IDEA Studio Provides Training on Responsible Use of Facebook - March 7, 2011

The Learning Technology Center helps the College of Education produce top quality teachers who understand the best ways to use technology and social media.

Everyone’s on Facebook these days—including teachers. Although Facebook can help teachers communicate with students—with up-to-the-minute schedule information or “online office hours,” for example— its melding of personal and work-related information can be fraught with professional peril. This is especially true for teachers, who are expected to model ethical standards for their students and whose contracts in Texas usually include a morals clause.

The College of Education (COE) recently committed itself to ensuring that all of its preservice teachers know how to responsibly use Facebook and understand social media security and ethics for educators. The help of the LTC’s IDEA Studio will be an essential part of this effort.

“Facebook is a great way to quickly share unfiltered information with lots of people, but that’s its danger too,” says Karen French, IDEA Studio Coordinator.  “We want to make sure the preservice teachers know what school districts expect, how to meet those expectations, and how to keep their information safe.”

IDEA Studio staff will develop a Web site for COE teacher education students that provides a matrix of information on the social media and ethics policies of central Texas districts. An online training module on the responsible use of social media will also be developed that all teacher education students will take before their classroom observation semester.

Facebook guidelines stressed in the training include:

• Teachers should not “friend” students
• Teachers should allow only “friends” or, at most, “friends of friends” to see their information
• Teachers should make sure their names are not searchable

The IDEA Studio also offers live training sessions for COE classes. In these, students Google themselves and are often surprised by what turns up. The students check their own Facebook accounts and are encouraged to reset them to recommended settings.

Training sessions are available now, and the Web site and online training module should be ready for the fall semester. For more information about teachers and the use of social media, contact Karen French.

—Laurie Caldwell, LTC Communications Coordinator