Teachers risk role confusion on Facebook

Researcher Pernilla Josefsson, from the School of Computer Science and Communication, contributed a chapter about role confusion in the recently-published book, An Education in Facebook?: Higher Education and the World's Largest Social Network. Josefsson and her co-author Fredrik Hanell, Lund University, find that students can sometimes become confused by the role of the teacher in such forums.

"When we implement these types of (social media) environments, our social roles are getting more intertwined; and it's harder to distinguish the professional from the personal, the private from the professional. Some of the students assume that the teacher is there as a teacher, sticking to their role in the classroom; while others in the same group consider the teacher to be acting as a private person, expressing their own private thoughts, not as a teacher examining, or judging them, or informing them. At the same time, there are some teachers who find it difficult to separate the 'teacher self' from the 'private self'."

Josefsson provides an example of what kinds of problems arise from this confusion.

"In the groups that we have been studying, confusion arose over what could be interpreted as 'proper behavior', which is strongly related to the teachers' level of authority. In one of the groups, for instance, a student started an April Fools' joke -- that their program was going to be closed down by the university -- and the teacher played along, confirming the information and elaborating on it. All this caused great worry among the students, and they were upset that he acted in a personal manner, outside of his professional role."

She says that the scenario highlights how teacher risks performing in a social role that not all of their students expect or sympathize with. "We found that teachers were obliged to adhere to some limits; there are things that are proper and there are things that are not suitable for this context."

The teachers Josefsson interviewed have a couple of ways they avoid role confusion.

"Some don't friend their students. They reserve their private posts for their friends, and they take the teacher role in the class group.

"But the best way is to be clear about your intentions. If you are a student group, explain why you invited the teacher and what you expect of them. And if you are teacher you have to communicate what you expect of the student being there."