Teachers and social media

A couple of worthy reads on teachers and social media:

• This one on Edutopia discusses the social media gap among teachers, specifically around education issues. I think the energy and time issue mentioned in the comments is a big one; if you've got 50 essays to correct or next week's lessons to plan, you probably don't have time and energy to sit and absorb engrossing educational conversations online. Or you might well not.
• This one, discussing the New York City Public Schools new social media policy, raises is what I see as a larger issue across the board. We keep blaming social media (or "the internet") for things: students not paying attention in class, inappropriate staff/student contact, kids getting information that adults may not want them to have. We miss, though, that this is the new manifestation of old behavior. It's the same behavior--the same behavior we may not want--it just has a new outlet.