02-07-2008, 03:42 AM
threeprong ... this is Facebook we're talking about, not myspace... (not that makes SUCH a huge difference, I'm just saying, since Facebook at least seems to have as its basis the college idea of a traditional facebook) ... whereas myspace mostly seems to be for social networking amongst peers, Facebook is a little less clear-cut.
As for whether a teacher's relationship with their students is social or professional, I would say that (unfortunately) that's not a clear line either. If it were purely professional, there wouldn't really be any interaction outside the classroom or in a non-academic context, and yet that's clearly not the case ... as I see it, it's not so much about the question of social versus professional, as it is how or whether to use the technology which the students are so comfortable with, in order to connect with them. For example, I have one colleague who I discovered is posting his lectures to YouTube, and has a blog to which students can post. In general, I have not been in favor of things like that, because I'd agree that there are too many opportunities for such things to be easily misused or abused. On the other hand, at my particular institution, apparently the one key aspect that students rate above all else in their evaluations of their experience at our school is how they've interacted with their professors OUTSIDE of the classroom... that is to say, the teacher could be the best teacher in the world, but if the student hasn't gotten any impression that the prof cares about them at all outside of the classroom, then he or she is very negative about the whole experience. (This isn't surprising I guess, given how huge some classes have gotten, etc.)
As for whether a teacher's relationship with their students is social or professional, I would say that (unfortunately) that's not a clear line either. If it were purely professional, there wouldn't really be any interaction outside the classroom or in a non-academic context, and yet that's clearly not the case ... as I see it, it's not so much about the question of social versus professional, as it is how or whether to use the technology which the students are so comfortable with, in order to connect with them. For example, I have one colleague who I discovered is posting his lectures to YouTube, and has a blog to which students can post. In general, I have not been in favor of things like that, because I'd agree that there are too many opportunities for such things to be easily misused or abused. On the other hand, at my particular institution, apparently the one key aspect that students rate above all else in their evaluations of their experience at our school is how they've interacted with their professors OUTSIDE of the classroom... that is to say, the teacher could be the best teacher in the world, but if the student hasn't gotten any impression that the prof cares about them at all outside of the classroom, then he or she is very negative about the whole experience. (This isn't surprising I guess, given how huge some classes have gotten, etc.)