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Question regarding Facebook

Hi
I have a question regarding using Facebook as an online tool. I'll admit, I am not that familiar with Facebook. Is there any concern that the instructor may have access to the students personal information i.e. personal Facebook account?
Thank you
Michele

Michele,

There are different settings regarding privacy in Facebook. You can create a closed group that you have to invite people to join and you won't see anything of their info and nothing of yours either.

Dr. Kelly Wilkinson

Using Facebook as an online tool is a good idea to a point. You have to make sure that all the issues discuss is open to everyone and that personal discussion between a student/students show not occur. Guidelines and expectations should be documented up front.

James,

I agree with you. You also need to create a rubric or some type of grading strategy to connect the technology to the outcome.

Dr. Kelly Wilkinson

A class within the school where I teach constructed their own facebook page during their first semester on campus. Only the students and the instructor were invited to join. Students were able to post photographs of their work, comment on one another's work, and post valuable information given during lectures. The page became a valuble tool for sharing information and for postively reinforcing each student's experience in culinary school. That particular class is now done, but I know each of them still keeps in contact with the group via their class' facebook page. What an unexpected, yet valuable, tool this page has become. I never would have expected this when I first heard about it.

Scott,

Thank you so much for sharing. It is a great way to leverage the power of social media. The connection beyond the class is such an important takeaway from the course. Isn't that what what we want from our f2f and our online students to continue the connection.

Dr. Kelly Wilkinson

Hello,

We tried using facebook with the students but after facebook realized what the school was doing they ended up blocking out the people that created facebook accounts. Facebook is for social media but they have strick guidelines on people who begin to use it as a means of outreach to their students. I think facebook is good if you want to catch up with old friends but it is also scarey with the younger generation because they are putting too much information out on Facebook.

Patricia

I think with the way the world is heading with the use of technology, it is almost impossible to not be connected to some of the students that you want to keep in contact with after their graduation through Facebook. I am part of a training program and it's really nice to see how they are doing in the field and to get feedback from the students afterwards. Plus this is making me think that there are extra little things I could be doing online to help my students keep connected to the course outside of the classroom.

Patricia,

Interesting. I have used it as a closed group and it worked well. We have to make sure students understand the power of social media. Many business recruiters look at facebook and use Linkedin regularly.

Dr. Kelly Wilkinson

Michelle,

I agree. We complain about students not "getting' the purpose of networking but in reality they do. We need to make sure that they understand the bower of social media and use it professionally.

Dr. Kelly Wilkinson

Facebook is one of those tricky areas for me. I have tried it in my classes before and the feedback is really split. Either students really love the extra interaction, or they resent the invasion of privacy. Some students are even adamantly NOT on Facebook, therefore it makes it tricky to use it for credit, as it is not fair to the students who refuse to join. And for the students already on Facebook who don't want to show their "real" lives to the class, it's almost as if they would need to create a different profile for their student selves, versus their "real" selves. Students these days sometimes have somewhat controversial photos and materials on their Facebook pages, and even if you create a private group, they bring those profiles along with them. Are there any settings, I wonder, that make it so that the class cannot see their page, only their picture? I suppose this might be a setting that each student would have to set on their own.

I appreciated reading the post that outlined a success story from using Facebook, and I'd like to hear more solid ideas for the incorporation of Facebook. (I haven't finished reading through the course yet, so maybe there is more to read on this topic!) I have tried using Twitter in the classroom, again to mixed reviews, but that's another topic. I will just have to keep tweaking my use of Facebook until I can find a happy medium and a methodology that works!

Erin,

Thank you for sharing your experience. You really bring up good points and things to think about. I like how you solved your problem with twitter. That is good teaching and good use of technology!

Dr. Kelly Wilkinson

That's the great thing about FB. It allows the educators to keep their private life separate from their profession.

Guerda,

That is true and the same with students. You still have to make sure students understand professional use.

Dr. Kelly Wilkinson

I have to admit that I am a bit confused as to how to incorporate social media into the online learning experience. There is already an online discussion forum that is a component of the student's grade. How do I incorporate media like Facebook and Twitter when there are blogs and online discussions with resources already featured as part of the course I'm teaching? I have had negative comments from students when I have attempted to add new things to the required component in the classroom, and I fear that adding social medial as a requirement may have a negative impact.

Mia,

You bring up a great point. We as instructors have to be careful regarding adding to, this would be in place of a communication too. I might use facebook as an announcement or general question/answer area. You want students to understand you are using facebook for a purpose, not busy work.

Dr. Kelly Wilkinson

This is a huge concern for me, too, but in the opposite sense. I don't want them to have MY personal info. When I first start teaching, I had a disgruntled student who earned the C he received, but he harassed me by phone for a better grade for weeks after the class ended, to the point that I was going to make a police report. I no longer give out my home phone number and I put minimal personal info on my personal FB page.

I have never tried to set up a business FB page. I'm hoping less personal info is required. (That's on my list to investigate.)

Has anyone here had any personal info compromises? I am very cagey about this.

This is my concern, as well. I use Blackboard at two of my Us and it's a wonderful platform with its discussion boards and blogs. I'll admit that students don't read the blogs, though, because there's no grade attached. Are they more likely to read things posted on more current social media (and is Blackboard a dinosaur)?

Eileen,

You can setup a separate Facebook page that is just your teaching page. I NEVER "friend" a student. I don't give out any personal information. I too had a student that sent me some pretty nasty information.

Dr. Kelly Wilkinson

Eileen,

No, the LMS isn't going away and I use it as my primary technology medium. I am really not a fan of piecing technology together. Saying that, using blogs and other technology may be a way to invite "experts" in your field to participate. Also, you may have your students following an expert's blog. That is a great way to utilize the medium.

Dr. Kelly Wilkinson

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