3. Social media and technology are raising some important questions about what it means to be a professional in the 21 st century. As teachers, we need to carefully consider how we conduct ourselves online, because our online conduct reflects on our reputation as professionals. The goal of this session is for you to think about some of these issues.

4. As a teacher, I should never interact with students online.

5. Absolute statements are never true! CTF “Cybertips for Teachers”: “Only communicate with students online in media where a record or transcript of each conversation is automatically made” Keep the following factors in mind… Content of communication Time of communication Frequency of communication Forum for communication

6. As a teacher, I can be friends on Facebook or similar sites with students.

7. What about former students?

8. Ontario College of Teachers: “…the most popular social media applications were not created specifically for educational purposes and their use can expose members to risk when it comes to maintaining professionalism.” Ontario College of Teachers: “The dynamic between a member and a student is forever changed when the two become ‘friends’ in an online environment.” Ontario College of Teachers: “Social media encourage casual dialogue. Even the most innocent actions can be easily misconstrued or manipulated.” Toronto Sun (November 17, 2011): “just 6% of [Canadian] teachers… are friends with students and 88% [say] it's a risky idea.”

9. The Manitoba Teacher (Jan-Feb 2013) “Once educators decide to use Facebook or any other similar social media, it is imperative that they understand that they are about to expand their fishbowl exponentially and that they will be held responsible professionally for their personal posts and online activity.” - Bobbi Ethier National Education Association “Thanks to Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Tumblr, and other social networking sites what used to be private is now very public. And that’s the problem, particularly for young teachers: Some seem oblivious to the devastating consequences of posting really stupid things in cyberspace.”

10. The school board has no right to discipline me for something I have done outside of school hours, off school property, and with no students present.

11. PRSD Policy GBQ-R: “Employees who exhibit inappropriate behaviour in using divisional or personal technology, software, networks, electronic systems, or access to the Internet, or personal use of technology impacting on the school division will be subject to appropriate discipline.” Ontario College of Teachers: “Teaching is a public profession. Canada’s Supreme Court ruled that teachers’ off-­duty conduct, even when not directly related to students, is relevant to their suitability to teach.” Public Schools Act: “Competency or character of a teacher” as grounds for dismissal.

12. Manitoba Teachers’ Society “Online Safety for Teachers”: “Every year, teachers and principals are disciplined or have their contracts terminated as a result of poor choices in online behavior.” Montreal Gazette (March 17, 2008): “ For most, the consequences of posting too much personal information on the Internet are embarrassment and possibly damaged friendships. But for those in positions of trust, such as educators, a thoughtless post can be a career-killer.”

14. Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. That means I can say whatever I want, online and offline.

16. My email is private.

17. PRSD Policy GBQ-E: “In order to maintain system integrity and to ensure that users are using the system responsibly, network administrators may, as part of their authorized responsibilities, access any user's network storage area at any time. Users should not expect that files stored on Division servers will remain private.” CTF “Cybertips for Teachers”: “nothing is truly private when you communicate digitally.”

18. If I have my Facebook profile set to “friends only” and am not friends with students, I have nothing to worry about.

19. Manitoba Teachers’ Society “Online Safety for Teachers”: “The absolute rule to live by is that you would be comfortable to have your Facebook and blog activities appear on the front page of the newspaper.” Ontario College of Teachers: “Privacy settings can shift and change without notice. Check the settings frequently.”

20. I can post pictures of students online.

21. Manitoba Teachers’ Society “Online Safety for Teachers”: “get permission before posting pictures of students, classroom activities or information about students, families or colleagues.” What are “best practices” for posting student materials (work, photos, names, etc.) online?

23. If I delete something from the Internet, it is gone for good.

24. Ontario College of Teachers: “Electronic messages are not anonymous. They can be tracked, misdirected, manipulated and live forever on the Internet. Social media sites create and archive copies of every piece of content posted, even when deleted from online profiles. Once information is digitized, the author relinquishes all control.”

26. If I delete something from my computer, it is gone for good.

27. cnet.com (September 6, 2011): “Files that are deleted in Windows are not really deleted - just the links to where the files are located on your hard drive are removed. …the actual information is still lurking on your disk space. In other words, a knowledgeable computer user would be able to locate enough information to restore a file you wanted to keep private.”

28. It’s password protected, that means it’s private.

29. Lifehacker.com: “Do you always create unique passwords such that you never use the same one twice? Ever? Do your passwords always use different character types such as uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and punctuation? Are they "strong"? If you can't answer "yes" to both these questions, you've got yourself a problem.”

30. A teacher updates her Facebook profile at school.

31. A teacher uses his school laptop to regularly visit an online poker website from home in the evening.

32. A teacher stores a copy of her report cards in Dropbox or Skydrive.

33. A teacher occasionally lets her teenage son use her school division laptop at home.

34. A teacher frequently uses the school’s Internet connection to email family and friends

35. A teacher complains about feeling frustrated with her students on her blog.

36. A teacher texts her students to remind them about assignment due dates and class activities.

37. A teacher has a photo on Facebook of himself holding a glass of wine up with the caption “Raise your glass…”