“This document is a guidance document only and lists recommended practices,” Hudson told the Coal Valley News on Wednesday, March 11. “The document is not a Boone County Schools policy and is intended only to assist employees in making good, responsible decisions regarding the use of social media.”
Some employees apparently interpreted the document to mean they could no longer be friends with students on Facebook or other social media sites, even if they were family members.
“That is not what this document is saying at all,” Hudson said. “It is only a recommendation for our employees to help them. It’s just about using common sense.”
Here is the entire text of the document, provided by Boone County Schools:
“Social networks are rapidly growing and used by all ages in society. Popular social networks are web-based, commercial, and not purposely designed for educational use. They include sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Bebo, and Xanga. For individuals, social networking sites provide opportunities for staying in touch with friends and family.
Educational networking sites are also growing in use. These sites are used by educators for both professional development and as a teaching tool, and are usually restricted to selected users and not available to the general public. These include networking tools such as Moodle, educational wikis, or district adoptions of online applications such as Saywire, Live.edu or Google Apps for Education.
Boone County Schools has a professional image to uphold and how we conduct ourselves online impacts this image. As reported by the media throughout the nation, there have been instances of school employees demonstrating misconduct while engaging in inappropriate dialogue about their schools and/or students or posting pictures and videos of themselves engaged in inappropriate activity online. Mistakenly, some feel that being online shields them from having their personal lives examined. But online identities are very public and can cause serious repercussions if behavior is careless. I encourage you to review Boone County Policy GDC “Safety and Acceptable Use of the Internet by Students and Educators” and WV Board of Education Policy 2460 as these provide clear guidance on acceptable use.
One of the hallmarks of online networks, both social and educational, is the ability to “friend” others — creating a group of others that share interests and personal news. The district strongly discourages employees from accepting invitations to friend students within personal social networking sites. When students gain access into a network of friends and acquaintances and are able to view personal photos and communications, the student-employee dynamic is altered. It is important to maintain a professional relationship with students to avoid relationships that could cause bias in the classroom or other school setting.
The district does recognize the value of student/teacher interaction on educational networking sites. Collaboration, resource sharing, and student/teacher and student/student dialog can all be facilitated by the judicious use of educational networking tools. Such interactivity is a critical component of any online class and can greatly enhance face-to-face classes. This is a new means of communication and some guidelines are in order for educational networking as well.
For the protection of your reputation, the district recommends the following practices: Guidelines for the use of social networking sites by school employees: Do not accept students as friends on social networking sites. Decline any student-initiated friend requests; Do not initiate friendships with students; and Remember people classified as “friends” have the ability to download and share your information with others.
Post only what you want the world to see. Imagine students, their parents, your administrator, visiting your site. It is not like posting something to your web site or blog and then realizing that a story or photo should be taken down. On a social networking site, basically once you post something it may be available, even after it is removed from the site. Do not discuss students or coworkers.
Visit your profile’s security and privacy settings. At a minimum, educators should have all privacy settings set to “only friends.” “Friends of friends” and “Networks and Friends” open your content to a large group of unknown people. Your privacy and that of your family may be a risk.
Guidelines for the use of educational networking sites by school employees: Let your administrator, fellow employees and parents know about your educational network; When available, use school-supported networking tools; Do not say or do anything that you would not say or do in the school setting. (Remember that all online communications are stored and can be monitored.) Have a clear statement of purpose and outcomes for the use of the networking tool; Establish a code of conduct for all network participants; Do not post images that include students without parental release forms on file; and Pay close attention to the site’s security settings and allow only approved participants access to the site.
Guidelines for all networking sites by employees: Do not use commentary deemed to be defamatory, obscene, proprietary, or libelous; Exercise caution with regards to exaggeration, colorful language, guesswork, obscenity, copyrighted materials, legal conclusions, and derogatory remarks or characterizations; Weigh whether a particular posting puts your effectiveness as an employee at risk. Due to security risks, be cautious when installing external applications that work with the social networking site. Examples of these sites are calendar programs and games; Run updated malware protection to avoid infections of spyware and adware that social networking sites might place on your computer; and Be careful not to fall for phishing scams that arrive via email or on your wall, providing a link for you to click, leading to a fake login page.
If a staff member learns of information, on the social networking site, that falls under the mandatory reporting guidelines, he/she must report it as required by law.”
©2015 the Coal Valley News (Madison, W.Va.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
