Social Media in Schools

In my classroom, I use the application Seesaw. Seesaw is set up to look similar to Facebook with each students having their own portfolio. When at school, students are able to post work to the class feed and then myself, other students, and their parents can view and comment on it. However, parents can only see work posted by their child and myself so their work is kept private. I can also post announcements and photographs for my students and parents to view. As I teach primary grades, this has been a very useful and student friendly way to use technology. I even have the option to approve student posts and comments so I can ensure that everyone is being respectful. This helps eliminate any problems with misusing social networking. All of my parents love Seesaw and I have received great feedback over the past few years. I do not use Facebook or Twitter as it is too mature and complex for my students but our school does have a Twitter page and I will ask my boss to post certain things from our grade level in order to keep the community informed with what is happening in our school. I believe that creating my own classroom Twitter or Blog could be a great way to inform the community about our classroom and it is something that I am considering this school year.

My school’s acceptable use policy must be signed by all students and staff members before they are allowed to use the internet or tech devices at our school. Our school views the following as unacceptable use of technology:
A. Using the network for non-educational uses, including but not limited to games, wagering,

gambling, junk mail, chain letters, jokes, private business activities, raffles, fundraisers, religious activities or political lobbying, unless expressly authorized by the District Webmaster.
B. Using the network for any illegal activity, including violation of copyright or other contracts, or transmitting any material in violation of any State or federal law;
C. Unauthorized downloading of software, regardless of whether it is copyrighted or de-virused;
D. Downloading copyrighted material for other than personal use;
E. Using the network for private financial or commercial gain;
F. Wastefully using resources, such as file space;
G. Hacking or gaining unauthorized access to files, resources, or entities;
H. Invading the privacy of individuals, that includes the unauthorized disclosure, dissemination, and use of information about anyone that is of a personal nature including a photograph;
I. Using another user’s account or password;
J. Posting material authored or created by another without his/her consent;
K. Posting anonymous messages;
L. Using the network for commercial or private advertising;
M. Connecting other electronic devices to the District’s networks without authorization from the Technology Department, including but not limited to cellular telecommunications devices such as smart phones, pagers, text communication pagers, two way text pagers, personal digital assistants, lap tops, net books, PCs that are not District owned, etc.,
N. Accessing, submitting, posting, publishing, or displaying any defamatory, inaccurate,abusive, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, racially offensive, harassing, or illegal material;
O. Using the network while access privileges are suspended or revoked. Network Etiquette - The user is expected to abide by the generally accepted rules of network etiquette.
I believe that these guidelines are very clear and explicit. They should be made clear to all students and I believe they should be expanded on by teachers working with their students to create their own set of technology expectations based off of the school policy. These rules would be written in student friendly language and posted where all students could see them on a daily basis as a reminder of technology expectations.

Leaders could help teachers recognize signs of cyberbullying by creating a clear set of rules and expectations regarding technology that are enforced in all classrooms so that students always have the same expectations. Leaders need to encourage teachers to take the time to have open dialogue with their students about interactions among students both in person and on social media. This will help teachers learn if there are any issues going on among their students. Leaders can also encourage teachers to model usage of proper social media interactions so that students can have positive role models.