WI Schools Ban Facebook, IM Fraternizing Between Staff, Students
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Lauren Barack -- School Library Journal, 2/23/2009
A student calling her teacher to check in about a field trip? Not a problem. The two friending one another on Facebook is another story. Per new policy, the School District of Elmbrook in Brookfield, WI, has banned all chatter between Elmbrook staff and students on instant messaging or social networking applications not sponsored by the district.The policy, approved by the school board on February 10, stipulated a range of “practices considered irresponsible,” including personal communication between staff and students via social networking and IM.
During the school day, accessing sites deemed problematic is less of a problem as many schools have filters in place that prevent anyone, staff or students, from logging on to Facebook, MySpace, and even select email servers. But policing this new ban during a teacher’s off-hours may prove tricky. While the restricted sites aren’t named, it’s understood that these popular applications, perhaps even Twitter, are included.
Still, Elmbrook does allow students to communicate with teachers and other staff through email and other district-sponsored applications, such as Blackboard educational software, and student information service Infinite Campus. The district reportedly plans to add other social networking sites that have an educational component in coming years. “We are building out a new Web portal technology built around iGoogle that will incorporate similar Web 2.0 tools, but do it in our controlled environment,” says Chris Thompson, chief information officer for School District of Elmbrook.
For now, though, writing a note on a teacher’s MySpace profile or transmitting content to students through Facebook is off limits.
