Teachers Privacy And Social Networking Essay

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This document “An Educators Privacy and Social Networks” will discuss educator’s privacy, due to the incidents that have been happening in today’s society. With technology taking over the world, writing letters and making phone calls have been replaced with social networks. These sites allow a person to socialize quickly with one another by posting comments about anything that is on his or her mind. However, with this comes the thought of what should and should not be commented. Does society believe that teachers’ First Amendment rights regarding Freedom of Speech protect them in every situation? Many school districts and teachers are now moving into the 21st century by using more technology and social networking to teach and communicate. …show more content…

PSEA states that if one follows the safe guidelines than social networking can be a valuable, powerful tool for professional development, sharing of resources, and social interaction. In the negative aspect of social networking, “even though the First Amendment protects your speech as a private citizen on matters of public concern, that speech may fall outside of the First Amendment if it impedes your employer’s effectiveness or efficiency, or otherwise disrupts the work place”. (PSEA, …show more content…

Most social networking sites have privacy settings to allow you to control who can see your profile. Make sure you are familiar with the privacy settings provided on the site that you’re using.” (PSEA, 2011, pg 1) Educators should want to protect themselves in the classroom and online. Many new educators are the ones that have the most trouble with this. These teachers have grown up in the technology era, and use social networking for their own pleasures. Unfortunately, they have a hard time figuring out what they can and cannot comment or who they can and cannot associate with outside of school. Jim Klein’s article states that social networking can work for those employees and students within the district, and this allows them to create content on the site. With this, any comment on the site has to be reviewed first by the employees. Social networking gives us the opportunities to discuss social, ethical, and legal issues, and is the creation of an effective learning environment. (Klein, 2008) “ The effects of student engagement through the use of technologies are not only measurable, but striking.” (Klein, 2008, pg

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