Digital Directions - Spring/Summer 2012 - (Page 9)

SOCIAL MEDIA School Counselor Facebook Guide Released With the prevalence of Facebook as one of the dominant social networks among teenagers and children, and the growing public awareness of issues like cyberbullying, online privacy, and digital literacy, the American School Counselor Association has combined with iKeepSafe, an Internet-safety advocacy group, to publish a guide to help school counselors make sense of the platform and its on-campus impact. Now, don’t be fooled. “Facebook for School Counselors” is not actually a socialmedia site. But it is available for download, and it does offer tips for counselor actions in four areas: 1. Developing school policies. 2. Responding to online incidents that have an impact on the school climate. 3. Helping the community define dangerous behavior on Facebook. 4. Educating students and staff members about digital literacy. A few points to note: • While it may be second nature to Facebook users, the guide notes for counselors that a Facebook timeline is just a newer version of a Facebook profile. • The guide lists fake profiles and cyberbullying among the dangers to the campus climate, but shies away from addressing other potential hazards, such as students posting sexually suggestive or explicit photographs or videos, online criticism directed at faculty or staff, and social-media interactions between students and educators. Of course, a counselor’s primary concern is the welfare of students, so issues regarding staff might not always fall under a counselor’s authority. • Online conflicts often have a face-toface component, the guide suggests, and while Facebook has tools available to report inappropriate behavior to the site, many times the issue can be resolved by bringing all the students involved into the same room. At nine pages, the guide is a quick read. And if you’re looking for more resources for other educators, you might want to check out the Facebook for Educators website. —IAN QUILLEN ILLUSTRATION: iStockphoto_Alex Slobodkin CYBER TRENDS Students’ Use Of Technology SOURCE: Speak Up 2011 National Research Project. At School 10% Create presentations and media Play educational games Conduct virtual experiments Use e-textbooks Access real-time data/database Take tests online Use social media for collaboration 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% Grade 9-12 Grade 6-8 Grade 3-5 Outside of School 10 percent of 9th to 12th graders have Tweeted about an academic topic that interested them 46 percent of high school students have used Facebook as a collaborative learning tool Spring/Summer 2012_ Digital Directions >> 9

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Directions - Spring/Summer 2012

Digital Directions - Spring/Summer 2012
Contents
Editor's Note
DD Site Visit
Bits & Bytes
Game On
Applicable Knowledge
Digital Badges
Lessons From Higher Education
Competitive Edge
Recognizing Online PD
Ready or Not
Q&A
Opinion
Data Delivery

Digital Directions - Spring/Summer 2012

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