Should teachers in the digital age be allowed to Facebook friend and Twitter follow their students? The New York Department of Education (NYC DOE) says no, Mashable reports. The city’s first social media policy released earlier this week draws a clear line between city employees’ personal and professional accounts. NYC DOE Teachers cannot use social media accounts unaffiliated to the school on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+ and Flickr to contact students regardless of the nature of the message.
“The DOE strives to create professional social media environments that mirror the academically supportive environments of our schools,” the guidelines [1] states.
Professional accounts for a class may be used, if pre-approved by the school. Communication with DOE students on the Internet is now limited to school-based platforms — social networks and blogs — for instructional, educational or extra-curricular projects…