What challenges/opportunities might you be faced with when marrying the personal vs professional presence on social media? 

I suppose it could be quite difficult to find a happy medium for you personal life and your private life online – What is appropriate?
Everyone likes to go out once in a while, have fun and let their hair down – which is perfectly acceptable and only natural. However, come the next day when you want to tweet about the dramas of your night or upload some nice (or perhaps not so nice) photos on Facebook/ Instagram then this is when you have to stop and think about any consequences it could have now and in the future. It is without a doubt the best idea to make all your accounts private but even then this does not mean that you are safe to upload anything slightly inappropriate; at the end of the day, everyone knows someone – being private doesn’t mean that your friends can’t show their friends and before you know it .. the daughter of a future employee has access to you in all your glory. Just a thought. 

There is then the question of having an account which pupils can interact with you and fellow peers through. I believe this is a great opportunity to take children’s learning out with the classroom and to also share links, videos and useful information with them. This still provokes the question of how much you want them to be able to see; do you keep this account solemnly for interacting with pupils or do you share your personal views on here too?

As teachers, I feel we have a duty to keep ourselves up to date with the numerous social media sites that children are able to sign up to. Knowing the ins and outs of these sites enables us to have an awareness of what children are involved in and also allows us to talk about them with the children; how they use them, why they like them and the safety aspect.
How are these challenges/opportunities framed?

The older generation tend to have very rigid views on social media and what it offers for children. They believe that it is hindering their education and a common point of concern is whether or not it is taking away from their social interaction skills. Many people ‘frame’ social media as a means of simply interacting their social life and although, yes, there are many dangers that come with the online world they refuse to look past these to the endless opportunities that it could offer for children.

I personally think using social media to further children’s education offers endless opportunities and advantages to their development. Having a negative view towards it isn’t going to eradicate it from society and so I feel that we should be embracing something that has captured children’s fascination and use it encourage and motivate them in their education.