Social Media

Social Media Guidelines for Teaching and Learning

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The university where I work has an extensive Acceptable Use Policy for students, faculty, and staff. It also has very detailed Social Media Guidelines for faculty and staff. The established guidelines address the official use of social media and external professional blogs.

I put together Social Media Guidelines for Teaching and Learning for faculty and students which specifically addresses the use of social media for teaching and learning. After consulting the resources listed below, I developed some simple guidelines that would work in accordance with current policies and expectations.

Social Media Guidelines for Teaching and Learning


Blogs, wikis, social bookmarking apps, social networks, digital media, and creative apps provide a multitude of ways to create, connect, collaborate, and share with with people in class and around the world. The following guidelines and best practices were developed for the use of social media for teaching and learning in accordance with university policies that are currently in place.


LMS & Integrated Applications
It is the preference of the university that when possible, instructors opt for the social media applications and integrated tools that are available within the LMS.


External Social Media
When selecting external social media to use with students, consider the following:
  • Select appropriate tools for meeting lesson objectives.
  • Have knowledge and experience using the application.
  • Must meet ADA accessibility requirements.
  • State in the syllabus that external social media sites will be used during the course.
  • Provide clear instructions to students for how to setup and use the application.
  • Know privacy policies of applications selected.
  • Consider students’ privacy.
  • Give students the option of using an alias.
  • Have a Plan B for backup.


Social Media Best Practices
  • Be honest and transparent.
  • Be mindful and purposeful.
  • Be respectful to everyone.
  • Use good judgment.
  • Maintain confidentiality.
  • Respect copyright laws.
  • Update privacy settings.
  • Report inappropriate use.
  • Be accurate and concise.
  • Monitor and update regularly.
  • Be professional.
  • Keep personal and professional accounts separate.
  • Use disclaimer if not speaking officially for the university.

 

The following resources were consulted when developing these Social Media Guidelines

Resources:

Anderson, S. (2012, April 11) Social Media Guidelines [Web log post] Edutopia. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/social-media-guidelines-steven-anderson

Best Practices for Social Media in Teaching and Learning (n.d.) Retrieved from The Ohio State University https://odee.osu.edu/sites/default/files/odee_best_practices_for_social_media_in_teaching_and_learning.pdf

Dunn, J. (2014, September 11) An editable social media policy for schools that works [Web log post] Daily Genius. Retrieved from http://dailygenius.com/editable-social-media-policy-for-schools/

Guidelines for the Instructional Use of Social Media at USM. (2011). Office of the Provost. Retrieved from https://www.usm.edu/provost/guidelines-instructional-use-social-media-usm

Johnson, S. (2010, March 11) Guest Blog: Making the Case for Social Media in Education [Web log post] Edutopia. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/social-media-case-education-edchat-steve-johnson

Social media guidelines. (2010). Retrieved from Brock University https://brocku.ca/marketing-communications/social-media/guidelines

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