| While internet technologies are transforming much of society in general, the use of social media seems to be at a standstill in many K-12 schools. The limited use of blogs, online collaborative projects, content communities, social networks, and virtual worlds in the formal teaching and learning process has been stunted by social media policies. This field study was designed to clarify what defines K-12 social media policy, examining three primary areas: (1) Factors that support and/or hinder the development and implementation of a social media policy within a school/district, (2) How these factors are reconciled in a school's/district's social media policies, and (3) Best practices for implementation.;Secondary level school districts were the primary unit of analysis, with teachers and school administrators as the sample. Four triangulated methods (document analysis, interview, focus group, and survey) were used to address the research questions during the fall 2011 session. Findings reveal that K-12 policy has been designed for both the student and employee as an amended Acceptable Use Policy or new Board Policy addressing social media content both generally and specifically, with as many factors that hinder the development and implementation of social media policy for education as support it. Among these are legal, instructional, and privacy issues. Findings also reveal that best practices include all stakeholder groups in the development, implementation, and monitoring process for social media use. This study establishes significant base data for more extensive future studies. |
