Professionalism in the Online Era

Trevor BoehmPrairie Rose School Division

Literacy with ICTFebruary 27, 2013

Today’s Session

• Social media and technology are raising some important questions about what it means to be a professional in the 21st century.

• As teachers, we need to carefully consider how we conduct ourselves online, because our online conduct reflects on our reputation as professionals.

• The goal of this session is for you to think about some of these issues.

TRUE or FALSE?

As a teacher, I should never interact with

students online.

Absolute statements are never true!

CTF “Cybertips for Teachers”:“Only communicate with students online in media where a record or transcript of each conversation is automatically made”

Keep the following factors in mind…• Content of communication• Time of communication• Frequency of communication• Forum for communication

TRUE or FALSE?

As a teacher, I can be friends on Facebook or similar sites with

students.

TRUE or FALSE?

What about former students?

Ontario College of Teachers:“…the most popular social media applications were not created specifically for educational purposes and their use can expose members to risk when it comes to maintaining professionalism.”

Ontario College of Teachers:“The dynamic between a member and a student is forever changed when the two become ‘friends’ in an online environment.”

Ontario College of Teachers:“Social media encourage casual dialogue. Even the most innocent actions can be easily misconstrued or manipulated.”

Toronto Sun (November 17, 2011):“just 6% of [Canadian] teachers… are friends with students and 88% [say] it's a risky idea.”

• The Manitoba Teacher (Jan-Feb 2013)“Once educators decide to use Facebook or any other similar social media, it is imperative that they understand that they are about to expand their fishbowl exponentially and that they will be held responsible professionally for their personal posts and online activity.” - Bobbi Ethier

National Education Association“Thanks to Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Tumblr, and other social networking sites what used to be private is now very public. And that’s the problem, particularly for young teachers: Some seem oblivious to the devastating consequences of posting really stupid things in cyberspace.”

TRUE or FALSE?

The school board has no right to discipline me for something I have done

outside of school hours, off school property, and with no

students present.

PRSD Policy GBQ-R:“Employees who exhibit inappropriate behaviour in using divisional or personal technology, software, networks, electronic systems, or access to the Internet, or personal use of technology impacting on the school division will be subject to appropriate discipline.”

Ontario College of Teachers:“Teaching is a public profession. Canada’s Supreme Court ruled that teachers’ off- duty conduct, even when not directly related to students, is relevant to their suitability to teach.”

Public Schools Act:“Competency or character of a teacher” as grounds for dismissal.

Manitoba Teachers’ Society “Online Safety for Teachers”:

“Every year, teachers and principals are disciplined or have their contracts terminated as a result of poor choices in online behavior.”

Montreal Gazette (March 17, 2008):“For most, the consequences of posting too much personal information on the Internet are embarrassment and possibly damaged friendships. But for those in positions of trust, such as educators, a thoughtless post can be a career-killer.”

TRUE or FALSE?

Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. That means I can say whatever I

want, online and offline.

Freedom of speech ≠

No responsibility for what you say

TRUE or FALSE?

My email is private.

PRSD Policy GBQ-E:“In order to maintain system integrity and to ensure that users are using the system responsibly, network administrators may, as part of their authorized responsibilities, access any user's network storage area at any time. Users should not expect that files stored on Division servers will remain private.”

CTF “Cybertips for Teachers”:“nothing is truly private when you communicate digitally.”

TRUE or FALSE?

If I have my Facebook profile set to “friends only” and am not friends with students, I

have nothing to worry about.

Manitoba Teachers’ Society “Online Safety for Teachers”:

“The absolute rule to live by is that you would be comfortable to have your Facebook and blog activities appear on the front page of the newspaper.”

Ontario College of Teachers:“Privacy settings can shift and change without notice. Check the settings frequently.”

TRUE or FALSE?

I can post pictures of students online.

Manitoba Teachers’ Society “Online Safety for Teachers”:

“get permission before posting pictures of students, classroom activities or information about students, families or colleagues.”

• What are “best practices” for posting student materials (work, photos, names, etc.) online?

Ripped from the Headlines..

TRUE or FALSE?

If I delete something from the Internet, it

is gone for good.

Ontario College of Teachers:“Electronic messages are not anonymous. They can be tracked, misdirected, manipulated and live forever on the Internet. Social media sites create and archive copies of every piece of content posted, even when deleted from online profiles. Once information is digitized, the author relinquishes all control.”

TRUE or FALSE?

If I delete something from my computer, it

is gone for good.

cnet.com (September 6, 2011):“Files that are deleted in Windows are not really deleted - just the links to where the files are located on your hard drive are removed. …the actual information is still lurking on your disk space. In other words, a knowledgeable computer user would be able to locate enough information to restore a file you wanted to keep private.”

TRUE or FALSE?

It’s password protected, that

means it’s private.

Lifehacker.com:“Do you always create unique passwords such that you never use the same one twice? Ever?Do your passwords always use different character types such as uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and punctuation? Are they "strong"?If you can't answer "yes" to both these questions, you've got yourself a problem.”

OKAY or NOT OKAY?

A teacher updates her Facebook profile

at school.

OKAY or NOT OKAY?

A teacher uses his school laptop to

regularly visit an online poker website from

home in the evening.

OKAY or NOT OKAY?

A teacher stores a copy of her report cards in Dropbox or Skydrive.

OKAY or NOT OKAY?

A teacher occasionally lets her teenage son use

her school division laptop at home.

OKAY or NOT OKAY?

A teacher frequently uses the school’s

Internet connection to email family and friends

OKAY or NOT OKAY?

A teacher complains about feeling frustrated with her students on her

blog.

OKAY or NOT OKAY?

A teacher texts her students to remind

them about assignment due dates and class

activities.

OKAY or NOT OKAY?

A teacher has a photo on Facebook of himself holding a glass of wine

up with the caption “Raise your glass…”

Some Closing Thoughts…

Some Closing Thoughts…

• Saying a computer is “secure” is like saying a car is “safe”. How?

• There is no risk avoidance. There is only risk management.

• MTS is there to provide advice and representation to members in difficulty. (But this is kind of like saying you have insurance if your house burns down, the goal is to prevent the fire in the first place!)

• “What took so long to build took a moment to slip away” (Blue Rodeo, “Last to Know”)

• Don’t let this be about you.