Many teachers are using social networking in their personal lives to connect and communicate with friends and colleagues, but have not incorporated the technology into their interactions with students and parents because of concerns about negative repercussions, according to a survey released last week by the University of Phoenix.
The survey asked 1,005 full-time teachers in grades K-12 about their social-networking usage. Eighty percent said they use social media for personal or professional use, but only 18 percent said they had integrated it into their own classrooms.
Eighty percent of teachers surveyed worried about negative outcomes arising from the use of social networking, and 34 percent of teachers who use social media said they had experienced those types of repercussions.