How to appropriately use ICT in classrooms

Wankel, Laura A.; Blessinger, Patrick; Wankel, Charles (2012). Increasing Student Engagement and Retention using Online Learning Activities : Facebook, E-Portfolios and Other Social Networking Services. Retrieved from http://www.eblib.com

Facebook can be utilised effectively in the classroom, as it is a platform that students and teachers are often familiar with and closed group pages can be formed for collaboration and flexible engagement. There is a possibility of feedback and peer review of content created as a group also a great way to share the class work projects and findings with the wider community.

The POLT sections that can be addressed in Facebook use in the classroom setting:

1.2 The teacher promotes a culture of value and respect for individuals and their communities

This can be done by creating class values, creating a space where all voices are equal, and a safe and respectful environment where contributions and views are encouraged.

2.2 The teacher uses strategies that build skills required for productive collaboration

Having a collaborative space that is accessible from anywhere means students are not confined to the classroom for their learning. Students who are away can also contribute.

3.2 The teacher utilises a range of teaching strategies that support different ways of thinking and learning

3.3 The teacher builds on students' prior experiences, knowledge and skills

Many students already will be using Facebook if they are over 15, and it can extend their prior knowledge on how to use it as a collaborative space and not just a media consumption platform, they can contribute in a meaningful way.

3.4 The teacher capitalises on students' experience of a technology rich world and

Students can contribute to the group page with photos, text, links, video, audio which means there is an opportunity for differentiation in the way students learn and contribute while they are deepening their understanding, confidence and ability with technology, becoming creators not only consumers. It will be skills they can take into their other subjects and personal life skill set.

4.1 Teaching sequences promote sustained learning that builds over time & emphasises connections between ideas.

Having an ongoing blog style page means there is a record chronologically of the work posted and the development of ideas. In a subject like History, a time may be researched and interesting links and discovered findings shared communally, instead of individually, then the research that the group has done builds the group knowledge, so it is not all held by the teacher- information is brought forward by all. This provides a strong basis for then creating for example a video or podcast or ad on the findings for the time period they are studying. They are then able to share the projects.

4.6 The teacher uses strategies to foster imagination and creativity

There may be many ways to engage and encourage deeper learning that encourage creativity and innovation

6.2 The teacher plans for students to interact with local and broader communities

This could be creating a page with a school from another country or city around a project. To share cultural knowledge and creative ideas. This also means that collaboration and innovation are encouraged in a global sense.

6.3 The teacher uses technologies in ways that reflect professional and community practices

This is a very important one, and as a digital citizen, one that is helpful to be learnt at school, scaffolded by the teacher. Professional and community practises are reflective of what is used in the world outside of school for work and study, this puts some responsibility on the group to be harmonious, collegial, respectful, and self-monitoring. The teacher can also model good practice for Facebook use in the classroom and the wider world.

There however needs to be explicit guidelines for the students and teachers. One is that the students and teachers are not ‘friends’ on Facebook- they share a group space. Also the ITC policy of the school must be in place and general rights and code of conduct must be established, like no swearing, bullying, aggressive or hate language. The groups created must be closed, not open to the public, or ‘friends’.

Family Safety Centre suggests:

Tips for teachers

• Know your school’s policy on using social media in the classroom and comply.
• Use public pages for your classes to post homework assignments and other updates.
• Use groups to control membership and facilitate discussion.
• Be a role model as a good online citizen.
• Report inappropriate content to Facebook.

The final point has in some situations been found to be ineffective. As a PST one group member has reported content they found extremely violent and the response that came back after 24 hours was that it did not infringe on the community standards. It would be more effective to speak to the student directly about deleting comments, links, pictures, etc. There may be a process of moderation to be undertaken but by setting up ground rules that the students help define will hopefully help the students self-regulate and help each other.

Recommendations

In a situation like this, we believe that Grenville could implement a set of strategies to rectify, or resolve the situation that Miss Hawkins has found herself in. There are 3 important steps that the school could take to not only calm the situation, and make sure it doesn’t escalate into a further inappropriate state; but to also minimise the chance of it happening again.

Primarily, the school could hold a staff meeting with the entire cohort of teachers and present an information session on the importance of the correct use of personal social media. It is here that the school’s leadership team could drive home the importance of having teachers keep their social and personal media platforms as a private aspect of their social life. The school may in fact choose to put a policy in place where students and teachers are forbidden to interact on social media platforms.

Secondly, the school needs to have a private and personal meeting with Miss Hawkins to discuss the situation. It is clear from this that her behaviour was inappropriate and action must be taken. She needs to acquaint herself with the Code of Conduct of the teaching profession, remove herself from the party group and set her privacy settings strategically. Miss Hawkins also needs to be made aware that despite changing to more private settings, she needs to be careful with what she is posting on social media as there is no assurance that this information will stay confidential, she cannot ensure that the students will not find a way to access her profile. As such even personal profiles should be treated with a certain amount of apprehension when posting personal comments and images. As a teacher, she should not be posting anything that she thinks could compromise her job if made public.

By holding the meeting, and outlining the issues, as well as what actions need to be taken, Grenville High School is able to ensure that Miss Hawkins fully understands the situation. The school is able to inform her of their stance on the subject of, not only social media interaction with students, but the manner in which she did it.

Finally, and arguably one of the most important procedures in ensuring the situation is dealt with appropriately, the school should hold an information session or incursion on the theme of ‘safe partying’.

Due to the situation of party invitations, such as the rave Miss Hawkins RSVP’d to on Facebook, already circulating amongst students, it could be very beneficial and appropriate to educate students on how to take care in such social situations.

Whilst the responsibility rests with the teachers, students also need to be informed that it is not appropriate to seek to interact with teachers on social media.

The importance of considering all frameworks

It is interesting to note aspect 1.1 from the Principles of Teaching and Learning (POLT). This principle states a student learns best when teachers “build positive relationships through knowing and valuing each student”. Acknowledging this, some may argue that in this situation, Miss Hawkins is trying to adopt this principle by connecting with her students on a personal level through social media. At first glance, this could be entirely the case. However, contradicting to this principle, it is important to also note, not only Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership’s (AITSL) standard 4.5“Use ICT safely, responsibly and ethically”, but also multiple principles retrieved from The Victorian Teaching Profession Code of Conduct. For example, aspects of principle 1.5 state that professional relationships may be violated for a number of reasons such as “attending parties or socialise with students”. In addition section 2; principle 2.1 (a) states that teachers must “be positive role models at school and in the community”. By applying much needed consideration to these points, it can be acknowledged that Miss Hawkins failed to implement them in her profession. It could be stated that she placed far too much importance on building positive relationships with her students and neglected other crucial aspects of successful educating.

The teacher did not demonstrate professional responsibility

Standard 7 of APST states that teachers must ‘engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community,’ relevant sections include; 7.1 and 7.2.

7.1 states that teachers need to ‘meet professional ethics and responsibilities,’ including to ‘understand and apply the key principles described in codes of ethics and conduct for the teaching profession’.

Considering the extent to which Miss Hawkins has violated the codes and ethics of conduct it is unlikely that she is familiar with them. The scenario creates a picture of a graduate teacher that is keen on doing a good job and genuinely trying to build a good rapport with her students, whilst creating an engaging curriculum. It is also clear that in her personal time the teacher enjoys attending parties and going to clubs. All of this is perfectly fine, how Miss Hawkins spends her personal time is just that, private. Where the issue has arisen is that Miss Hawkins has made her private activities public. Given all of the information that we know about the teacher we can assume that if she was properly educated on the principles she would most likely have taken the appropriate steps to avoid this situation.

7.2 states that teachers must ‘comply with legislative, administrative and organisational requirements’. Every school has policies in place as an attempt to avoid situations such as this. It is unlikely that through agreeing to attend the party, that Miss Hawkins has complied with the policies and requirements set out by the school.

The safety of students was not considered

Standard 4 of APST states that teachers must ‘Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments’. Of particular relevance is section 4.4 ‘Maintain student safety’.

This is the same sort of trust that you as an educator need to uphold. A variety of instances can occur when you are responsible for students. You also have a duty of care to worry about. Think about it this way, if your persona and the way a student perceives you changes, are you going to be able to uphold the professionalism they need to appropriately learn within their educational environment, or will you have breached that image and forever be someone they are trying to impress, just like their peers?

The sub-section “4.4” states that “Maintaining student safety [should include] strategies that support students’ wellbeing and safety working within school and/or system, curriculum and legislative requirements”. This is of interest as it explicitly states that teachers are responsible for making an environment within school safe for students, yet this scenario causes questions for how to interact outside of the school context. However, we still think that it is a relevant standard.

A safe school context or environment is something that is upheld by teachers based on the way that a student perceives them. There is a great level of trust that occurs with students and their teachers. Think about the first time that you walk into a new group of students. They all look at you with wonder about the type of person you are. Are you going to be strict? Are you going to be funny? Mostly, are you going to give them enough agency to be who they are while learning on their independent journey?

As an educator, your main role is to assist a student on their learning journey, and to make sure they feel that they can approach you in a respectable way at all times to gain the assistance that they may need. If you alter this, by attending social parties with students, you may be jeopardising the way that they learn throughout the course of you being their teacher. It is safer if you remain professional at all times, just as standard 1.5 of the Code of Conduct dictates, so that you’re standard 4 of the Australian Professional Standards of Teaching can be maintained.

The personal conduct of the teacher was inappropriate

VTPCC Principle 2.1 states that ‘the personal conduct of a teacher will have an impact on the professional standing of that teacher and on the profession as a whole’, also of relevance is part A.

Through agreeing to attend the party with the year 9 boys Miss Hawkins has put at risk, not only her own reputation, but also the reputation of the school and her colleagues. The actions of one teacher, no matter how independent they might be, reflects on the entire staff and the school as a whole. The actions of singular teachers also influence the way that the community views the entire profession as certain behaviours are often generalised.

It is also important that teachers interact professionally with students as their conduct in their personal time could dramatically impact the student’s view of them.  Teachers need to be able to maintain a rapport where the student understands that, whilst they can have a positive and friendly relationship with a teacher, the relationship must remain professional. If students begin to see their teachers as friends that they party with on the weekend it is unlikely that come Monday they will take the teacher seriously.

Part A of 2.1 states that it is expected that teachers will ‘be positive role models at school and in the community’.

Miss Hawkins has already proven herself an unfit role model through the images that she has chosen to post on social media of parties and clubs. 

She has then made that content available to her students and the general public, and agreed to attend an out of school event with two students which has been advertised as a ‘rave’. Add to this that the two students are only in year 9 and in all probability should not be attending this event at all. Miss Hawkins is not behaving as an appropriate role model if she is agreeing to attend a party, where there will most likely be drinking, with to underage students that are in a vulnerable position due to their age and susceptibility to inappropriate exposure.

The professional relationship was compromised

VTPCC Principle 1.5 states that: ‘teachers are always in a professional relationship with the students in their school, whether at school or not’, relevant sections include part A of Section 2: ‘a professional relationship may be compromised if a teacher:’

The relationship has become one of peers with similar interests rather than a representative of the school and the teaching profession with the attributed values, ethics and standards. Her professional relationship with the student and therefore the school and State have become compromised.

Considering this notion, that no matter where the teacher is communicating with a student they are always in a professional relationship, we feel as though Miss Hawkins should be visualising the situation as though it were not electronic, but occurring in reality. She could achieve this by asking herself the question “If these students approached me in person and asked if I wanted to go to a rave with them, would I say yes?”

As social media is still relatively new it is common for professionals to be unsure of how to manage their interactions on the platform, and they may even feel a slight disconnect from reality. In doing this exercise, imagining all interactions with students as those that occur in reality, it becomes much clearer where educators should draw the line and ensure that the interaction is professional. If Miss Hawkins did ask herself that question, she should have instantly been able to understand that it would not be appropriate to accept the invitation of these two students to join them in an environment that is entirely social, and where there could be sexual undertones and irresponsible consumption of substances such as alcohol. It is her responsibility to remain professional as the teacher and refrain from joining them in this situation.

Code of Conduct 1.5 provides a strong answer to this ethical issue. I think all educators should stop and visualise a situation happening in reality if electronic communication becomes hazy.

Part A, of Section 2 specifically mentions parties stating that the professional relationship between teacher and student will be compromised if a teacher ‘attends parties or socialises with students’.

Even if we go back to considering the idea of Miss Hawkins seeing the event on her own, as it is public, it is still her responsibility to check whether students will be attending, and if they are, to remove herself from the environment as to not violate the frameworks that have been laid out. By attending a party where students are present, with or without prior knowledge of their attendance, a teacher is compromising their professional relationship with the student.

ICT was not used appropriately

Standard 4 of APST states that teachers must ‘Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments’. Of particular relevance is section 4.5 ‘Use ICT safely, responsibly and ethically’.

We saw in the example that Miss Hawkins has used social media to engage inappropriately with students; to the point where she has agreed to meet with two year 9 boys, alone, outside of a professional setting.

VTPCC Principle 1.5 states that: ‘teachers are always in a professional relationship with the students in their school, whether at school or not’, relevant sections include part B and D of Section 1: ‘a professional relationship will be violated if a teacher:’

Given her position as a teacher, Miss Hawkins violated this principle when she chose to make her Facebook profile public without ensuring that her posts were appropriate for public display. The profile included images of herself at parties and clubs; these images were then made available to her students, not only because of her public settings, but because she chose to use Facebook as a class resource. As a result Miss Hawkins has exposed students to inappropriate material through ICT, violating part B, Section 1 of principle 1.5 ‘Uses sexual innuendo or inappropriate language and/or material with students’.

Furthermore, part D of Section 1 addresses that this principle is applicable when a teacher “holds conversations of a personal nature or has contact with a student via written or electronic means including emails, letters, telephone, text messages or chat lines, without a valid context”. We feel that with the ever changing nature of communication, it is reasonable to assume that this section would include social media platforms (and ultimately Facebook) as a portion of electronic means.

Ms Hawkins did not have a valid teacher / student context for the social media interaction, so this could be a serious matter and be taken further by a school. If a male teacher was to be invited to a female student’s party or even invited to a party that many girls were going to it would be potentially seen as more inappropriate.  As Ms Hawkins is a young woman it makes us focus on the ethical dilemma and relationship between student and teacher. Maintaining distance into private lives is important for both the student and the teacher.

Our Findings

The following posts will address our findings regarding Miss Hawkins actions, based on the relevant frameworks. 

Relevant Areas of Frameworks

Victorian Teaching Professional Code of Conduct (VTPCC)

It is important that when presented with a question of how to act within a professional scenario, we consider the Teaching Code of Conduct. Frameworks such as this always provide a substantial guide to decipher what an appropriate action may be in response to any sort of polarising stimuli.

Section 1: Professional Conduct

PRINCIPLE 1.5: TEACHERS ARE ALWAYS IN A PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE STUDENTS IN THEIR SCHOOL, WHETHER AT SCHOOL OR NOT

Teachers hold a unique position of influence and trust that should not be violated or compromised. They exercise their responsibilities in ways that recognise that there are limits or boundaries to their relationships with students. The following examples outline some of those limits.

A professional relationship will be violated if a teacher:

b) Uses sexual innuendo or inappropriate language and/or material with students

d) Holds conversations of a personal nature or has contact with a student via written or electronic means including email, letters, telephone, text messages or chat lines, without a valid context

A professional relationship may be compromised if a teacher:

a) Attends parties or socialises with students

Section 2: Personal Conduct

PRINCIPLE 2.1: THE PERSONAL CONDUCT OF A TEACHER WILL HAVE AN IMPACT ON THE PROFESSIONAL STANDING OF THAT TEACHER AND ON THE PROFESSION AS A WHOLE

Although there is no definitive boundary between the personal and professional conduct of a teacher, it is expected that teachers will:

a) Be positive role models at school and in the community

Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST)

The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers is also another framework that a graduate teacher may consider referring back to when they are finding it difficult to navigate how to respond to a certain interaction that arises with them and their students. These are standards that each graduate teacher should be fairly exposed to by the time they reach the classroom, as it is expected that a portfolio of these standards is completed prior to graduating.

Professional Practice

STANDARD 4: CREATE AND MAINTAIN SUPPORTIVE AND SAFE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

4.4 Maintain student safety

Describe strategies that support students’ wellbeing and safety working within school and/or system, curriculum and legislative requirements.

4.5 Use ICT safely, responsibly and ethically

Demonstrate an understanding of the relevant issues and the strategies available to support the safe, responsible and ethical use of ICT in learning and teaching.

Professional Engagement

STANDARD 7: ENGAGE PROFESSIONALLY WITH COLLEAGUES, PARENTS/CARERS AND THE COMMUNITY

7.1 Meet professional ethics and responsibilities

Understand and apply the key principles described in codes of ethics and conduct for the teaching profession.

7.2 Comply with legislative, administrative and organisational requirements

Understand the relevant legislative, administrative and organisational policies and processes required for teachers according to school stage.

Principles of Learning and Teaching (POLT)

These principles allow pre-service, graduate and experienced teachers to reflect on their professional practice and work to improve their pedagogical stance. They are especially important in evaluating the decisions that we make both in, and outside of the classroom.

PRINCIPLE 1: THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT IS SUPPORTIVE AND PRODUCTIVE.

In learning environments that reflect this principle the teacher:

1.1) builds positive relationships through knowing and valuing each student

1.2) promotes a culture of value and respect for individuals and their communities

PRINCIPLE 2: THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT PROMOTES INDEPENDENCE, INTERDEPENDENCE AND SELF-MOTIVATION.

In learning environments that reflect this principle the teacher:

2.2) uses strategies that build skills of productive collaboration.

PRINCIPLE 3: STUDENTS' NEEDS, BACKGROUNDS, PERSPECTIVES AND INTERESTS ARE REFLECTED IN THE LEARNING PROGRAM.

In learning environments that reflect this principle the teacher:

3.2) uses a range of strategies that support the different ways of thinking and learning

3.3) builds on students' prior experiences, knowledge and skills

3.4) capitalises on students' experience of a technology rich world.

PRINCIPLE 4: STUDENTS ARE CHALLENGED AND SUPPORTED TO DEVELOP DEEP LEVELS OF THINKING AND APPLICATION.

In learning environments that reflect this principle the teacher:

4.1) plans sequences to promote sustained learning that builds over time and emphasises connections between ideas

4.6) uses strategies to foster imagination and creativity.

PRINCIPLE 6: LEARNING CONNECTS STRONGLY WITH COMMUNITIES AND PRACTICE BEYOND THE CLASSROOM.

In learning environments that reflect this principle the teacher:

6.1) supports students to engage with contemporary knowledge and practice

6.2) plans for students to interact with local and broader communities and community practices

6.3) uses technologies in ways that reflect professional and community practices.

How it related to us, and could relate to you

An issue such as this would be a common occurrence with young graduate teachers, with many likely to find themselves in a similar situation as Miss Hawkins at one point or another.

Even as a PST one of our group members found themselves in an unexpected situation involving a social media interaction with a student. Prior to starting the practicum they made a conscious effort to change all settings on all social media to ‘private’, even going as far as to change their surname on Facebook in order to limit and restrict searches of the account. While on their first practicum, they found themselves building positive and friendly relationships with some students in a year 11 class. In regards to their teaching, this had positive effects in how the classes were managed. There was a certain level of respect and cooperation with a majority of the class. However, the weekend that they had finished placement, a student tracked down their personal Instagram account and had attempted to ‘follow’ or ‘befriend’ them.

When they first saw the request on Instagram, their initial yet brief thought was to accept. However, after further thinking it over, they decided, and rightfully so in the group’s opinion, declined. Even though the practicum at that particular school was completed, they still identified the risk, all be it minimum, that befriending a student on social media posed. They realised that while within their social media platforms they had nothing to hide in relation to content, it could still have negative repercussions. Taken out of context or misinterpreted some photos and content could potentially circulate among students, parents and guardians or maybe even teachers and other professionals. This could hinder negatively towards their reputations and integrity as an aspiring educator.

The view of this group member, which is shared by others, is that social media has no place in the classroom.

Another group member found that Facebook was a useful tool that they have successfully implemented in their media disability class. They found the platform to be a convenient method to communicate and share with students, as they all come from different schools.

As a photographer and film maker, the same group member operates a public Instagram account, which includes personal photos of family and friends. The PST is careful when self-regulating what is shared on the social media tool. Having taught photography during teaching rounds they now have students that are keen photographers following their Instagram account, and in turn follows the students.

The point made by this group member is that social media is a useful tool that needs to be properly regulated by the school, in order to avoid confusion between personal and teacher/ student relationships.

The practices of both of these PSTs, as well as other group members, demonstrates the differences in views and experiences across the board. As such the use of social media in the classroom is not something that can be disregarded; every school, and every teacher will have their own view.