The first topic was about whether things that happen online should be acted upon by schools. In my opinion, posting inappropriate or threatening material online, while off campus, is fair game for discipline. A student is a reflection of a school. If horrible things are being sent out on the web, that school will be affected. If online harassment is the issue, schools need to stop this at once. Harassment has to start somewhere. It may start online, but could eventually make its way to the school. Therefore, I believe that students should be disciplined by their schools for inappropriate behavior online.
The second topic dealt with whether teachers and students should be friends on Facebook. I think there should be strong limits placed on friending teachers and students. If a teacher does add a student, or vise versa, privacy settings need to be altered. Teachers should set it so that students can only see a limited profile of their teacher. Professionalism needs to be portrayed inside and outside of the classroom. Another alternative rather than friending would be for the teacher and students to join a page or group. This way, it can limit interactions outside of the classroom (no secret conversations) and let students communicate with their educators about school.
The third topic dealt with whether students should be able to use cell phones in school. I think that students should be able to use phones in cases of emergency. The phones should be kept off on a regular basis. The phones could be used to look up research with special permission from the teacher. If there are not enough computers available, a student can pair with other students to be productive while looking up research. Using a cell phone to simply text friends, however, is not okay. It is both disrespectful and distracting to the classroom.
The final topic discussed in Tuesday's class focused on teachers being able to express their religious and political views on social networking sites. I believe that they should be able to do so. It comes down to free speech. Everyone has their own opinion. There is nothing wrong letting others know what type of church you attend or what you think about politics. Opinions can be expressed through conversations, clothing, bumper stickers, etc. Teachers can't be banned from making these type of statements, so why should online be any different?
