Educators in a real and legal sense are held to a higher standard than the average person. Tips for educators on how to use social media safely.

2. Benefits of social media
 Provides a great space for sharing experiences,
best practices collaborating, researching and
updating one’s knowledge
 Exposes teachers to the possibilities offered by
web 2.0 technologies
 May increase student engagement
 Keeps educators up-to-date on news and current
public policy issues concerning education

4.  Facebook Privacy Settings and Tools:
https://www.facebook.com/about/basics/
 Twitter Safety and Security Settings:
http://bit.ly/13xKQqd
 YouTube Policies, Safety, and Reporting:
http://bit.ly/1aWVzsy
 Pinterest Basics: http://bit.ly/ZL0QwI
 Flickr Privacy and Sharing: http://bit.ly/15IsUC
KNOW YOUR PRIVACY
SETTINGS!

6. Be prepared to share everything you post with a
potential audience of millions.
 Screenshots
 Printouts
 Typed or copied text
 Online archival systems
UNDERSTAND THE LIMITS
OF ONLINE PRIVACY

7. Posted
from her
home
computer
and on a
page that
was set to
private.
UNDERSTAND THE LIMITS
OF ONLINE PRIVACY

9. http://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Teaching/Educator-Conduct/Licensure-Code-of-
Professional-Conduct-for-Ohio-Ed or http://1.usa.gov/1LOmomt
The most subjective part of which concerns
Professional Behavior:
Educators shall behave as professionals
realizing that their actions reflect directly on
the status and substance of the education
profession
LEARN ODE’S CODE OF
PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT

10. Don’t disparage anyone on the basis of:
 Race or ethnicity
 Socioeconomic status
 Gender
 National origin
 Sexual orientation
 Political or religious affiliation
 Physical characteristics
 Age
 Disability
LEARN ODE’S CODE OF
PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT

11. Fired
LEARN ODE’S CODE OF
PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT

12. Never joke about taking any kind of violent action
Disciplined
Fired
LEARN ODE’S CODE OF
PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT

13. Don’t talk
about breaking
the law or
violating rules,
even if you
haven’t been
charged
Disciplined
LEARN ODE’S CODE OF
PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT

14. LEARN ODE’S CODE OF
PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT

16. Most non-tenured teachers can be let go without
cause. Teacher free speech rights are fairly limited:
Protected as Free Speech
 Matters of public concern, i.e. broader
social/political issues of the day
EXCEPT when their speech disrupts the school’s
learning environment.
UNDERSTAND YOUR FIRST
AMENDMENT RIGHTS

17. NOT protected as Free Speech
 Matters of personal concern, e.g.
Social activities
Personal gripes
Partying
Resigned DismissedSuspended
Dismissed
CENSORED
UNDERSTAND YOUR FIRST
AMENDMENT RIGHTS

18. UNDERSTAND YOUR FIRST
AMENDMENT RIGHTS

21. DON’T POST ANYTHING
INAPPROPRIATE
Refrain from:
 Profanity
 Obscenity
 Images with you drinking, using drugs, in
questionable settings, with disreputable
companions, in inappropriate attire, or
engaging in illegal activities
 Anything that depicts you in an unfavorable
light

23. NEVER tell stories about work that include
personally identifiable details or information
protected by state or federal privacy laws.
DON’T VENT ABOUT
SCHOOL ONLINE
Fired

24. Even general
statements or
hypotheticals
put you at
risk.
DON’T VENT ABOUT
SCHOOL ONLINE
Suspended

26. DON’T JOIN
INAPPROPRIATE GROUPS

28.  Don’t assume Facebook friends of your friends
are safe. One Facebook spam victim lamented,
“I just befriended her ‘cause the other guys we
know did.”
 With access to personal information, they can
use that information to try to hack your
personal accounts online, like your bank account
.
DON’T FRIEND ANYONE
YOUR DON’T KNOW

30.  Create a Google alert to notify you when
anything about you has been posted
 Monitor comments that are posted to your page
and your friends’ photographs
• Delete inappropriate language or content
• Remove the tags from inappropriate
photographs & try to get photos removed
MONITOR YOUR OWN
INTERNET PRESENCE

31. MONITOR YOUR OWN
INTERNET PRESENCE

33. KEEP WORK AND PLAY
SEPARATE
 Don’t friend people you only know professionally
 Create a separate account if you want to connect
professionally or use a social network designed
specifically for connecting professionally
• Maintain appropriate boundaries
• Always use professional language
• Only connect with students transparently &
with everyone’s permission

34.  Don’t friend students from your personal account!
• One teacher was fired for jokingly “threatening”
a student with detention for calling him “sir.”
• Another teacher who friended students had
inappropriate pictures of herself posted
online. Her students were found to be talking
about the pictures.
KEEP WORK AND PLAY
SEPARATE

36.  Do not use social media at school, except
during free periods
 Do not access your personal email on a
school computer
 Do not bring your laptop to school and
connect to your school’s Wi-Fi
 Do not use your school’s Wi-Fi with your
mobile
LEARN YOUR SCHOOL’S
ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY

37.  Don’t use technology to host or post improper or
inappropriate material
 Make sure everything you do online is in keeping
with your school’s policy or policies, as well as
state and federal laws and regulations
LEARN YOUR SCHOOL’S
ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY

39. Feel free
to discuss
it with
your OEA
Labor
Relations
Consultant
CONTACT OEA IF YOU HAVE
ANY QUESTIONS