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.

6 thoughts on “keep teachers away from facebook! (?)

  1. steve

    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.

  2. Alfred Thompson

    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.

  3. Lorcan Dempsey's weblog

    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 …

  4. Public School Teacher

    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.

  5. Jill Walker Rettberg

    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?

  6. Facebook igjen « Villeple’s blogg

    […] Skal l?¶rere v?¶re p?• Facebook? […]

Leave a Reply to Jill Walker Rettberg Cancel reply

Recommended Posts

Triple book talk: Watch James Dobson, Jussi Parikka and me discuss our 2023 books

Thanks to everyone who came to the triple book talk of three recent books on machine vision by James Dobson, Jussi Parikka and me, and thanks for excellent questions. Several people have emailed to asked if we recorded it, and yes we did! Here you go! James and Jussi’s books […]

Image on a black background of a human hand holding a graphic showing the word AI with a blue circuit board pattern inside surrounded by blurred blue and yellow dots and a concentric circular blue design.
AI and algorithmic culture Machine Vision

Four visual registers for imaginaries of machine vision

I’m thrilled to announce another publication from our European Research Council (ERC)-funded research project on Machine Vision: Gabriele de Setaand Anya Shchetvina‘s paper analysing how Chinese AI companies visually present machine vision technologies. They find that the Chinese machine vision imaginary is global, blue and competitive.  De Seta, Gabriele, and Anya Shchetvina. “Imagining Machine […]

Do people flock to talks about ChatGPT because they are scared?

Whenever I give talks about ChatGPT and LLMs, whether to ninth graders, businesses or journalists, I meet people who are hungry for information, who really want to understand this new technology. I’ve interpreted this as interest and a need to understand – but yesterday, Eirik Solheim said that every time […]