003+Social+Networking

media type="custom" key="11497088"media type="custom" key="11499362"media type="custom" key="11415004" **Frostburg State University**
 * November 15, 2011**

media type="custom" key="10818466"Courtney Hersch Photo by: Sweet Hope Cookies. Photo by: MouseMail Family Social Network Pledges Taken From: Photobucket @http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/dd417/PRWeb_01_2011/17/gI_0_girlwithlaptop250.jpg media type="custom" key="10818458" align="center"

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It is no secret that it is common for practically everyone to be apart of social networking in one way or another. While many use sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc. to connect with friends and families, sometimes people go too far. Social networking can be dangerous in the professional world, especially educators. It is easy to get caught up in posting pictures of last night's events and venting your frustrations out in your status update, but unfortunately, employers do catch those rants and posts which could potentially ruin one's career. However, fortunately, there are websites that allow teachers (and other professionals) to be apart of social networking to share ideas and keep constant communication with other educators. Provided that sites are used in the proper professional manner, there is no reason that like everyone else, teachers can use, and ultimately benefit from social networking.

It is typical for people of all ages to join a social networking site to connect with friends and family and share pictures and life’s moments on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc. However, it is extremely common for potential employers and other professionals to “search Facebook, Flickr, MySpace, Twitter, Linkedin, Blogspot, Plaxo in order to look for any un-professional information “ (Brooks 2011) that could be held against a person. In order to ensure professionalism, it is extremely important to refrain from bashing “your job, your colleagues, your boss, your company, or you clients, do not login while at work, and always assume everyone can see everything (Brooks 2011). In many cases, revealing too much of one’s personal life proved to be the result of getting “let go” from a successful and promising job opportunity. Many cases prove that it can be dangerous to be carefree and not be careful while engaging social networking. In one particular case, a student from Millersville University was “denied her teaching degree on the eve of graduation because of a MySpace photo” (Gettysburg College 2009/2010). The student was accused of promoting underage drinking, which is entirely unacceptable for a future educator. As teachers, it is important to keep and maintain a sound reputation, and so it is important to “never put in electronic form anything that you wouldn’t want viewed by a million people, including your colleagues, students, and supervisors – and your mother” (Gettysburg College 2009/2010). Taking precaution when accessing any social networking site will ensure privacy and protect the reputation of oneself and others as well.

If social networking is utilized appropriately it can be a very powerful tool for teachers and students alike. If teachers connect with other teachers they can easily build up their professional career. Social networks also provide constant communication and is an easy way to reach other students or teachers for questions, homework help and a plethora of other material. With the constant changing technological world it's very important that everyone be aware of the popularity and various uses of not just social networking but the internet in general. An article from the Huffington Post states, "A year after seventh grade teacher Elizabeth Delmatoff started a pilot social media program in her Portland, Oregon classroom, 20 percent of students school-wide were completing extra assignments for no credit, grades had gone up more than 50 percent, and chronic absenteeism was reduced by more than a third." Adding social networking to Mrs. Delmatoff's classroom allowed her to technologically expand her class time and help students outside of class.

There are social networking sites that are specifically for teachers to connect with colleagues. Some of these sites are Classroom 2.0, Learn Central, Tappedin, TeachAde, and We Are Teachers (MCH Strategic Data & MMS Education, 2009). Teachers also use content sharing sites such as youtube, Wikipedia, Teacher Tube and Webinars. Teachers use these content sharing sites for professional use to help with their classrooms (MCM Strategic Data & MMS Education, 2009). Although many teachers check their Facebook pages on a daily or weekly basis, 50% are periodically checking the We Are Teachers networking page (MCM Strategic Data & MMS Education, 2009). These statistics show that even though teachers are using sites, such as Facebook, they are also using social networking site to stay connected with other teachers and using it professionally.

Social networking sites contain many negative and positive aspects but are soaring in popularity with users. There are several concerns about privacy that are raised by members of the teaching field who are apart of the social networking craze.

References Brooks, K. (2011, May 5). //Social Networks and professionalism//. Retrieved September 24, 2011, from http://www.slideshare.net/kbroo ks/social-networks-and-professionalism

Gettysburg College. (2009/2010). //Social Networking and Professionalism//. Retrieved September 18, 2011, from http://www.gettysburg.edu/dotAsset/2622408.pdf

MCH Strategic data & MMS Education. (2009). //A Survey of K-12 Educators on Social networking and content sharing tools//. Retrieved September 21, 2011, from http://www.edweb.net/fimages/op/K12Survey.pdf

Social Networking in schools: Educators debate the merits of technology in classrooms. (2011, May 27). In //Huffington Post//. Retrieved September 20, 2011, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/27/social-networking-schools_n_840911.html media type="custom" key="11594328"- Courtney's Prezi

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