Topic 4: Reflection

Having pulled out all the stops for Topic 4 through my use of; Canva, Storyboard That, a Poll and Haiku Deck I was somewhat (optimistically) convinced I had explored almost all avenues of the ethical issues raised through using social media in education. However, I was astonished upon reading my colleagues work to realise I had merely scraped the surface!

Firstly, Carolina’s comment highlighted the issue of the boundaries between students and teachers on social media with regard the use of Facebook messenger as a means of communication when a student may feel uncomfortable discussing an issue face-to-face. In my subsequent reply, I suggested the use of email as a more appropriate means of online communication, a point supported by Wei Beh who in her blog post suggests the use of Facebook messenger “blurs the boundaries between personal and professional life”.

Furthermore, from my comment on Raziya’s blog post, I could come to the decision that such issue could be laid out in ‘social media’ guidelines which I once thought would be impossible to implement. A point which is also supported by Wei Beh in her blog post and influenced my change of heart.

My further comment on Rachel’s blog post offers further support for this decision, suggesting it is the teachers or companies responsibility to outline such guidelines to prevent unprofessional and inappropriate communication between students and teachers.

Finally, through reading the work of Wei Beh suggesting people may feel too self-conscious to share information on social media; supporting David Alderman’s point that “social media behaves as a tool for Mass Indiscriminate surveillance” and Festinger Comparison Theory brought to my attention by Eloaneo Rocha Semedo blog post, I solidified my conclusion made in Topic 3 that it is not ethical nor possible to keep your personal and professional life separate, evident through Nicholas Fairs ability to respond to a tweet from my professional Twitter account on my personal Twitter handle;

Professional 

Personal

I feel a point made by Sharon Burgin in her blog post: “we could still end up on someone’s radar” neatly encapsulates my conclusion.