Social Networking Sites are a widely used tool to which 61% of adults engage in, thus making it a popular platform to interact over. As depicted in the graph below, a majority of those that use Social Networking Sites are between the ages of 16-24, thus making the use of social media in education a popular option amongst education providers.
Statistics on the different age groups that engaged in Social Networking in Great Britain during 2015.
The presentation below highlights the issues that can arise from using social media in education.
The Issue of Digital Footprints
Amidst these issues, particular attention should be drawn to the digital footprint issues that arise when using social media in education. As highlighted by Henderson et al, when students are asked to engage in social media interactions via an educational setting, they are being asked to publish information onto public and/or semi public platforms.[1]
If young students are encouraged to use social media for educational purposes, but are not properly trained to use it outside of this context, inappropriate use could be damaging to their reputation and future prospects.[2] This is even more of a prevalent issue with reports showing that there is an increased amount of recruiters that check social media before hiring candidates. Furthermore, with many unaware of the longevity of information placed online, as briefly mentioned within Topic 3, there have been various occasions where people have fallen foul to posts made in the past which have come back to haunt them. Thus if social media is used in education, particularly if the students are young, awareness would need to be raised with regards to how content which is uploaded online can be copied, altered and reposted by anyone which makes it very difficult to take said content back.
Although using social media for education can help students to develop an online profile, it also encourages students to use social media more often which can result in them sharing more information about their lives online. Subsequently, Henderson et al submit that whilst encouraging students to use social media for educational purposes is innovative and can be a useful learning tool, it also requires students to put their identities out into the permanent arena of cyberspace.
However is our digital footprint really that much of a big deal? What are your thoughts with regards to the ethical issues surrounding the use of media for educational purposes?
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REFERENCES
[1] Michael Henderson, Glen Auld and Nicola Johnson, ‘Ethics of Teaching with Social Media’ < http://acec2014.acce.edu.au/sites/2014/files/attachments/HendersonAuldJohnson_EthicalDilemmas_ACEC_2014_0.pdf> accessed 23rd April 2016.
[2] ChildNet, “Young People and Social Media” < http://www.childnet.com/ufiles/young-people-and-social-networking-a.pdf > accessed 22nd April 2016.
Office of National Statistics, Internet Access- Households and Individuals:2015 < http://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/householdcharacteristics/homeinternetandsocialmediausage/bulletins/internetaccesshouseholdsandindividuals/2015-08-06 > accessed 20th April 2016.
Recruitment Grapevine, “55% of employers reject candidates after social media search” < http://www.recruitmentgrapevine.com/article/2014-09-23-55-of-employers-reject-candidates-after-social-media-search > accessed 23rd April 2016.
Topic 3 Post <https://kemigrace.wordpress.com/2016/03/13/developing-an-authentic-online-professional-profile/ > accessed 23rd April 2016.
New York Times Magazine, “How one stupid tweet blew up Justine Sacco’s life” < http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/magazine/how-one-stupid-tweet-ruined-justine-saccos-life.html?module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=Magazine&action=keypress®ion=FixedLeft&pgtype=article&_r=3 > accessed 20th April 2016.
Legal Cheek, “Offensive tweets of Bedford law grad working for Mayoral hopeful come back to haunt him” <http://www.legalcheek.com/2016/03/offensive-tweets-of-bedford-law-grad-working-for-sadiq-khan-come-back-to-haunt-him/ > accessed 23rd April 2016.
Presentation created by myself using https://www.haikudeck.com/presentations/FVtQ8KMYbc
kemi-grace's uosm2008 experience 
Hi Kemi, I liked reading your blog post about education and social media!
I found it interesting because when I think back to my schooling (much more so in primary school, and less so in secondary school) social media simply didn’t exist. And yet, I go to teach a coding class in a school an afternoon a week and I see everyone on their phones and on the internet. I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing, but I do think it’s important to take a step back every so often! I can definitely see the merits of social media though, I guess you could say that it’s similar to group learning just via the internet.
What you were writing about digital footprints was something I hadn’t thought about before. Although perhaps a different setting, I found at university that societies and even modules were being organised on Facebook whereby if you didn’t have a Facebook account you wouldn’t get any information. What do you think about the idea of effectively being forced to use social media just to get involved with things? Do you think it’s unfair, or is it just about keeping up with the times?
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Hi Tom,
Thank you for commenting. It’s interesting that you raise the point about being forced to join social media in order to participate in extra-curricular activities at university, as this is exactly what happened to me. I went throughout first year without a Facebook account, I had never created one so the whole concept was foreign to me. After struggling throughout first year trying to effectively stay in the loop with extra curricular activities, I eventually caved in and created by first Facebook in June 2014! (I actually upload my first ever picture recently too, which was the obligatory dissertation pic!)
From my experience, I would say to an extent it is unfair but unfortunately a majority of university interactions have their foundations in Facebook. Whether it is through organising group meetings, being invited to events or staying abreast with general university happenings- having a Facebook is definitely essential. However, at this age, and linking this to the topic of my post, I do believe that although I am accumulating a Digital Footprint, I am happy it is for university purposes and I feel that at this age, I am more aware of the risks than I would have been if I had joined at a younger age.
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Hi Kemi,
Loved reading your blog on the pros and cons of using social media in education. Personally, as a young adult and studying this module I have found out how social media can be used other than socialising with people and more of a tool to improve employability and develop yourself as a person. I’ve found your pros quite interesting. I definitely think introducing the concept of using social media to create profiles e.g. on LinkedIn and teaching the dangers e.g. unauthentic profiles from an early age, could definitely contribute people using social media more effectively, what do you think?
I’ve found this interesting blog that reasons “Why Every High School Should Teach A Social Media Class”: https://medium.com/@jspector/why-every-high-school-should-teach-a-social-media-class-c777b6e6eef9#.2kympuocs
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Hi Shaheer,
Thank you for sharing that link. I find it interesting as I do believe that depending on the age group that are involved in social media being used in education, the level of precautions that need to be taken vary. Teaching the younger generation about the risks of social media so that they can use it properly is definitely a vital point which needs to be taken into consideration.
More importantly, as reinforced by this module, I think that if students are taught from an early age about these dangers, they will be more equipped to utilise social media effectively to aid their employability in the future.
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Hello Kemi! I really enjoyed reading your post. I agree with you on the fact that social media can cause a real integrity risk in education as well as in the professional sector. Social media, being a tool primarily used for personal reasons, people do not usually think about the consequences that one particular post can have on their professional life. Furthermore, by not setting up good privacy measures, people widely expose themselves to an identity theft risk. Therefore, I think it is a very interesting idea to start warning young people about the ways of using social media in an efficient manner.
I believe you might find this article interesting:
https://searchenginewatch.com/2016/01/25/the-hidden-social-media-dangers-for-all-businesses/
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