This study investigated the presence and content of school policies used by Virginia school divisions to address issues arising from educators' use of social media. The study also explored Virginia school divisions' policy implementation practices and resolutions for educators' social media use issues. Survey response analysis and policy review are combined to define: 1) Virginia school divisions' experiences with educators' inappropriate use of social media, 2) how Virginia school divisions are addressing educators' social media dilemmas and 3) the characteristics of school policies used to address social media issues in Virginia.
The findings indicate that while 90% of respondents are concerned about the dilemmas created by educator social media use, 89% report having effective policies in place to address these issues. Responding Virginia school divisions are using Acceptable Use Policies (98%), Code of Conduct policies (54%) and Social Media policies (32%) to address educators' social media issues. The most common reported infractions are unprofessional comments. Most teachers sanctioned for online conduct are disciplined through reprimand (written and verbal) by school system administrators. / EDD / Social media has become a part of daily life for many people. People communicate about life events, daily happenings, and personal thoughts through various forms of social media (Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter). When educators share personal or work related news through social media there can be professional consequences. When social media sharing gains negative public attention school divisions act to protect the school community.
This study surveyed all school division superintendents in the Commonwealth of Virginia to find the types of social media issues that have occurred with educators and how such matters are handled. Survey responses were received from every region in the Commonwealth. Nearly every responding division had experienced issues with teacher use of social media. Most social media incidents creating issues occurred when teachers made comments on social media that the school divisions found inappropriate or unprofessional. School divisions generally reacted to social media issues through written or verbal reprimands to educators. A large majority of divisions relied on Acceptable Computer Use Agreements between the school system and educators to regulate and manage issues that occurred. Most school divisions reported that their school policies (including Acceptable Computer Use Agreements) were effective in handling educator social media issues.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/95914 |
| Date | 11 June 2018 |
| Creators | Mabe, Faith Grenada |
| Contributors | Counselor Education, Alexander, Michael D., Salmon, Richard G., Earthman, Glen I., Robinett, Melinda K. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
Page generated in 0.0022 seconds