Facebook.com on your Campus...Friend or Foe?
Winter 2006 - course #1
Instructor: Shawn McGuirk
Course Overview:
Have you heard of thefacebook.com on your campus? If you haven't yet, no doubt you will soon. In the past, when students wanted to interact with each other they would have to figure out a place and time to meet and actually have a face-to-face conversation. Or they could talk with each other on the telephone for hours on end if they so chose. Then along came email….and Instant Messenger…and now? Facebook, and Dailyjolt, and Friendster, etc. Somebody get me off this crazy technology rollercoaster!!
Of course, the reality is that this isn't happening, because it looks like facebook, et al are here to stay. So this begs the questions:
- What do we know about it?
- What are our are students doing on it?
- Should we/can we do anything about it?
- Should we be educating our students about these sites?
- Should administrators be educated?
- What are the legal issues student affairs administrators should be aware of?
Naturally, responses will vary. There are those of you out there that are very familiar with facebook, dailyjolt, etc., and there are some of us that are not so familiar.
Course Outline:
Participants will be given some historical information related to facebook.com. We will then move on to reviewing the different components of the facebook (and maybe one or two other related sites if there is an interest) and its intricacies. From there, participants will proceed to case studies examine institutional policy, student behavior and administrative responses. We will attempt to discern if laws or policies are being violated, and if so, what an institution can do about it (if anything).
Finally, we will address the pros and cons of professional staff creating profiles on facebook, and how facebook can be used appropriately and inappropriately on our campuses.
Topics will be explored in depth on the Discussion Board where we will "come together" for what I believe will be a thought provoking interchange.
Learning Outcomes:
Upon completion of this course, active participants will:
- Gain a historical perspective on facebook.
- Gain a better familiarity with facebook's various components.
- Learn specific skills, like how to create a profile, post messages, search for other students, staff etc.
- Better understand some of the legal issues associated with facebook.
- Participate in real-life case studies so as to be better prepared should similar situations arise on your campus.
Participant Expectations:
Participants should expect to devote about 5 hours during each week of this three weeks course in order to read the online materials, fully participate in the online discussions and submit the online assignments. The final project for the course will take all of the information above into account as participants delve into an intricate case study of their own making. They will also be expected to create a profile and group on facebook, as well as find people at other institutions.
This will be administered as an asynchronous class which means participants can log on whenever they wish and whatever location they have Internet access. The Discussion Board is the focus of online learning in this course. There will be no "real time" meetings for this course. On the Discussion Board we will spend time considering many facets of facebook.com, and issues that others are experiencing on their campuses.
Participation in the online discussion is critical to your success in the class and is expected of each student.
Individuals registering for CEUs will receive 1.0 CEU upon successful
completion of the course.
Instructor Bio:
Shawn McGuirk is Director of Judicial Affairs and Mediation at Fitchburg State College.
Prior to working at FSC, Shawn was Director of Student Development & Conduct at Brandeis University.
He has worked in Student Affairs at Boston College, the University of Maine, and was an RD for 3 years at Marist College in
New York. Shawn is Circuit Representative for ASJA, Circuit 1. When he's not at work, he's at home with his wife and 3 children.
He enjoys a good cup of coffee and playing golf (though he's not very good at it).
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