"When you entered this course, you may have had some prior concepts regarding the professional constraints faced by BC educators using technologies such as social media. How has the course content (material I post in the module), the readings and resources provided extended, challenged, or deepened your initial understanding? (Cite references as appropriate.) How do you see any of this content applying to you or your colleagues?"
One thing I love about learning is how when I start to think about something, read about it and have conversations about it, I begin to "see" my learning everywhere I go and make connections that I don't believe I'd otherwise make.
This is happening as I learn more about social media and the responsibilities I have and constraints I face as an educator when integrating these tools into my teaching and learning practice.
A friend recently started a new job as the teaching chef at a high school in BC. We were talking about all the new and exciting challenges she's had with her start-up and a part of her job that includes marketing the food they make and serve for lunch in the cafeteria. One eager, business-minded student suggested a Facebook page which students and teachers could follow to keep up-to-date with the menu, ingredient sourcing and other Culinary Arts news. My initial response was mixed: one side of me excited about this fun and useful way to use a social media tool. My other, more wary, side felt a responsibility to ask about social media policies in place in her district and whether she was aware of the risks associate with social media use in high school. We had a great conversation about the innovative ways social media tools can be used to engage students and the risks that accompany such use. She later did some investigation and learned that the social media policy at her school was simple: "No social media at school". Not only is this policy a show stopper, it entrenches teacher and administrator heads deep into the sand: students can and will use social media in and outside of school - policy or not.
The OLTD 506 readings and stories I hear these days have deepened my understanding of the fact that the social media "cart" is well ahead of the social media "horse". This must change if we are to maintain our professional boundaries and a safe and accessible learning environment for our students. We need to learn ways to be in charge of and manage our personal and professional digital footprint (the two of course being inextricably intertwined). This means choosing to be a proactive "eagle" instead of a passive "ostrich" who burrows her head in the sand of ignorance only to leave herself exposed and vulnerable (Hengstler, 2011).
It is easy to be an ostrich these days. The last three schools I've worked at in two different districts had consent forms for use of photos of students on social media have been of the negative kind: "If you don't say anything we will assume you are okay with it." The policy then contradicted itself by stating a "no device" for students rule at school. While the policies of school districts and individual schools and departments are constantly evolving, it is not difficult to find "ostrich-like" social networking policies in our BC educational system. These may serve the administrators who lack time and resources or teachers who are new to social media. They are not, however, in the best interests of our learners nor do they make space for opportunities for meaningful - and responsible - use of social media.
Think back to the business-minded Culinary Arts student who wants to market the amazing food and talent of his high school cooking program: imagine what he could do within a system that teaches digital responsibility and has policies that reflect responsible, "eagle-like" and consensual social media policies?
Hengstler, J. (2011). Managing your digital footprint: Ostriches v. Eagles. In S. Hirtz & K. Kelly (Eds.), Education for a Digital World 2.0 (2nd ed.) (Vol. 1, Part One: Emerging technologies and practices). Open School/Crown Publications: Queen's Printer for British Columbia,Canada. http://www.viu.ca/education/faculty_publications/hengstler/EducationforDigitalWorld2.0_1_jh89.pdf
This is happening as I learn more about social media and the responsibilities I have and constraints I face as an educator when integrating these tools into my teaching and learning practice.
A friend recently started a new job as the teaching chef at a high school in BC. We were talking about all the new and exciting challenges she's had with her start-up and a part of her job that includes marketing the food they make and serve for lunch in the cafeteria. One eager, business-minded student suggested a Facebook page which students and teachers could follow to keep up-to-date with the menu, ingredient sourcing and other Culinary Arts news. My initial response was mixed: one side of me excited about this fun and useful way to use a social media tool. My other, more wary, side felt a responsibility to ask about social media policies in place in her district and whether she was aware of the risks associate with social media use in high school. We had a great conversation about the innovative ways social media tools can be used to engage students and the risks that accompany such use. She later did some investigation and learned that the social media policy at her school was simple: "No social media at school". Not only is this policy a show stopper, it entrenches teacher and administrator heads deep into the sand: students can and will use social media in and outside of school - policy or not.
The OLTD 506 readings and stories I hear these days have deepened my understanding of the fact that the social media "cart" is well ahead of the social media "horse". This must change if we are to maintain our professional boundaries and a safe and accessible learning environment for our students. We need to learn ways to be in charge of and manage our personal and professional digital footprint (the two of course being inextricably intertwined). This means choosing to be a proactive "eagle" instead of a passive "ostrich" who burrows her head in the sand of ignorance only to leave herself exposed and vulnerable (Hengstler, 2011).
It is easy to be an ostrich these days. The last three schools I've worked at in two different districts had consent forms for use of photos of students on social media have been of the negative kind: "If you don't say anything we will assume you are okay with it." The policy then contradicted itself by stating a "no device" for students rule at school. While the policies of school districts and individual schools and departments are constantly evolving, it is not difficult to find "ostrich-like" social networking policies in our BC educational system. These may serve the administrators who lack time and resources or teachers who are new to social media. They are not, however, in the best interests of our learners nor do they make space for opportunities for meaningful - and responsible - use of social media.
Think back to the business-minded Culinary Arts student who wants to market the amazing food and talent of his high school cooking program: imagine what he could do within a system that teaches digital responsibility and has policies that reflect responsible, "eagle-like" and consensual social media policies?
Hengstler, J. (2011). Managing your digital footprint: Ostriches v. Eagles. In S. Hirtz & K. Kelly (Eds.), Education for a Digital World 2.0 (2nd ed.) (Vol. 1, Part One: Emerging technologies and practices). Open School/Crown Publications: Queen's Printer for British Columbia,Canada. http://www.viu.ca/education/faculty_publications/hengstler/EducationforDigitalWorld2.0_1_jh89.pdf
Photo by Jennifer Trovato @ unsplash.com