Over the past few years technology has changed the "playing field," and by playing field I mean all aspects of one's lives. Privacy is invaded the minute that something hits the Internet, and at times there is not control over what is posted about one's self online. This new issue has appeared so quickly that it has created a grey area as to how it should be handled in the work place. As for non-educational jobs, applicant's online existence is often viewed by the company during job applications, and then checked on sporadically once the employee is hired. The company may want to present a certain image, thus they want their employees to represent the company's reputation online. As for educators, the electronic freedom is more limited. An educator's online life is subject to viewing at any point by a co-worker, student, or adult. This aspect creates a level of professionalism that the educator should uphold. The educator's private life, both on and off line, needs to uphold the values that they represent to the students. They are role models, and if they act inappropriately that could have a negative effect on students. The content that they provide online should be very private and appropriate. If a picture needs to be defended, it should be deleted. If a comment is questionable, don't post it. Ultimately, educators are held to a higher standard because of the great impact they have on students, and they need to meet these standards.
2) Should teachers maintain a presence on social networking sites? Why or why not? As a teacher, what steps can you take to protect yourself from criticism and/or sanctions when using social media sites?
Teachers can exist on social networking sights, but their presence should be minimal. They should think of it as a reflection of their values. I had teachers in high school who would accept your Friend Request upon graduating. This allowed us to maintain our teacher-student friendship with the occasional catch-up online. Yet, their profiles are very professional. All pictures of them are ones that could easily be hung in their classrooms. All comments on their pages are very clean and even educational at times. Teachers are allowed to have an online existence, but everything on their page should be appropriate enough to have displayed in their school classroom. This means, no pictures of partying or wild nights, fully clothed, and appropriate settings. Not only that, but you are responsible for monitoring all of your friends comments and interactions with you. If they jeopardize your reputation, you should consider blocking their online friendship. Some people like the idea of having two online profiles, one for students, one for friends, but I think this could hurt the educator in the long run. If the "friends" profile displays inappropriate information, it could be exposed at some point. Teachers should keep their profile basic, this means limit the personal information provided, carefully inspect each picture posted of the educator, make all comments only visible to the educator. By limiting the amount others can see or potentially access, the teacher is protecting themselves. Ultimately, when in doubt, delete all social networking profile.
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