fishbat, an award-winning social media agency, comments on the social media restrictions placed on both students and teachers alike in the Champaign School District.
fishbat, an award-winning social media agency, comments on the social media restrictions placed on both students and teachers alike in the Champaign School District.
On July 25, fishbat, a leading social media agency, weighs in on social media restrictions placed on the Champaign School District.
In an article published by The News-Gazette on July 15, 2013, titled “Schools Develop Rules for Social Media,” the Champaign School District implemented new rules and guidelines for social media and technology use in school. The article says the school believes social media is a great tool to use for communication, but needs to be regulated. By putting specific rules in place, school district officials believe that they will be able to use social media to effectively communicate information between teachers, students, and parents, without jeopardizing the level of professionalism.
According to the article,there a few regulations teachers must obey:
- Teachers are not permitted to share private social media accounts with parents or students.
- Teachers must refrain from texting students, unless it’s an emergency or related to canceled practices.
- When texting a student in an emergency, teachers must send the same text message to parents, as well their email addresses provided by the school.
Justin Maas, vice president of client relations at social media agency fishbat agrees that social media should not be ruled out as a useful tool in school. However, there may need to be appropriate regulations. “With social media paving the way for greater communication between parties, it is important to set specific boundaries for employees so that the entire organization is on the same page,” he says. “The power of social media is tremendous and if used properly, it can prove to be an effective for communication and education.”
Maas says social media is not just for online marketing companies and brands. “Students and teachers could learn a lot from social media,” he says. “It can help students develop certain skills in a real life way. For instance, it can help students think of better ways to organize ideas and promote creativity. When writing posts on Facebook or Twitter, students must find ways to get their message across without writing too much. People think it’s easy, but it actually takes a lot of thought. It’s definitely good for students to learn how to use social media in a positive and creative way.”
fishbat, Inc. is a full-service digital marketing and social media agency dedicated to connecting all types of businesses with their target audiences in the most effective and efficient way. Through innovative strategies in social media management, search engine optimization (SEO), branding, web design, mobile app development, reputation management and public relations, fishbat promotes a consistent and professional online voice for all of its clients.
