Michele,
I have a large network of graduates and I enjoy reading about their successes and life events, such as marriage and children. Just last week a former student from 2000 contact me and thanked me for being such a strong influence on his life- for reasons both in and out of the classroom. He met his wife in that class and now they have two beautiful children, just celebrated their 8 year wedding anniversary, and are both very successful web designers.
Theresa Schmitt
Ruth Ann,
Many instructors I know have two accounts- it is really the only way to keep the two separate, though you can limit the posts "groups" have access too. You can create a student group with limited success who cannot read posts to your page, but I still find that a bit risky and not always functional. Designing a course page not linked to your name is always best if you decide to create a page.
Wishing you continued success in the classroom.
Theresa Schmitt
I have mixed feelings about the usefulness of social media between students and instructors. There have been times on social media when I have felt uncomfortable about what I read and tried to separate myself from the students personal life, even though I wanted to help them change their decision making process. It is nice to be able to connect with graduated students to bring them back to campus to speak as professionals in the field with the current students.
That is a tough question to answer. Part of me says yes that can be connected because it allows us to stay in contact with the students and find out if there are issues that need to be addressed. On the other hand, no because I do not want the students to be involved with my personal life. Many of us here have two facebook accounts; a personal account and a professional account and we "like" students to our professional account not our personal account.
Yingwei,
Connecting with students after graduation appears to be the suggested practice at most institutions with a policy on social media. Personally, there are some graduates I prefer not to have in my circle of online contacts.
Wishing you continued success in the classroom.
Theresa Schmitt
I connect with former students on facebook, but not until after they graduate. I don't think it is appropriate until after the student is no longer a student.
I absolutely believe instructors should connect with students on social media outlets such as Facebook. Groups can be created so students/instructors can be separated from social contacts and permissions can be set up.
Social media outlets vary and do not believe all are acceptable for a student and instructor connection.
It also will depend on how it is used and as many posts attest school policy restrictions on fraternization will limit engagement.
That said, students setting up groups allow for social media interaction among themselves to support communication and clarification of course material or assignments etc. is a good use of social media.
I think as long as it is kept at the professional level, instructors and students can stay connected through social media. I recommend LinkedIn to my students. I do not accept requests through my personal Facebook page from students as I feel it is a conflict of interest.
I believe it could help with the sharing of ideas and generating interest and discussion around a topic but it must remain professional and not cross boundaries into the private lives of those involved.
Only if under the auspices and authority of the institution. I do not think instructors should "friend" a student on any personal social media site for any reason... at least, not until after graduation (or in the case of K-12, after the student turns 18).
On a side note, I have been very hesitant to incorporate any social media in my college classes simply because I don't feel I would have enough TIME to fully (or effectively) engage on social media as well as conduct on-ground classes and manage the variety of web-based course resources that are already part of the established curriculum.
Dan
I think using social media depends on the age group of your students. In some classes, I have more adult learners who don't utilize these outlets. In my classes where the age is a lot younger, it would be benefical to provide them with resources or other venues to access educational materials.
I don't believe students and instrucots should be connected on social media outlets. I feel that it will evenutally interfere with the teacher-student relationship.
I believe students and instructors should be connected on social media outlets. It provides students the opportunity to interact with and pose questions to their instructors in an environment they are comfortable with using in their everyday life.
I think social media outlets can be very advantageous to connect students and instructors, IF done properly. If used, instructors should never use their personal social media accounts. Instead, they should create an account that is only used professionally.
I believe that in the adult classroom it is fine. It also depends on how the instructor conducts themselves on social media sites. For example, I mainly use my Facebook account to stay in touch with old friends and classmates. When I see an inappropriate post in my news feed, I either hide that post or delete the person that posted it. You have to be very careful when connecting with students via social media that the content you are posting, and sharing with the students is appropriate and relative strictly to the course.
Like anything, there are good points and bad points about students and instructors being connected on social media. I think it is critical for the instructors to keep in mind their role as instructor and not slip into the role of "buddy". Personally, I do not "friend" current students on my personal account. What I do and share outside of the classroom, I want to stay personal and not share with current students. Many instructors have a personal account and a professional account. Using a professional account helps keep home and work separated and maintains some amount of professional distance with students.
I believe instructors should connect with students through social media for learning because they generally spend a large amount of their time on social media and instructors could engage with students easily. There are obvious drawbacks and safeguards that need to be considered. Today if you want to get the attention of a Millennial you need to contact them through social media, emails are always checked.
if the student is a current one I would say no. There will definitely be conflict of interest. If and when they graduate, it is now a different story.
Theresa,
I beleive our school is missing out on a hugh oportunity by not allowing phones to be utilized in certain ways and at specific times.I teach automotive electronics to students just out of high school. While teaching on the suject of diff. frequencies,I ask them to access the high freq. ring tone app that most of them have, and see when each person's range of hearing stops.That one simple activity gets more "buy in " than any five other activities! If I did'nt have corporate handcuffs on I could do so much more with my class.
Bill Smith
