When I worked in Mt. Pleasant, Tx, I encountered an interesting situation. The eighth grade teacher there was a prolific writer but what she wrote would have been frowned upon by the District, and certainly, the community of Bible-thumpers (I use the term affectionately since I’ve thumped a bit myself) in the Bible Belt. The Internet as a publishing medium was something just coming to her attention, and she wondered if she should publish online. She decided against it because her students would certainly have found her writing, and from there, what would have happened?
Although she was/is a terrific writing teacher, should fear keep us from publishing on the Web? What about MySpace/Facebook/Bebo tools that are available?
There has been a lot of discussion about MySpace in the news regarding students, but what about district employees? Many of us had been proponents as educators of responsible use of social networking tools. But, as I reflect on this, I wonder what your role would be as an administrator tasked with protecting the system from liability? Consider this actual story sent to me (no, it’s not my district! but it might be some day, or perhaps, your’s):
I was in a discussion today with some other educators in regards to a teacher’s web site on MySpace. The site also had links from their MySpace account to other sites such as youtube, Flickr. The teacher involved is a first-year teacher, just graduated from college and is in their early 20s. The teacher in question has posted pictures and videos of themselves intoxicated, getting intoxicated, and other images that I can not mention because most email filters would block this email. The questions that arose out of our discussion are as followers:
Should a district have a policy that directly addresses this issue?
Does a district have moral guidelines in contracts that would cover any of this?
Does a district have any say about what a teacher does after hours and what they post?
Does the employee represent the district after hours and could these type of pictures have a negative impact on the district?
Has any district had an issue such as this arise that they have already had to deal with?
So, how would you respond? Is this a privacy issue protecting the employee’s rights, or since this was done after-hours…the school district should just stay out? When you consider that SOME districts are holding children accountable for what they write and share about their lives at home (something I discussed here in Be Like Them entry), after-school hours, shouldn’t the same standard be extended to their teachers? Or, is this in violation of our civil rights as Americans, even though we are staff in K-12 school district? And, should the policy be any different in higher education?
What do you think?
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It seems to me that posting pictures/video of being intoxicated is in poor taste regardless of whether you are currently employed or will one day be looking for a job. I don't think a school district needs to regulate that. Aside from posting things that are morally reprehensible (and I don't count drinking as morally reprehensible even though it's in poor taste), I don't think school districts should have a say in what teachers post online.However, many teachers do need some training to become aware that what they post online can be found. I think this is the biggest problem. People don't realize how easy it is to find information posted online and are not aware that their postings are actually going to be seen.
It seems to me that posting pictures/video of being intoxicated is in poor taste regardless of whether you are currently employed or will one day be looking for a job. I don't think a school district needs to regulate that. Aside from posting things that are morally reprehensible (and I don't count drinking as morally reprehensible even though it's in poor taste), I don't think school districts should have a say in what teachers post online.However, many teachers do need some training to become aware that what they post online can be found. I think this is the biggest problem. People don't realize how easy it is to find information posted online and are not aware that their postings are actually going to be seen.
This is an interesting topic. Where I work, I just completed an online ethics training course. It included do's and don't as it relates to all aspects of the work environment. It also included conduct and communications similar to what you mentioned in an online / electronic format. For the most part, it talked about you (employee) represent the organization. It went on to state the appropriate use of organization issued email accounts, computers, etc. The bottom line is that you represent the organization on and off the clock. As mathew stated, there are obvious things that are inappropriate to post online, but there is also an ethical line when it comes to what you share in Fb, etc. While I do believe that "after hours" social communities, twitter feeds, picture uploads etc. can and should be something that is the right of any individual or employee outside of the organization, I think it goes without saying that appropriate judgment with an eye for good ethics is something that all employees, teachers or otherwise should adhere to. It's almost like an acceptable use policy for posting on or off the clock. Thanks for sharing. Interesting post.
This is an interesting topic. Where I work, I just completed an online ethics training course. It included do's and don't as it relates to all aspects of the work environment. It also included conduct and communications similar to what you mentioned in an online / electronic format. For the most part, it talked about you (employee) represent the organization. It went on to state the appropriate use of organization issued email accounts, computers, etc. The bottom line is that you represent the organization on and off the clock. As mathew stated, there are obvious things that are inappropriate to post online, but there is also an ethical line when it comes to what you share in Fb, etc. While I do believe that “after hours” social communities, twitter feeds, picture uploads etc. can and should be something that is the right of any individual or employee outside of the organization, I think it goes without saying that appropriate judgment with an eye for good ethics is something that all employees, teachers or otherwise should adhere to. It's almost like an acceptable use policy for posting on or off the clock. Thanks for sharing. Interesting post.