Procedure 1.2.1 EMPLOYEE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Document Review History
1.0 Authorization
Board authorization is not required for staff to open a personal Social Media account. If you plan to use social media for instructional purposes (e.g., classroom Twitter account or blog), inform your principal of your intended use.
Classroom Social Media accounts are seen as extensions of the school and must reflect the mission, vision, and priorities of District School Board Ontario North East. If a concern is raised about a classroom account, the principal will address any activity that may negatively impact the school, staff, and students. Garner informed consent from parents/guardians prior to posting and/or creating accounts for students. (Appendix A)
Schools use of social media are for general interactions to promote school activities and for teachers reaching families through alternate means of communication.
Staff are aware that any classroom materials developed or created as an employee of DSB1 cannot be sold for profit on such sites as Teachers pay Teachers. The resources may be shared freely amongst Board employees.
2.0 Blended Accounts
Blended accounts are not permitted when the employee intends to use the account for instructional purposes with students and/or to provide regular class updates to their students’ parents/guardians. The best practice for teachers is to create separate class or school accounts.
Staff are encouraged to maintain a clear distinction between their personal and professional social media use and should have two separate accounts for these purposes.
- If staff choose to have personal Social Media accounts, they should be separate from their professional accounts (e.g., Personal Learning Network (PLN), classroom, department, school accounts).
- Social Media accounts for the purpose of voluntary, self-directed professional development are supported, e.g., to build a PLN.
- Staff will communicate with students for educational purposes only. Avoid sharing personal information with students.
- Posting any inappropriate images or content cannot happen on classroom, department, and professional accounts.
- If you have a personal Social Media account that students become aware of, refer them back to the educational account for discussion rather than permitting personal or private messages.
3.0 Personal and Professional Boundaries
Every time you communicate, whether it’s in-person or on social media, you shape public opinion about you, your profession, your school, your board, and public education. Maintaining professional boundaries on social media is critical to sustaining public trust and ensuring relationships with students remain professional.
DSB1 staff are solely responsible for what they post online. Before creating and sharing content online, employees should consider the risks of using social media and carefully consider the impacts of any messaging on the different stakeholders who may see it while understanding that information may be circulated even if it is thought that the communications are private.
Regardless of whether the employee maintains one or multiple accounts, conduct on social media will be appropriate. As such, employees will use sound judgment and due care when using social media while on and off duty.
Teachers must adhere to the requirements of the Ontario College of Teachers: Professional Advisory – Use of Electronic Communication and Social Media (https://www.oct.ca/resources/advisories/use-of-electronic-communication-and-social-media) in all social media communication.
- All online dialogue and interactions with students and families should be for educational purposes only.
- Maintain a sense of professionalism at all times – in your personal and professional lives.
- Your social media interactions should be professional and reflect the board’s character attributes: caring, co-operative, honest, inclusive, respectful, and responsible.
- Be mindful of all equity and inclusivity-related board policies and the Ontario Human Rights Code when posting content.
- Your tone should be formal and professional when communicating with students and others via social media.
- Do not send private messages and/or texts of a personal nature.
- Never share information with students online that would not be appropriate to share in a classroom, or school/community setting. What is inappropriate in the classroom is also inappropriate on social media.
- Keep your posts positive and do not engage in negative or critical conversations online.
- Retweets, likes, and favourites are perceived as endorsements. These interactions should be limited and done with care.
4.0 Legal Implications
The inappropriate use of social media can result in an employee being subject to disciplinary action, being criminally prosecuted or being sued civilly in court.
Electronic communication and social media can also be used as evidence in criminal and civil proceedings.
If you would normally seek out permission to use content in the offline world, you should do so when posting another’s content in social media. Posting of material can be considered “fair use” under the Copyright Act. If it is not “fair use” then you need to get permission to post copyrighted material.
See Ontario College of Teachers: Professional Advisory – Use of Electronic Communication and Social Media (https://www.oct.ca/resources/advisories/use-of-electronic-communication-and-social-media).
5.0 Privacy and Confidentiality
Safety is the overriding concern with regard to information posted online. Always respect the privacy and confidentiality of student information. Breaches of privacy and confidentiality can occur with respect to the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the Youth Criminal Justice Act, and Board policies and procedures.
- Familiarize yourself with the Social Media tool’s privacy settings. Settings can change without notice so you will need to check them frequently. This often occurs when platforms are updated.
- Ensure privacy settings are appropriate and protect the privacy and confidentiality of students and their work.
- Employees must never disclose confidential information about the school, students, and colleagues.
- Particular care must be taken with students for whom the principal has identified custody/safety concerns.
- Informed consent is necessary when placing personal student information online. This includes, but is not limited to, names, locations, blogs, student work, individual and group photographs, videos featuring the student or other identifying information. Consent is provided via the Student Release Form (Appendix A) and iPad Loan Agreement Form (Appendix D of Procedure 1.2.10) that are sent home with all students at the start of the school year.
- Consent is not required for photos and videos that are taken at public meetings and/or events.
- Everything you post can be altered and shared, even if your account is anonymous. Comments expressed privately between Social Media users can be shared in a more public domain, even with privacy settings set to high. Think before you post.
6.0 Who to "Friend" and "Follow"
Staff should not have online interactions with students on social media outside of forums/platforms dedicated to educational use. This is consistent with the advice provided in Ontario College of Teachers: Professional Advisory – Use of Electronic Communication and Social Media: https://www.oct.ca/resources/advisories/use-of-electronic-communication-and-social-media.
- Do not issue or accept student friend requests or follow individual students on social media.
- Staff should decline students’ friend requests on social media.
- If you have a classroom account where you share important curricular information with students, students may follow your account. For the purposes of learning, you do not need to follow them back. Instead, you can encourage students to use tools, like hashtags, so that you can follow their online conversations. These can be linked to a specific area of study.
7.0 Professional Hours
Social Media operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This doesn’t mean you have to. Monitoring and replying at any time of the day or night sets up an expectation that you will always do so.
- DSB1 staff are prohibited from social media use during regular working hours for non-Board related purposes.
- We encourage staff to establish “professional office hours” and share them with students and parents so that they know if and when you will respond to questions that are posted on social media.
- Student safety and supervision is a top priority. Staff can post to social media during the instructional day only if it is for educational purposes and if student safety can be maintained.
8.0 Maintenance and Monitoring Responsibilities
At the discretion of the school principal, school Social Media accounts may be run by one or more school staff members. They must not be run by a student or community volunteer. School Social Media accounts represent the brand of the school and the Board, and must represent and uphold their values. Communication sent out via Social Media accounts should have a consistent voice and be positive in tone.
It is important that staff regularly monitor their Social Media accounts.
- Posts and comments of an inappropriate nature or that contain personal or irrelevant information should be documented and removed/deleted promptly, if permitted by the tool.
- In some cases, it may be necessary to report a post or comment to an administrator for investigation. Please use your professional judgment in this regard. If you would report a behaviour if it happened at school, you should report similar online behaviour.
- Consider setting your privacy settings so that you are notified if you are tagged or mentioned in photos or posts. Remove tags that may reflect negatively on you.
- Consider forwarding Social Media notifications to your email so that you can see what is being said about you online without logging into your Social Media accounts.
9.0 Duty of Care
There are concerns about personal duty of care in terms of monitoring social media when a student identifies that he or she is in crisis. All of the expectations and duties of employees apply with respect to conduct, responding to a child in need of protection or in crisis, as well as policies and procedures generally, and specifically regarding bullying, or activities that would be actionable through progressive discipline.
10.0 Social Media Form
All newly hired employees are required to sign off on the Employee Use of Social Media Policy form included in their hire package, to acknowledge that they have read and understood the policy and these procedures.
References
Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act
Peel District School Board Resources:
- Social Media Guidelines for Staff
- Student Blanket Consent Form
Appendices