Blocking For Balance, by Darren Draper

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Blocking For Balance, by Darren Draper

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Last week, we made a conscious decision to block Facebook from being accessed on our network. Being a K-12 public school district, I personally didn’t feel that it was in the best interest of our students to allow them to access a site that, while arguably brimming with educational potential, is most often used for nothing more than recreational interaction among participants.

Of course, it's not that play is bad. Rather, it's a matter of fighting for balance and the cognitive attention of our students. For when Facebook hasn't been blocked in our schools, students have tended to spend inordinate amounts of time on the site - forming gangs, playing cards, writing on walls, and poking each other (ahhhhh, just like high school).

Or am I wrong?

Am I alone in thinking that Facebook is roughly 98% play + 2% academics when it comes to the unchecked use of today’s “typical” teenager? And tell me: What percentage of teachers can be trusted to ensure that Facebook is actually used by their students for legitimate learning?

Glorified baby-sitter? Any time. Sensible and essential pedagogical tool? Well, that depends on the teacher.

Interestingly enough, this decision to **gulp** block Facebook was made just days prior to the release of a study conducted by a group of researchers whose focus centered on the ethical issues inherent to the educational utilization of social networking (Foulger, Ewbank, Kay, Popp, & Carter, 2009). In examining the practices and attitudes of preservice teachers and how they might use popular social networks with their students, the use of both MySpace and Facebook was constructively analyzed. According to their conclusions, "social networking technologies enable a new spectrum of teaching and learning opportunities in the classroom..." Without question! "However, they present a number of ethical vulnerabilities that may be unlike those encountered in other areas of the teaching profession" (p. 18). That's what I thought!

It’s those ethical vulnerabilities that worry me most – with “should I really ‘friend’ my ninth graders?” merely scratching the surface.

Nonetheless, I’m as sure as you are that this is a debate far from over, and therefore maintain a stance of open inquiry into whether or not we’re doing the right thing. So give it to me straight:

Would you leave Facebook open on your K-12 network?

If so, why?

Additionally, what can you do on Facebook that can't be done elsewhere?

And, what are you doing to train your teachers to effectively utilize it with their students?

Essentially:

Wherein lies the balance and what will it really take to achieve it?

Because opening the flood-gates is just the beginning.

---

Reference

Foulger, T. S., Ewbank, A. D., Kay, A., Popp, S. O., & Carter, H. L. (2009). Moral Spaces in MySpace: Preservice Teachers' Perspectives about Ethical Issues in Social Networking (Vol. 42). (L. Schrum, Ed.) Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.

Posted by Darren Draper at 09/04/2009 05:56:25 PM |

I cannot say what I would do. It is an issue I have the (enviable) position of merely needing to consider.

But one question occurred to me as I read through your article, Darren. Part of our concern seems to be about bringing into our classrooms the frivolous and sometimes unethical exchanges that seem to characterize Facebook. I have to wonder,

"Might accepting Facebook in our classroom also infect our students' social networks with more meaningful, academic, and ethical exchanges?"

Thanks for the thoughts....
Posted by: David Warlick ( Email: | Visit ) at 9/7/2009 11:23 AM

You just started a battle that you can not win and will indeed set you back in your work with the youth that you serve. The cat and mouse game for your tech folks, teachers and students will be unending. A few students are really going to enjoy figuring out the new work arounds as the old ones are blocked. Your relationship with the students will change dramatically when you let go and focus on education and relationship building with the youth that you work with.
Posted by: Matt Montagne ( Email: | Visit ) at 9/7/2009 11:40 AM

As assistant head at <a href="http://www.islandpacific.org/"<Island Pacific School</a>, a small independent school on Bowen Island, just off the coast of Vancouver, BC, I wouldn't...won't block Facebook, even though none of the staff ever use it as a teaching tool.

Actually, I doubt Facebook has anything to offer in the way of teaching tools that can't be found elsewhere in Nings and so on, so the pedagogical argument is moot. I don't "friend" my students, although I do think that adults ought to be providing guidance in whatever spaces--real or virtual--that children hang out. I think schools have that duty of care, too, but they also have liabilities that say we should leave that to parents--for now. In any case, this is not an ethical issue. It's a prudential one. There is a powerful ethical argument that says banning web sites is like banning books.

But in all this, I think you're barking up the wrong tree. What you're describing--what many like you are describing and fretting about--is a behavioural, or classroom management problem, not a problem with FB, per se (or any other platform, for that matter), not a problem with pedagogy or ethics. When kids are distracted, as you described them, you, and the rest of us have to ask why they feel they can act that way in a place where they are supposed to be focused and learning. Now, I'm not pretending that there are simple solutions, here, but I think this puts us on the right track to finding them.

I'm fortunate to work in a small school where we really don't have the problems you describe. We've gone to great lengths to build terrific support from families and our students, by and large, respect what's going on in a school. I allow laptops and mobiles in all my classes and our network is wide open to the world (although we do have a firewall to keep out the most offensive stuff, such as pornography.) We have a simple rule: the hardware is to be used for academic use only during school hours and this seems to work.

I think this is largely possible because we are a small, intimate school where these behavioural things are easier to manage. A lot of research would support this. So the trick in larger institutions is create this intimacy that builds mutual respect for the educational project.

Sorry...I have to run. I'll try to say more later.
Posted by: Brad Ovenell-Carter ( Email: | Visit ) at 9/7/2009 12:04 PM

We block both Facebook and MySpace. While I see the potential for social networking, I'd prefer to do it in my "own" space, and not someone else's. There are reasons I have for not participating on Facebook that would be very similar for using it in school.

The company's intellectual property - it's value - is my participation, my friends, and what we are doing. I ethically have a problem with that. For some reason, in other social networks, I don't have that issue... I can share photos on Flickr and while they love my participation and my sharing with other photographers, I'm not constantly being reminded that they're capitalizing upon my photos, my interests, and my purchases.

These tools have potential. But we also have to look at how we use them. Facebook (and others like it) have little focus. I can put in just about anything I'm interested in (photos, movies, status updates, my life) and everyone else can know that too. That's the way it's been designed. It's the über site for sharing anything.

And I'm not so sure that has value in a classroom.

We've tried a Ning site for teacher social networking. They'll use it if we make a reason to, but it's not self-selling. Facebook is. I'm on the lookout for a compromise that leverages a safe, secure space to share but also one where people are willing to make use of the space. It can't be too artificial or limiting. But I am not sure another service can compete when Facebook isn't about sharing input with other networks.

Maybe what we need is more face-to-face time with students without the wires, electrons, and wireless radio in the way?
Posted by: John Hendron ( Email: | Visit ) at 9/7/2009 1:08 PM

Thought-provoking comments (both here and on Twitter). Thank you for sharing.

All told, I'm fairly confident that as a district we will be moving in the near future toward opening Facebook on our networks (maybe an incremental adoption - teachers first, then students?). I've been arguing for years that we need to reach kids by using their toys and tools - on their turf, if you will - and David's comment above really resonates with me.

Still, I think we need to bring our teachers further along in helping them to understand the strengths and weaknesses of social networking, along with the risks. In time, I really think we'll get there.
Posted by: Darren Draper ( Email: | Visit ) at 9/7/2009 5:17 PM

Darren,
YOu may have seen this already but I dabbled with this question with a few teachers and got them to respond here:
http://www.prairiesouth.ca/podcasts/2009/03/episode-25-facebook-and-filtering/
Posted by: Dean Shareski ( Email: | Visit ) at 9/8/2009 12:32 PM

Good Morning,
Our school is an Apple One-To-One school. Every 6th-12th grade student has a laptop 24/7. Our school for many years has been totally against Social Networking. I am the Technology Director of our school for 3 years now. I have taken a different approach to Social Networking. This year we have become a FaceBook/Twitter school. We are using it to grow our community of current, and alumni students. We have even asked the parents to join us on both networks. We send out weekly Tweets of information to all who follow. Our school does block Myspace from the machines due to porn in the ads and other inappropriate content. We are excited to help our students learn how to use Social Networking correctly and safely. Our students are held responsible for any content that is posted on their sites. We monitor them weekly to make sure the content is clean.

We live in a new day and age. We may not understand this 21st Century learner but that doesn't mean we should get on board to learn and change our way of teaching. We must join them or loose them... I am all for reaching them to learn even if it means we must change the way we teach.
Posted by: Dee Mangino-Martinez ( Email: | Visit ) at 9/8/2009 2:46 PM

Before I would move to block access to any online information source, I would have to have evidence of it's negative impact. For example, you mentioned that students were spending an "inordinate amount of time" on the site. I would need to quantify that and identify the ramifications. We blocked MySpace in our open access lab at the community college because students were not only spending several hours a day on it (not a problem in itself) , but when lines got long and they were asked to relinquish the computer if they were not working on class work most would not. We did not have this problem with online gaming, YouTube or even borderline porn sites such as Maxim, or FHM. So if students make it a problem, them block it; if not then I guess let freedom reign. Just my humble opinion.
Posted by: Herb Coleman ( Email: ) at 9/8/2009 3:39 PM

We currently block Facebook for our students. We do it for the same reason that we:
- take away notes that we see being passed in class, though we teach writing
- prohibit cell phone conversations during class, though we teach speach
- prohibit texting during class, though we teach writing
- do not allow whispering during a presentation, though we encourage group work among students

There seems to be a place and a time for interacting socially with other students and a time for interacting academically with other students. When you interact academically with other students in a face to face setting, is there really a need to simultaneously communicate with those people electronically? Students have enough things that distract them from learning, why add one more?
Posted by: Joshua Schoeneck ( Email: | Visit ) at 9/8/2009 3:39 PM

Ditto on what Brad Ovenell-Carter said. I couldn't have said it any better myself.
Posted by: Steve Katz ( Email: | Visit ) at 9/8/2009 9:35 PM

This is something we've been looking at and thinking about and I have to lean on the side of opening it up. Not that I'm a big fan of Facebook (it seems to be where all my social circles collide, "Co-worker meet my High School buddy." But I think it speaks to something larger. Few, if any, students have Internet filters at home. I think there are two ways to look at that,
1) So what, it's at home, not my problem.
2) If the kids are not modeled appropriate use at school, they're not going to get it anywhere.

Now, does that mean NO filters? of course not, but
if you start the 'wack-a-mole' game of blocking one site, while another opens rather than having the conversation about when and how it's ok to use these sites.
Posted by: Kern Kelley ( Email: | Visit ) at 9/8/2009 10:49 PM

I have a 45 year old wife who keeps getting distracted by facebook (Farmtown et al). As Bud says, (paraphrase) it isn't the site it is the classroom management.
Posted by: Brendan Murphy ( Email: | Visit ) at 9/8/2009 11:24 PM

Kia ora e Darren!

I'm quite taken aback.

If a school blocks Facebook it's opting out of a whole raft of responsibilities, none the least of which is safe networking on the Internet.

I have a dozen questions I'd like to put here. The first two are specifically to do with the thrust of your post.

1 - When should kids be taught the safe and appropriate use of networking on the Internet?

2 - Who teaches kids this safe and appropriate use?

My metaphor for the situation is Road Safety when kids are walking on the walkways adjacent to road traffic.

3 - When should kids be taught the safe and appropriate use of walkways?

4 - Who takes the responsibility for teaching this to kids?

5 – Do schools opt out completely and leave this to parents and/or caregivers?

6 - Do you block kids from going out on the roads altogether? (<i>I know - very difficult to do - Just think about it.</i>)

7 - If the school could stop them from accessing the walkways, at what age should they permit them to use walkways?

Say the age was 18 years old (choose your own selected age for this).

9 - At that age do you permit them to access the roads on their own?

10 - Is that when you start introducing Road Safety?

Hmmm.

Obviously none of the above ideas suggested in the questions 6 – 11 would be any real use for introducing Road Safety to kids.

11 - So when do kids get taught Road Safety?

12 - Who takes responsibility for this?

If you have answers to the last two questions you may also have the answers to my first two.

Catchya later
Posted by: Ken Allan ( Email: | Visit ) at 9/9/2009 1:29 AM

Another aspect that needs consideration is bandwidth. Where I am, in South Africa, even though we are a very well-resourced school, bandwidth is a very precious commodity. We cannot afford to squander it all on Facebook, YouTube, etc. So our compromise is to have some closely defined recreational times when they are open, and for the rest we block it to allow those who want to do web surfing for work purposes some bandwidth. More generally, we feel this promotes a better balance between the real and virtual worlds.
Posted by: Peter de Lisle ( Email: | Visit ) at 9/9/2009 7:55 AM

I am currently researching this topic for a large school district in GA. They are far from allowing facebook as Wikipedia and Google Earth are currently blocked so I was very intrigued by your thoughtful consideration and the comments above. I am trying to gather data from other school districts and how they are addressing the security and digital citizenship issues presented by the integration of Web 2.0 tools. Can you and other district leaders and CIO's who read this please help with my research by completed this quick survey? http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dFpVM1VjUGZPdXRRY0l3bmhGeXcxeFE6MA.. Thanks so much in advance!
Posted by: Lesley Reilly ( Email: ) at 9/9/2009 9:18 PM

I got to thinking about Ken's road safety questions.

3 - When should kids be taught the safe and appropriate use of walkways?

Safety should be taught at a young age, but in a safe environment. You hold a child's hands for years to keep them safe and by your side in malls and shopping centers. You don't let them off to do their own thing until they matured enough to handle it. In your neighborhood you still watch them carefully until they prove they can stay out of the street even when tempted by a ball going into the street. How does this translate to the internet - Students must be monitored constantly and should not be dropped off to do their own thing until they have matured enough. Young teens will easily be drawn "into the street". They are not mature enough yet.

4 - Who takes the responsibility for teaching this to kids?

Parents should, but if the child goes to daycare, their care provider will also. And usually the care provider will be much more cautious and protective. Often they won't even go near streets (playgrounds are fenced). So also with the internet. Parents should teach the student about the internet. While at school much more protection should be use. (internet is filtered).

5 – Do schools opt out completely and leave this to parents and/or caregivers?

The school is takes planned field trips. They remind students to be careful crossing streets. They make sure that crossing road and walking on side walks are safe during the field trip. They do not take they out and drop them off some place and let them do whatever they want. So with the internet. During school hours, students should have a purpose for going on the Internet. They should be instructed on safety and the places they go should be safe.

6 - Do you block kids from going out on the roads altogether? (<i>I know - very difficult to do - Just think about it.</i>)

Young children, yes. There's a maturity thing here. College students should be treated differently that high school students and high school students are different than elementary students. Why do you think there are fences around playgrounds. Sure there are times you go outside the fence, but then there is appropriate supervision. Can you prevent all access to roadways? No, but you don't have to let them play in the street either.

7 - If the school could stop them from accessing the walkways, at what age should they permit them to use walkways?

When would the students need to have access to walkways. Not during school time, except for maybe field trips or an off campus excursion and then it would be supervised. So with the Internet - when would the students need access to the facebook, etc. Not during school time, except for maybe a educational project that would be supervised and monitored by the teacher.

Say the age was 18 years old (choose your own selected age for this).

9 - At that age do you permit them to access the roads on their own?

In my opinion that is up to the parents and schools should always keep them safely away from the roads. As a teacher should always be aware of safety issues and help students to understand them. If you see them playing in the street, you need to call them back and may sure they are safe. If playing in the street is a big temptation, take it away any play somewhere else. They are plenty of other places to play that are safe.

10 - Is that when you start introducing Road Safety?

No, safety is an on going thing. Talk about it at every opportunity. But you don't learn by leaving a child by an unfenced superhighway and hope they know what to do.

If you haven't guessed by now, I don't think there is any real value to Facebook in a school setting. There are a lot of other ways for students to communicate and learn using the internet without Facebook. Try using Google Docs or Moodle for educational interaction. Get involved with an educational community. Facebook is like letting students use their PS2 or Wii during instruction time. I'm sure there can be some social or educational value found in them, but using a Flashmaster would be a much better use of your student's time.
Posted by: Debee ( Email: ) at 9/13/2009 5:50 PM

Last year our school district recently blocked Facebook from our network. I do not feel that Facebook is educational and it is mearly for sociallizing. Facebook was blocked from our school because teachers would post comments through out the day. If schools would allow facebook in school, then why don't they just let them talk or play games while in class. Me personally believe that blocking facebook would benefit students and teachers to focus on school and work.
Posted by: Buster ( Email: ) at 9/28/2009 9:48 AM