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Facebook has taken the world by storm and a whole new language of friending has been introduced. This technology has enabled family, friends and complete strangers to connect, reconnect or at times disconnect. Facebook does not have to be limited to the social life of teachers and students, though, and those teachers who are ready, might just find that Facebook can hold a lot more value than they think.

What Teachers can Do with Facebook

There are two ways a teacher can utilize Facebook. The first is to simply create a profile and allow friends, family and coworkers to friend them and connect in a very generalized way. The other way is to create a page specifically for the class. This page is in addition to a standard Facebook profile and in order to create a page or join a page, one must have a profile already.

To create a page, sign out of Facebook and go to the main page. There will be a create a page link that prompts the teacher through each step.

What Good is a Facebook Page to Teachers?

Once a teacher has created a page for their class, the possibilities of use are vast. First, each student in the class should “become a fan” of the page. To encourage each student to become a fan, the teacher can “suggest the page” to friends, or simply send the link to the page. This will essentially create a virtual class list.

Now that all the students, any parents who are interested and the teacher are connected through the class page, the fun can begin.

• Students can post homework questions and get feedback from other students and the teacher.
• Teachers can communicate with teachers about homework load, upcoming events and even schedule parent-teacher conferences.
• The teacher can create a list of resource links for students to use in projects.
• Live chat feature allows teacher and student/parent to communicate about a specific issue.
• The teacher can create events for the class and get RSVPs from parents.
• There is a discussion feature that allows the teacher to create virtual discussions about topics from class.
• Teacher can even take the time to create a quiz, if desired, for students to take in preparation for tests.

With some time and creativity, teachers may find even more uses for Facebook with their classes.

Drawbacks to Using Facebook in Education

Facebook is not a perfect solution for teachers and there are drawbacks to its use. First, there is no way for parents or teachers to control who the students talk to while on Facebook. There are no individually set parental controls that limit Facebook use. Because of this, some parents do not allow their younger children on Facebook and so this can create a problem for teachers.

Teachers who wish to use the features of Facebook with their class should take a poll of the class to see if everyone has a Facebook account. If a child does not have access to a computer or is not allowed to set up an account, the teacher should not pressure the student into joining.

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