Social media policy needed in BC schools: education prof

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Some of your kids and their teachers are using social media tools, like Facebook and Twitter, in the classroom to enhance learning.

As of now, there are no rules from the Ministry of Education or the BCTF saying teachers can’t add students as friends on Facebook. In fact, clear-cut widespread policies about the general use of social media don’t exist.

Education Professor Julia Hengstler with Vancouver Island University coaches teachers on professionalism and using social media. She’s is working with several school districts on developing such rules.

“There are school districts that are moving ahead and trying to create policies and frameworks that will allow teachers and students to use social media [such as] Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to use them in a responsible manner. But I think a lot of them are working in isolation,” says Hengstler.

When it comes to a policy, Hengstler argues a collaborative approach is needed. She believes we should be “getting [districts] to work together to frame these policies, otherwise everybody is re-inventing the wheel, [which] slows us down and we don’t have that response time available to us anymore. We need to work smarter not harder.”

Because the use of social media came from the bottom-up so quickly, it’s hard for administrators to keep up with technology and control it inside the classroom.

“They are really being driven by the end users, which are basically students and parents. Then it filters up to teachers who want to engage with students in this media and it is very different because we don’t have policies to frame it.”

Districts like Surrey and Vancouver are currently working on social media policies.

Hengstler is inviting districts, teachers, parents, and students to reach out to her for help and advice if required.