Hi Holly, I teach 2 courses this semester and both are accompanied with websites on the Moodle platform. In addition, I have opened designated closed FB groups (each course has its own group opened only to the course students). Both courses deal with the Internet (one is 'online resources in Law & the Social Sciences' and the second is 'The Internet as a Political Platform'); nevertheless, some of my students are still reluctant to open an FB account.... So I'm uploading all my formal teaching sources to the course's Moodle site while the FB is only a voluntary option. More than half of my students in both courses joined the groups and they use it for questions, peer discussions, links and videos connected to the topic etc. The FB avoiding students are well aware that formal course resources will be available on Moodle while extras will only be available in the FB group and it's their choice. I have to say that they are pleased with that. Some of the students have complained to me that they think it is inappropriate that a few lecturers make this requirement a compulsory one while they would like to have the option to choose whether they would prefer not to use the FB group despite of its advantages. There is no general college policy regarding the usage of other than Moodle online platforms Good luck, Sharon Best Wishes, Sharon Haleva Amir, School of Governance and Social Policy, Beit Berl College, HCLT Fellow, (PhD Candidate) Faculty of Law, University of Haifa, ISRAEL. -------------------------------------------------- http://www.coolcite.com/user/1694 http://weblaw.haifa.ac.il/en/research/resstudents/pages/sharonha.aspx SSRN Author Page: http://ssrn.com/author=1227022 -----Original Message----- From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Holly Kruse Sent: Wednesday, November 07, 2012 11:25 PM To: air-l@aoir.org Subject: [Air-L] policies on students and social media platforms I've volunteered to spearhead a department initiative to draft an ethics document. Part of it would involve whether it's okay to require students to have or use online presences on social network sites or blogging platform for class. I have my own complicated feelings about this (which are rather site-specific and related to privacy controls and other factors), but I'm wondering if there are any academic departments out there that have grappled with this issue and have policies about it. Thanks, Holly _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/