TIPS:
Think about whether you want to allow students to connect with you on personal platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram.
If you plan to use social media as a communications tool, consider starting a "work" Facebook, Instagram and Twitter account that doesn't include photos and details of your family and personal life.
When emailing/ posting:
Think always -
quality not quantity
Lead by example
Maintain professionalism regardless of channel
2.1 Digital communication
2
The tools to communicate
Communicating with students takes place through a variety of channels, such as email, Zoom calls, Apps with push notifications, Micrsoft Teams and direct messaging.
Regardless of channel, we need to guide students through the process, and provide examples and templates that will assist them with receiving and responding to communications.
Outside channels can be useful for communicating with students; however, you need to consider both the benefits and potential risks and make thoughtful decisions about what to use and when.
Benefits of using outside channels:
+ Students are already connected and familiar with the platforms.
+ Students may be more reponsive than with more the traditional email format.
+ You can incorporate external voices into the conversation, such as students from other units or institutions and industry people.
Potential risks:
External platform use must be policy compliant.
Internal technical support is not as available.
Many platforms (such as Facebook) are commercial, which presents issues around students having accounts that don't comply with privacy policies.
Students cannot be protected from harassment and staff cannot be protected from claims of inappropriate behaviour.
It can create inconsistencies for students:
i.e.; if you use WhatsApp/Viber/Facebook/Twitter/Hangouts for one unit, will you also use the same platform for the next?
Potential for fraud. We should not be communicating any personal/grade information to students where we cannot 100% verify the student's identity.