Here’s a short paper about student/faculty relations on Facebook (pdf) - the authors surveyed students whose professors were on Facebook, and found that a third of students really don’t want their professors there. I suppose that means two thirds don’t mind it, but still, now that it’s spreading like wildfire among Norwegian university lecturers as well as students, this is something to consider.
I'm Jill Walker Rettberg, an associate professor at the University of Bergen, and I do research on how people tell stories online. I'm affiliated with the Department of Linguistic, Literary and Aesthetic Studies. I've been a research blogger since October 2000.
I'm usually best contacted by email.
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June 2008: Blogging, a book by Jill Walker Rettberg, published by Polity Press. (Table of Contents)
May 2008: Digital Culture, Play, and Identity: A World of Warcraft Reader, co-edited by yours truly and Hilde G. Corneliussen, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2008.
Browse my other publications on electronic literature, electronic art and weblogs. I also enjoy speaking in public, for general and specialised audiences, and I've posted summaries of many of my talks and presentations to the blog.
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April 25th, 2007 at 22:29
Facebook is a topic in one of my courses, and to use it for teaching I need to have an account. I don’t advertise my presence to students, and my profile is all but blank, but I’m still ambivalent about being there at all. Sometimes students notice and befriend me, but not very often.
On the other hand, I think it’s an important opportunity to remind students that even closed (or partially closed) networks aren’t as private as they might think. Many of my students “know” that potential employers have spies on Facebook from different colleges, providing access to applicants’ profiles. True or not, the persistence of the rumor seems to highlight some ambivalence and anxiety on the part of students, too.
April 26th, 2007 at 05:07
I am not a teacher anymore but I was for some years. I have a Facebook account and a good number of my former students have befriended me. My policy is to accept all requests from former students but not to invite them as that might be seen as pushy or intrusive. I sometimes ping someone just to let them know I am there but that is as far as I go as a first step. If some mind that I am there I haven’t heard about it yet.
May 1st, 2007 at 19:18
Faculty and Facebook…
Here is an interesting short paper on student/faculty relations in Facebook by a couple of researchers from Georgia Tech [pdf] They found that contact in Facebook did not have an impact on student perception of faculty. Although, here they note that a …
November 8th, 2008 at 19:35
Is there a law or policy that prohibits public school teachers from having a facebook account?
As long as there isn’t anything illegal or nudity involved, can a school system suspend or dismiss teachers who have facebook? There are several teachers in my school district who are being threatened by the central office for having a facebook where there is alcohol or other “unprofessional” pictures on their profiles. Is there a line between private life and your role at your job at school? Teachers need some answers here. Several are losing their jobs.
November 10th, 2008 at 10:53
It seems unlikely that public school teachers could be forbidden from using a public system in their spare time - but as a general suggestion, why not simply limit your profile so photos and information you don’t want EVERYONE to see is not visible to anyone but your close friends?
February 4th, 2009 at 11:34
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