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 >>
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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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