Facebook can be used for teaching, communicating, and collaborating according to this document. It outlines how instructors can create groups for students to discuss course material and share resources. Privacy and ownership issues are also discussed, noting that Facebook owns all content and that students should be careful what they post. Examples of using Facebook for these purposes include posting reading lists and videos, communicating with private messages or groups, and finding subject-specific discussion groups. Controls are available to manage privacy and visibility of profiles and content.

1. Facebook: teaching,
communicating and
collaborating
Tony Brett
Head of IT Support Staff Services
OUCS
Tuesday 6 November 2007

2. Agenda
• Quick Facebook Introduction
• Privacy and Ownership Concerns
• Disciplinary Action
• Communicating
• Collaborating
• Teaching
• Practical

3. What is Facebook?
• A “social networking” site
• Framework for information
• Complex control of who can see what
• Users have a “profile” with a picture* and
other personal details as they wish,
including “limited profile”
• Based on “Networks”
• Facebook creates a newsfeed based on
what your “friends” are doing
* Picture is important for recognition, especially with common names

4. What is Facebook?
• Started in Harvard University Feb 2004
• Later added academic addresses (.edu, .ac.uk etc)
making “networks” for “colleges”
– Oxford network has just over 33,000 people in it, out a
possible c. 45,000
• Regional and Employer networks also exist
– “Regional” anyone can join, but can’t change too often
– “Employer” requires email address in the right domain
• Opened to anyone with email in Sep 2006

5. Facebook features
• The Wall
• Messages INBOX (and threads)
• Pokes
• Groups
• Events
• Photos & Videos (with tagging)
• Posted items (text and URLs)
• Shared items
• Applications

6. Other Social Networking Sites
• Bebo – lots of school children
• MySpace – musicians etc.
– Sometimes called “poor man’s facebook”
• Friendfinder
• Twitter
• And other minor sites

7. Privacy Concerns
• People worry about revealing their personal lives
to the world
• Tutors and Students may want to keep things
from each other!
– Restricted Profiles can help
• Identity Theft Risk
– Don’t show DOB and Home Address!
• Facebook staff can check profiles (for policy
violations)
• Things are “cached” on the web so even if you
put something up then remove it, it may still be
held elsewhere for years!

8. How to control privacy
• Privacy screen on Facebook
• Settings for:
– Profile
– Search
– News feed
– Poke, message, friend request
– Applications
• Don’t put stuff up you don’t want others to
see. Think about future employers etc.

9. Ownership Concerns
• Facebook T&Cs say that they own everything
you put there
– All content on the Site … are the proprietary property
of the Company.
• Copyright Policy is strict
– But don’t put things up you intend to publish or
otherwise claim copyright to!
– You acknowledge and agree that any questions, comments,
suggestions, ideas, feedback or other information about the
Site or the Service ("Submissions"), provided by you to
Company are non-confidential and shall become the sole
property of Company.

10. Disciplinary Action
• Don’t name your employer and then defame
them or say anything to bring them into
disrepute
• Oxford Students have been disciplined with
evidence from Facebook after post-exam
“trashing”
• In April, students at a Toronto school were
banned from an end-of-the-year trip after
disparaging remarks about a teacher were found
on Facebook

11. So why use Facebook for Teaching?
• Personal and professional networking only
differ in the content, not the tool
• Students today are “digitally native”
• There is a divide between the way they
learn and the way we teach
• We are the digital immigrants!
• Teaching students the way they prefer to
learn may improve attainment

12. Digital Natives vs. Digital Immigrants
Source: http://www.apple.com/au/education/digitalkids/disconnect/landscape.html

13. Teaching
• Have your students in groups?
• Have them as Facebook “friends” perhaps
with limited profile status
• Post and share URLs
– Weblearn material
– Reading lists
– Other online material
• Photos & Videos (but watch copyright!)

14. Communicating
• Groups
– Discussions
– Photos
– Videos
– Posted items (Weblearn URLs?)
– Group events and invitations
– Groups for tutorial groups?
– Don’t have to be a friend to be in a group with
someone
• Personal messages & threads

15. Collaborating
• Cross-Institution Groups
• Subject-specific groups
– Try searches
• Groups or Events for specific conferences/meetings
– UCISA is experimenting with this
• Easy way to post and share videos and photos
• Universal across HE worldwide (almost!)
• Don’t forget ownership & privacy issues!

16. Exercises
• Make a profile if you don’t already have one
– Adjust your privacy settings
– Join the Oxford network
• Make friends with your neighbour
• Make your neighbour only see your limited profile
• Search for groups that cover your subject
• Make a group and invite your neighbour to it – or join
an existing one
• Have a look at the Oxford network page
• Search for some people you know
– Unusual names are easier!

17. References
• http://www.cit.cornell.edu/policy/memos/facebook.html
– Useful notes from Cornell (April 2006)
• http://www.educause.edu/apps/er/erm06/erm0660.asp
– Notes from Educause December 2006 (long)
• http://www.educause.edu/LIVE0621
– Live presentation: Facing Facebook and other social networking technologies
• http://blogs.edgehill.ac.uk/webservices/2007/10/30/fear-of-facebook/
– Comments from a UK University
• http://student.independent.co.uk/university_life/article3068385.ece
– Networking sites: Professors keep out! (October 07)
• http://www.apple.com/au/education/digitalkids/disconnect/landscape.html
– The “digital disconnect”