Abstract: Facebook has increasingly been used as a pedagogical tool in the higher education classroom, attractive to many instructors because of its learner-centered, social orientation. However, using Facebook to support learning also brings ethical and privacy issues to the forefront. For example, instructors and students need to consider who friends whom and what types of personal information should be shared between instructors and their students. In this article, we review the literature and explore the efficacy of using Facebook in as a learning tool in higher education, discuss the issues related to ethical use and integration of the social media tool, and highlight privacy concerns. We recommend the development of clear guidelines to assist faculty who wish to use Facebook as part of their teaching practice.

1. Friending and Footprints:
Privacy and Ethical
Issues of Facebook Use
in Higher Education
Vanessa P Dennen
.
Kerry J. Burner
Florida State University
Presentation at Elearn 2013 – Las Vegas, NV
Contact: vdennen@fsu.edu

2. Facebook is
Everywhere

3. The Excitement
I’ll have my students blog
and tweet …
We’ll use Facebook, too …
I’ll reach the digital natives
…

4. The Problem
This assignment
makes me
uncomfortable
Gonna Google you
before I hire you

5. Why Use Facebook?
— Learner-centered
— Already being used
— Convenient
— Motivational

6. A moment of caution
We’re not saying to not use Facebook, but that one should take a moment
to think about the risks and benefits before diving in.

7. Convenience
It would be convenient to push course updates to students
in their ticker, but do people really want the reminder when
engaged in social and leisure activities?

8. Facebook &
Learner Motivation
Evidence that questions the claim that learners are
motivated to use FB for courses:
— Students act out of agency rather than generational
destiny (Jones & Healing, 2010)
— Students use different technologies in personal
lives than in classroom (Margaryan, Littlejohn &
Vogt, 2011).
— Social and school-based computing have different
means/ends

9. Informal vs Formal
School Use
Informal
— Students choose to
integrate FB with school
experiences by using it to
share course information,
provide emotional support
and perform academic
identity (Selwyn, 2009).
Formal
— Fewer than ¼ of their
students wanted to use
Facebook to support
formal learning activities
(Prescott, Wilson & Becket,
2013).
— Students using Elgg online
social network for a course
focused on graded
activities, not social
networking (Veletsianos &
Navarrete, 2012)

10. What is Facebook?
— A network
— A communication tool
— An identity performance space

11. Facebook Identity
A collection of profile photos, sharing different parts of life – mom,
wife, professional, playful. Although we perform identity differently
with different groups, on Facebook it is a unified identity performance.

12. Who’s Connected to Me
Me
Mom
College Friend
Great Aunt
Sally
High School
Friend
Friends of
Friends
Student
Colleague
Acquaintance
Former
Student
Facebook is whole-network focused. It requires major effort to maintain
separate Facebook identities for family, different groups of friends,
classmates, colleagues, etc.

13. Instructors and students
need help!
The goal: Make Facebook a space in which no course-related discomfort occurs.

14. Where are the guidelines?
In the United States …
— FERPA governs what student information may be
shared by instructors and institutions
— IRBs have oversight on research
— Who monitors online sharing and risk in the
classroom?

15. Two Big Issues
— Digital Footprints
— Friending

16. Digital Footprint Dilemma
— Students who already have a Facebook account /
digital footprint are being asked to consider it as a
learning space in addition to a social one
— Students who do not already have an account are
being asked to create one and leave a digital
footprint

17. Digital Footprint Dilemma
Options:
— Create new account under real name
— Problem: Must now leave digital footprint
— Create new (or second) account under fictitious
name
— Problem: Violates Facebook’s terms of service
— Opt out
— Problem: Student is excluded from part of learning
experience

18. Friending Dilemma
— Is it acceptable for professors and students to be
friends?
— At what point?
— Who should initiate the friending?
— What would be awkward interactions between
professor and student friends?

19. Solution? Adjust Settings
— Facebook is a rapidly evolving technological
environment
— Privacy settings are complex
— Privacy settings are not entirely within a user’s
control

20. Solution? Self-censor
— Can leave individuals stifled
— Personal comfort and appropriateness may be fluid
concepts

21. Privacy and Facebook
— Half of all users struggle with privacy setting (Madden,
2012)
— 15% of traditional college student age group has posted
content they later regret (Madden, 2012)
— There are high levels of discrepancy between actual and
desired settings (Madejski, Johnson & Bellovin, 2012)
— Privacy protecting behavior is most common among
people who have already had a negative experience
(Christofides, Muise & Desmarais, 2012)

22. A call for guidelines
— Clarify when and how Facebook may be used in
class
— Provide alternate and equivalent options for
students who opt out
— Provide guidance on other issues such as:
— Friending and unfriending
— Tagging
— Discussing class related topics on Facebook

23. Thank you for attending.
— Questions?
— Thoughts or experiences you would like to share?
Contact info:
vdennen@fsu.edu
vanessadennen.com
kburner@fsu.edu

24. References (1 of 2)
— Christofides, E., Muise, A., & Desmarais, S. (2012). Risky disclosures
on Facebook: The effect of having a bad experience on online
behavior. Journal of Adolescent Research, 27(6), 714-731. doi:
10.1177/0743558411432635
— Jones, C., & Healing, G. (2010). Net generation students: Agency and
choice and the new technologies. Journal of Computer Assisted
Learning, 26(5), 344-356. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2729.2010.00370.x
— Madden, M. (2012). Privacy management on social media sites.
Washington, D.C.: Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life
Project.
— Madejski, M., Johnson, M., & Bellovin, S. M. (2012). A study of privacy
setting errors in online social network. Paper presented at the Fourth
International Workshop on Security and Social Networking, Lugano,
Switzerland.

25. References (2 of 2)
— Margaryan, A., Littlejohn, A., & Vojt, G. (2011). Are digital natives a
myth or reality? University students’ use of digital technologies.
Computers & Education, 56(2), 429-440. doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.
2010.09.004
— Prescott, J., Wilson, S., & Becket, G. (2013). Facebook use in the
learning environment: Do students want this? Learning, Media and
Technology, 1-6. doi: 10.1080/17439884.2013.788027
— Selwyn, N. (2009). Faceworking: Exploring students' education‐
related use of Facebook. Learning, Media and Technology, 34(2),
157-174. doi: 10.1080/17439880902923622
— Veletsianos, G., & Navarrete, C. (2012). Online social networks as
formal learning environments: Learner experiences and activities.
The International Review Of Research In Open And Distance Learning,
13(1), 144-166.