I recently shared a post about a Valedictorian who was pissed off because she had spent her years in high school being cheated of a relevant education. I share her frustration as my educational experience was not much different then the irrelevant hoop jumping she endured, but I have been hopeful because I know there are innovative educators out there passionate about making a difference in the lives of children and providing them with engaging and relevant educational opportunities. But, I had a bit of wind taken out of my sails when I heard from a teacher that lawyers were pumping fear into the hearts of principals who like Eric Sheninger were open to thinking outside the ban and using digital tools necessary to prepare students for success. I was heartbroken to learn from a teacher that s/he was told at a staff meeting that the Principal had just come from a Principal's meeting and shared that "the lawyers" had told the principals:
- Teachers shouldn't friend students on Facebook
- Teachers shouldn't use cell phones with students
- Parents could not give permission for their children to appear on the web.
- And, on and on...
My advice to any educator who has lawyers telling them how to do their job is this:
- Lawyers and educators are inherently at odds. I want to do what is best for my students. Lawyers want to do what is best and easiest for them.
- Ask the lawyer to put their advice in writing. Ask them how they feel about being sued for advising schools to engage in practice that is not in the best interest of preparing students for success in the world?
- Ask the lawyers why they, rather than educational leaders, are deciding what's best for students and think about if lawyers are really the people who have the best interests of our students at heart.
- Ask the lawyers to put in writing why they are afraid to allow schools help students begin establishing their responsible digital footprints.
- Share with lawyers and your principal that there are principals who know that banning is the easy way out and connect them to principals like Eric Sheninger who is a Principal who used to block, and now offers guidance to skeptical admins in social media use.
Students like Erica, myself and Blake Copeland (who developed an iPhone app with no help from his school) should succeed because of school, not despite it. I hope that the readers of this blog are those who will stand up and use their 21st century educator voice to advise these lawyers to think outside the ban and prepare students for success. Our students need you to listen to them not the lawyers who are only providing advice that make their jobs and that of educators easier at the risk of what is best for children.
If schools are not preparing students to operate in these environments, who is? Are we going to continue to pass the buck and say, "not my problem?"
To answer the question of the teacher who emailed me, "Have I heard of lawyers advising educational leaders taking the easy way out?" Absolutely. Would I want to work in a place that made that choice? Absolutely not.
Hi Lisa,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you are bringing this issue to light for readers of your blog and followers on Twitter. While I understand where you are coming from, I can't totally agree with you on all points. While lawyers aren't educators, they do know the law. Most educators do not know the law well. For that reason, it's important that educators and lawyers talk about these issues and that educators respect (and in most cases follow) lawyers advice.
From a legal perspective, there are many considerations (outside of the educationally beneficial ones) to take into account when
1) friending students on Facebook,
2) using cell phones with students and
3) asking children to appear on the web.
As an educator, I think it is important to take possible legal ramifications into account when you are determining how and why to use social media with your students. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of court decisions out there that deal with teachers using social media and cell phones with their students. Until there is more litigation, and ultimately more decisions that set a legal precedent in this area, I can understand a lawyers advice to educators when they tell teachers to steer clear of it.
While I don't believe we should live our lives in fear of potential legal action, I don't think we should blindly tell teachers to defy legal advice just because we might think using social media in school is generally positive.
Again, thank you for your thoughts on this subject and highlighting it on your blog. I think more educators should be having this discussion. I talked with a school attorney about a year ago regarding cell phones and the sexting phenomena and several of these ideas were raised. You can hear our discussion at:
http://www.brueckei.org/Raised-Digital/2009/09/29/sexting-from-a-school-law-perspective/
Additionally, I'd encourage you to reach out to people like @jonbecker, @msstewart and @edjurist, all of whom are exceptional educators as well as experts in school law. This conversation would certainly benefit from their two cents.
@Jeremy Brueck, I agree with you that legal advice should be considered, but the advice should not be tool-driven. The advice should be behavior-driven. The blanket bans...the blanket statements...banishing the use of technology...end of story, just wreaks of the belief that banning is the easy way to stay out of trouble, but it isn't in the best interest of our students.
ReplyDeleteWe need to take a bit of risk as educators and help students and ourselves responsibly dip our toes into the 21st century. Like water, social media can be dangerous. It is up to educators AND lawyers to empower students and teachers to navigate these waters, rather than placing a big "do not swim" sign in front of them.
Lisa,
ReplyDeleteI can hear the frustration in your voice, but I'm not sure why the need for pejoratives (e.g. "fat-walleted lawyers who have squirmed their way into your schools" and "pumping fear into the hearts of principals") Lawyers are paid to know the law, help people consider risk, and evaluate how comfortable they are with those risks when it comes to what is not yet known or tested in the law. Lawyers are also obligated to act as advocates for their clients, so while they've been set up as the "bad guys" in your post, I suspect that if we peeled back a layer or two, we'd find some risk-adverse administrators and teachers.
Rather an adversarial teachers v. lawyers approach, why not consider the questions- "What about the law is unknown or would need to change for teachers to innovate in a way that they feel is in the best interest of their students?" and "What do teachers need to know about what the law actually is to have informed, productive conversations with attorneys?" Those are the conversations that I think might be more likely to move in the direction you'd like to see.
Disclaimer: While I appreciate Jeremy's kind words, I am not a school law expert. I graduated from law school and interned for several semesters in a school law clinic, but did not take the bar and currently teach full time.
Meredith @msstewart
Meredith (@msstewart), you are right. I am frustrated. I'm just mad as heck that a one-sided view was perpetrated by lawyers. I wish lawyers would instead guide educators in ways to responsibly help prepare our students. That would be fantastic!!!
ReplyDeleteYou are right educators and administrators are fearful. I wish that lawyers could help them to help their students act responsibly rather than scare the heck out of them.
Maybe you can provide smart advice in the form of a guest post???
I'm going to remove my pejoratives and do what you jeremy and jonbecker suggest and partner with smart lawyers :-)
Thanks for the attention, insight, and maybe future blog post???
I'm driven crazy by this too.It all smacks of the Inquisition to me. I can hear distant , historical voices telling me to burn the books in case some of that dangerous knowledge gets into the hands of people who might use it to enlighten the world!
ReplyDeleteI think it's the ignorance that worries me the most. I haven't had anyone tell me I can't befriend my students in the community. In fact I had one here in my home today, on a Saturday, discussing her end of year drama solo. Is there a chance I could be sued for that? Should I have sought legal advice before I let her into my private space? Today I also saw a photo of some of my students in the local paper. It mentioned their names, ages and their school. The newspaper is available online. Should I report the paper for publishing these kids on the internet? Or are these two things different because they take place in 'real' life?
I think the most important challenge we face as 21st century educators is to demystify the internet so that evryone (lawyers included) comes to see it as just another space where people of all ages come together to communicate.
Hey Lisa - I do agree that lawyers and educators are at odds. That's because they 'work' for differing constituencies. (In the best of worlds they would be working for the same constituency, but fact is they don't). Educators work to educate the kids, lawyers to protect the school district from litigation. So when a lawyer recommends limits on social media or phones, it is because in their opinion that best protects the school district from suits, etc. Has absolutely nothing to do with what's best educationally for kids.
ReplyDeleteI'm the teacher who wrote the original message to Lisa. My exasperation comes from the fact that things seem to be getting more restrictive instead of less. "The ban", it seems, is getting bigger. I guess I naively thought it would be the other way around. A few years back, one of my classes made a video, parents signed permission forms and we posted it on the web. Now they're saying that's not possible anymore? It's discouraging.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the lawyers are concerned, it would be hard for me to blame the admin at my school for putting more stock in their advice than in mine. They rank higher than me on the food chain and in this system it seems sometimes that you're accountable to the people who employ you. The people you serve? Not so much. Nonetheless, thank you for the advice. I will use it to try to make the case for allowing students to publish on the internet and use social media more openly.
@Anonymous, thank you for chiming in. I wonder as educators who we really are responsible to. The children who depend on us to make their experience meaningful or, in some cases, the lawyers and administrators who do what principal Eric Sheninger names as "taking the easy way out" and ban students from engaging in 21st century platforms.
ReplyDeleteAs I shared privately with you, I would request that you get these lawyer mandates in writing. Once we have them, they can be challenged in a public forum to help do what is best for our students.
I wrote another article that might also help you called, "Just Say Yes to Publishing Even if The Man Behind the Curtain is Still Saying No." You can read it at http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2010/07/just-say-yes-to-publishing-exposing-man.html .
Finally, I think this is a topic worthy of global attention. I wonder if we could get an #edchat conversation going on this and I know just the people to ask :-)
*cough* attribution http://twitter.com/InnovativeEdu/status/25450851341 *cough* ;-)
ReplyDeleteA major problem here is that the risk-averse 'ban it' approach is an example of short-termism. If you do not help the learners work out how to use social media and the (rapidly expanding) world of technology, there is a real chance you will be disadvantaging them. If you reduce their chances of shining in the eyes of future employers you may well open yourself up to subsequent claims for damaging their potential earnings (in some countries).
Of course they need to learn to use social media in a safe way. They also need to learn to be responsible, and to act appropriately towards others. But everyone also needs to realise that the new technologies change the playing field, and that the kids of today need to learn how to make best use of it.
I wrote a bit about my idea of a Digital Identity curriculum (sort of!) a while ago http://brains.parslow.net/node/1576 - the basic idea being that everyone should be encouraged to start small, and safe, and build up from there. Alongside that, we need to be making legislators aware of the issues. They are already fairly well engaged with the e-safety side, and they do seem to have an idea of how people can make good use of the internet and its tools. But they seem to have a huge gap between the two - they want children to be taught to be afraid of social media. They also seem to do their best to frighten teachers too. I already have experience of students coming in to HE who have listened to the e-safety advice they got at school and decided not to post anything about themselves online. Of course, this also means that they assume that there is nothing about them online, ignoring the opportunities for others to post whatever they like (though, one would hope, responsibly...)
The kids who *don't* listen to the e-safety advice at school have a greater degree of risk. It is infinitesimally small, rather than slightly smaller, but it is an increase. What they also have is a massive increase in opportunity.
The opportunity, of course, is often wasted. I can't claim to make best use of my online profiles (what we would call my Digital Identity, or DI); but at least I am aware of how much impact I can have.
Society will change, given time. But the people educators have a responsibility to *now* are the children they have in school *now*, and current policies, influenced by risk-averse management, politicians and the lawyers who are paid a lot of money to minimise their risks, do not do as much as they should to promote safe skills in using the tools and allowing the kids to develop thoughtful, effective ways of engaging.
Some of the materials we created for the This Is Me project might be useful for management, policy makers and lawyers to look at and work through. They are all freely downloadable from http://www.lulu.com/odinlab and I would be happy to look at working with others to create resources to help the more conservative elements of the educational establishment to learn about the potential positive impacts they might be denying their learners.
I am knowledgeable about the law, but not an expert. Being knowledgeable and seeking out legal advice when needed has given me the confidence and drive to improve the learning experience for my students. I find it odd that there is so much conflicting advice out there. Why is it some districts openly use social media and have acceptable use policies that cover this topic while others are told you can't do this? There is a right way to integrate social media into the classroom. Some districts refuse to see the value in these tools and will seek legal advice to support bans.
ReplyDeleteLisa: I think it is more of a problem with the Districts who employ these lawyers to justify banning/blocking than the lawyers themselves.
*cough* attribution http://twitter.com/InnovativeEdu/status/25450851341 *cough* ;-) [Many thanks to Lisa for emailing me my post so I can try commenting again, as Blogspot lost it the first time!]
ReplyDeleteA major problem here is that the risk-averse 'ban it' approach is an example of short-termism. If you do not help the learners work out how to use social media and the (rapidly expanding) world of technology, there is a real chance you will be disadvantaging them. If you reduce their chances of shining in the eyes of future employers you may well open yourself up to subsequent claims for damaging their potential earnings (in some countries).
Of course they need to learn to use social media in a safe way. They also need to learn to be responsible, and to act appropriately towards others. But everyone also needs to realise that the new technologies change the playing field, and that the kids of today need to learn how to make best use of it.
I wrote a bit about my idea of a Digital Identity curriculum (sort of!) a while ago http://brains.parslow.net/node/1576 - the basic idea being that everyone should be encouraged to start small, and safe, and build up from there. Alongside that, we need to be making legislators aware of the issues. They are already fairly well engaged with the e-safety side, and they do seem to have an idea of how people can make good use of the internet and its tools. But they seem to have a huge gap between the two - they want children to be taught to be afraid of social media. They also seem to do their best to frighten teachers too. I already have experience of students coming in to HE who have listened to the e-safety advice they got at school and decided not to post anything about themselves online. Of course, this also means that they assume that there is nothing about them online, ignoring the opportunities for others to post whatever they like (though, one would hope, responsibly...)
The kids who *don't* listen to the e-safety advice at school have a greater degree of risk. It is infinitesimally small, rather than slightly smaller, but it is an increase. What they also have is a massive increase in opportunity.
The opportunity, of course, is often wasted. I can't claim to make best use of my online profiles (what we would call my Digital Identity, or DI); but at least I am aware of how much impact I can have.
Society will change, given time. But the people educators have a responsibility to *now* are the children they have in school *now*, and current policies, influenced by risk-averse management, politicians and the lawyers who are paid a lot of money to minimise their risks, do not do as much as they should to promote safe skills in using the tools and allowing the kids to develop thoughtful, effective ways of engaging.
Some of the materials we created for the This Is Me project might be useful for management, policy makers and lawyers to look at and work through. They are all freely downloadable from http://www.lulu.com/odinlab and I would be happy to look at working with others to create resources to help the more conservative elements of the educational establishment to learn about the potential positive impacts they might be denying their learners.
Oh, OK I give up - have posted comment at http://brains.parslow.net/node/1632 instead :-)
ReplyDelete@P@
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing and providing a link to your thoughts. Valuable contribution that I encourage others to read.
I'm not an attorney but found your advice to be more lawyer bashing than focused on the real issues. It's the lawyers charge to advise schools/districts how to be compliant with the law and how to best mediate potential liabilities. When th...e law says that students are not to visit certain kinds of websites, and the teacher allows this, who is liable, the teacher or the district? When a teacher is accused of some wrong doing (whether guilty or not) wouldn't "friending" and/or cell phone exchanges have the potential to add fuel to an situation, therefore increasing the teachers' or district liability? The focus here, is not on the shoulders of the lawyer, as you have it, but rather on those who can establish rules/laws that support (or not) the use of these tools within the educational environment. What policies exist within the district to allow teachers to explore the educational potential of the tools without increasing liability to students, teachers, and the district?
ReplyDeleteSome great discussion here- I'm in the process of creating a presentation for our October Supt. Conference day on 'Being Professional in a Digital World' where I have been asked to address facebook (and other social media), email communication, and other digital footprint issues. I will be including some of the recent court cases so teachers have the background. So far our district's stance is not banning- but the idea that as professionals we need to act like professionals within the school walls as well as in the digital world as well. I will probably be sharing this documentary about facebook and friending students- as they say- its complicated http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0Ed7QNPNaY
ReplyDeleteThe bottom line is as was stated above- teachers need to be purposeful in their use of 21st century tools- and above all be professional. (and yes, in our world we also have to be mindful of possible legal ramifications).
Dodie
@Martin Friedman,
ReplyDeleteWhen lawyers are giving advice that rather than prepares students for success, instead makes their jobs easier, I have a problem. I hope to god that in a country like America the the law would not mandate what websites are allowed in school and instead, that decision would be left up to pedagogical experts. When lawyers are advising educational leaders that they and their teachers should not be communicating with students using in the digital environments in which they operate, I have a huge problem. We need to help children to navigate these waters, not stay out of them. When lawyers are telling educational leaders that their students can’t publish online and thus develop necessary 21st century skills that will enable them to establish a powerful digital footprint, I’m horrified. This is not allowing students to develop the skills necessary for success in the world. The skills they’d need to master if they wanted someday to say, run for office. So, heck no! If lawyers are scaring teachers and leaders to a point that they can’t effectively provide students with a meaningful and relevant education, then you are right. These are the people I will speak out against and advise educators to take back ownership of who should be making decisions about how to best prepare students.
@Dodie, great advice. I think ultimately, it is about teachers being professional regardless of the medium. I also want to clarify that I in no way am advising folks shouldn't be mindful of the law, but the law does not say what the lawyers in the post advise. It is not illegal for students to publish online, for teachers to friend students on facebook, and though many schools ban student-owned technology, I don't believe it is a law, and if it is, it is one that should certainly be revisited. Ultimately, we need to prepare students for success in the world and do so professionally and appropriately whether we are using modern day or traditional methods, but we should not avoid the tools of the world that exists outside artificially sterilized school walls because it is easier.
ReplyDeleteI wish you luck on your school board preparation and wanted to point you toward two videos you might want to share. One is a video rebuttal to the principal that put out a call to action to ban students from using social media (http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2010/08/video-rebuttal-to-educational-leaders.html), The other is a video that features two primary teachers who harness the power of Facebook in their classrooms (http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2010/09/using-facebook-with-students-becomes.html)
I just stumbled onto this and I think it's an interesting read. Social technology generally is as ubiquitous to kids now as "the internet" was for the previous decade, and "television" was for a generation before that. Just as TV & Internet found a niche in the classroom it is inevitable that some form of Social Networking will too.
ReplyDeleteAs for the situation with the lawyers... tough call there. I don't think it's their "goal" to make anything more difficult, but rather to minimize liability to the school in case anything untoward should happen. Communication is communication, and saying you can't friend someone on facebook or talk to them on a cellphone isn't much different than saying you can't talk to them... I don't know how lawyers and laws can be made to understand that if someone is going to behave inappropriately, that's down to the person and not the medium.