account With Your Class. Edutopia. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/article/using-social-media-account-your-class
Higgin, T. (2017, March 28). Protecting Student Privacy on Social Media: Do’s and Don’ts for Teachers. Common Sense Education. Retrieved from https://www.commonsense.org/education/articles/protecting-student-privacy-on-social-media-dos-and-donts-for-teachers
Jones, G. (2017, January 23). Six Ways to Avoid Those Social Media Landmines. NEA Today. Retrieved from http://neatoday.org/2017/01/23/social-media-tips-for-teachers/
