Tips for New Members Re: Electronic
Communication and Social Media
E
Practicing Caution: Guidelines for Electronic Communications
E
Defamatory Websites and Social Networking Pages
E
The Hidden Dangers of Electronic Communications
E
Electronic Communications and Social Media
E
Videotaping in the Classroom
Practicing Caution:
Guidelines for Electronic Communications
The opportunities to use social media and electronic communication for pedagogical purposes continue
to expand on an almost daily basis. Social media offers teachers exciting new ways to engage with
students, parents and the wider school community. While embracing these new opportunities makes
pedagogical sense, expectations on us professionally dictate that we do so with proper safeguards in
place and a vigilant eye to maintaining the standards of our profession.
When considering using social media to communicate with students, parents, or others in the school
community, it is important to remember that the technology does not change the role of teachers and
their professional obligations. The principles that have traditionally governed how teachers communicate
with the school community have not changed: professionalism, accountability, and boundaries continue
to apply. Always remember that material posted online, whether via e-mail, Facebook, blogging, twitter,
or other media, is never truly erased. If you would not utter a phrase or raise a particular topic in your
classroom or in the presence of your principal or a parent, then do not communicate it by electronic
means. When using social media, exercise caution and restraint and remain aware.
While there is a range of uses of social media and electronic communication in school environments, at
least three scenarios have pitfalls that demand teachers exercise caution: teachers communicating with
individual students, parents, or the wider school community, through Facebook or other social media;
teachers being careless about their personal use of social networking sites or what is posted about them;
teachers failing to recognize social networking websites as an arena for potential cyber-bullying.
Social Networks and E-mail as a means of
communicating with the school community
Social media and electronic communication have the potential to provide innovative and exciting
options for teaching. They also have the potential to blur professional boundaries and expose teachers
to a number of risks. ETFO continues to support the use of electronic communication and social media
as a teaching tool but cautions that its use must be consistent with the highest standards of professional
conduct.
The use of e-mail, for better or worse, tends to promote a casual conversation style that can blur the
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