This is so interesting, Emily. The fact that 88% of your clients already
have MySpace pages makes it quite clear that you are meeting them where
they already are. Being a CBO is an advantage here, since as others have
mentioned you pretty much can't access MySpace through any school
district. But it is a place where young people hang out, and could be used
for professional networking. I can certainly see why many of the youth
wouldn't want to share their MySpace page with their school or future
employers, and that is a good argument for having them create a new
account for professional purposes.

This is a tension that we all feel, I think, as our lives take shape more
and more online and boundaries between personal and professional get
blurred until something happens that makes you realize how exposed you
are. You and your staff have thought through a lot of the issues, so
thanks for sharing your policies. I like that you don't use any of the
information you get from the students' profiles, and that you have staff
create separate profiles that are only for work. 

I can see where it would be a slow process to get all staff on board, and
it sounds like you have a good strategy for doing that. MySpace is
particularly problematic, it seems to me, because of all the
'inappropriate content' and because it has become so commercial and it's
so easy to have a chaotic and overcrowded homepage. I understand why you
chose it, since your clients were already there, but for other agencies
considering starting out with social networking I think considering
different services would be important. Ning, which has already been
mentioned, is an excellent possibility with a very robust set of features,
and they seem to be interested in working with education and responding to
our needs and suggestions, so it is being used more and more by educators. 

I'm a member of a few different Ning communities, but the one I visit the
most is http://www.classroom20.com/. This has been a great professional
development social network for me, and I can see creating something
similar for students. It can be open or closed, which is an important
feature. I like having my own home page there, but also being able to
start a community-wide discussion or respond to one from the home page. I
haven't really used the photo and video feature, but Mariann posted a good
example of a video that someone posted in this community about social
networking with the student writing project. 

Here is a list of education-related social networks, mostly using Ning but
also including some on Facebook and elsewhere:
http://socialnetworksined.wikispaces.com/
It's a wiki, so if you have one to add you can add it. It gives you an
idea of the breadth of social networks in education.

Marian

P.S. I am mthacher on classroom20. Please add me as a friend or leave a
note on my page if you join.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marian Thacher, OTAN
P.O. Box 269003
Sacramento, CA 95826-9003
(916) 228-2597
www.otan.us


The Technology and Literacy Discussion List <technology at nifl.gov> on
Monday, February 11, 2008 at 10:53 AM -0800 wrote:
[Image]

>Getting Students and Staff on Board.  We launched the plan mid-cycle and

>did a short survey examining how many of our youth had MySpace pages. 88%

>admitted that they did, but a number of them were hesitant to turn over

>their MySpace page information to us because of the content on the page. 

>If you go to our MySpace page you will notice by looking at the comments

>that not all the profile pictures are “appropriate.” Among staff we had

>to agree to overlook this in order to meet the goals of the project. To

>balance this, we talk extensively in our classes about how employers are

>increasingly looking at MySpace pages prior to hiring.  

>

>Staff gathered together and developed a list of protocols for how we were

>going to implement MySpace internally.  These protocols addressed a

>number of challenges that we saw from the starting gate, including:

>student privacy, professionalism, and defining appropriate

>communication.  Here is what we decided:

>

>

>1.	Staff will not use what is on trainee’s MySpace pages against them. 

>For example, if a student references drug or alcohol abuse on their page,

>staff will not bring it up with the students. Remember, MySpace is an

>“alternate reality” for many kids, and much of what is said online may

>not be true. We need to make MySpace a safe space for our trainees so

>that we can use this resource effectively to our advantage.

> 

>

> 

>

>

>2.	For trainees who are uncomfortable with the idea of giving staff

>access to their MySpace page, encourage them to set up a separate

>“professional” MySpace page.

> 

>

> 

>

>

>3.	Despite OBT’s involvement with MySpace, trainees will still not be

>allowed to access their MySpace page during class time unless a staff

>member specifically directs them to the page as part of an activity.

>Trainees who wish to look at their MySpace page will be able to use OBT’s

>computers at the end of the day.

> 

>

> 

>

>

>4.	Staff will be encouraged but not required to create a MySpace to use

>with trainees. Staff wishing to be “friends” with OBT’s MySpace page must

>set up an OBT-specific MySpace page. You should not use your personal

>MySpace page under any circumstances; even if your page is professional,

>your friends’ pages might not be. When creating your OBT MySpace page,

>you must use your work email address and your headline should be “Job

>Title” at Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow. The only allowable friends

>are: trainees, alumni, or staff. All other friend requests should be

>denied.

> 

>

> 

>

>

>4.	Staff may use their OBT-specific MySpace page or the “OBT” MySpace

>page to contact students.  All communications must be professional.

> 

>

> 

>

>

>5.	All trainees will be encouraged to switch their MySpace page to a

>“friends-only” view (versus public).  This will help protect them in the

>event that an employer looks them up on MySpace.

> 

>

> 

>

>

>6.	All friend requests to the OBT MySpace page are vetted to ensure that

>there is a genuine relationship with OBT.  This is done by sending a

>message to friend prospects to confirm why they are interested in OBT.

> 

>

> 

>

>To get staff not involved in the development process on board, we

>developed and presented a PowerPoint presentation at our all-staff

>meeting.  We explained that traditionally, OBT had two methods to get in

>touch with our students: the phone and letters.  Now, we were expanding

>to include email, MySpace and Instant Messenger.  We didn’t mandate that

>all staff use all the techniques.  Rather, our goal was to educate staff,

>get some key staff on board, and then publicize among staff the success

>stories.  We also designated three “MySpace Experts” to help get staff

>uncomfortable or unfamiliar with the technologies set up and adjusted. 

>Slowly, more and more staff have gotten on board – particularly among our

>job developers and retention staff – as they realize that these

>technologies make their lives much easier.  Staff report using these

>technologies to inform our students about upcoming interviews or contact

>them to see how they are doing on the job in addition to our more “macro”

>goals listed above.

>

> 

>

>Outside of issues of privacy (addressed in the staff protocols) our

>students were already essentially “bought-in” to the idea of MySpace.  We

>had students create and design OBT’s MySpace page so that we could more

>effectively “meet students where they are at.” This helped to improve

>student engagement and interest in the project.

>

> 

>

>Tomorrow, I will discuss how we used LinkedIn to meet a different set of

>goals. I will also examine other social networking sites out there that

>may be “hot” among the students you serve.

>

> 

>

> 

>

>______________________________

>

>Emily May

>

>Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow

>

>783 4th Avenue

>

>Brooklyn, NY 11232

>

>718-369-0303

>

>[ mailto:emay at obtjobs.org ]emay at obtjobs.org

>

>[ http://www.obtjobs.org ]www.obtjobs.org

>

> 

>

>[ mailto:emay at obtjobs.org ]mailto:emay at obtjobs.org

>

>  

>

> 

>

>----------------------------------------------------

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