Social Networking Sites (SNS) are incorporated into students’ everyday life, complicating some practices and reinforcing others. Students communicate through SNS about private issues as well as school work. Contemporary theory perceives learning as a horizontal process between multiple systems, such as school, work and home. According to Selwyn (2010) teachers should be warned against the use of Facebook in education due to nature of informal communication. Students use social media for identity building more than for educational purposes (Selwyn, 2010). Kirschner & Karpinski (2010) also warn against the use of SNS in education. In an explorative study their main finding shows that there is a significant negative relationship between pupils’ use of Facebook and academic performance. Mazer et al (2007) on the other hand argue that pupils are motivated when they collaborate with teachers who present information about themselves on Facebook. Privacy acquires a new meaning when people communicate so easily with known as well as unknown people. The Ethical challenges are different in digital media compared to face-to-face contexts (Ess, 2009).

The aim of this symposium is to highlight some ethical challenges educators have to face in the boundary between learning, privacy and SNS. Van den Beemt’s focus is on young peoples’ extended use of social media and educators’ search for manners to integrate these media to classroom learning. Codes of conduct for social media use could provide solutions to connect this media to learning processes. Helleve, Bjørkelo and Almås examine the use of SNS among pre-service secondary teachers, in parallel studies of Australia and Norway. Implications for teacher professional practice,and the adequacy of ethical preparation in pre-service training are discussed. Hannele Niemi as the third contributor describes how teacher education in two large Finnish universities has prepared student teachers to use ICT in teaching. Research data (n=454) results revealed that new teachers have competence in how to use ICT, but very little or no guidance in how to use social media in teaching and learning. Based on these results the national Ethical Council of Teaching Profession invited a group of experts to write a book about ethical concerns for teachers who use social media. Niemi will also focus on teachers’ comments on the book.

The discussant will acknowledge how advances in SNS influences the teaching profession and teachers’ associated ethical responsibilities.  The discussion will note commonalities and particularities highlighted by sociocultural variations, interpret how the studies advance knowledge and research agenda in this emergent field of research, and pose possible directions for further research.

Ess, C. (2009). Digital media ethics. Cambridge. Polity Press.

Kirschner, P.A. & Karpinski, A. C. (2010). Facebook and academic performance,

            Computers in Human Behavior. 26, 1237-1245.

Mazer, J.P., Murphy, R.E., & Simonds, C.J. (2007). I’ll see you on Facebook: The Effects of

            Computer-Mediated teacher Self-Disclosure on Student Motivation, Affective

            Learning, and Classroom Climate. Communication Education, 56(1), 1-17.

Selwyn, N. (2010). Schools and schooling in the Digital Age: A critical Perspective.         

          New York. Routledge.