​​​​​​Social Media Guidelines for Staff

Students want to take the technology they use in their daily lives and integrate it with how they learn. More and more, they tell us that they want, and need, their learning experiences in school to reflect this. As students learn to use social media, it is important to empower them to build strong online safety skills and to establish an appropriate and positive digital footprint. One of the best ways to do this is to model the responsible and professional use of social media.

For the purposes of these guidelines, social media refers to online technology tools that enable people and organizations to communicate and share information and resources over the Internet. Users provide information, but can also interact with each other using social media. Examples include, but are not limited to blogs, Facebook, Flickr, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter and YouTube. Using this definition, the Peel District School Board’s Office 365 environment can also be viewed as social media.

The Peel board recognizes that the use of social media is optional and that staff members are using social media to support their instructional practice and develop professional learning networks. The guidelines have been reviewed by the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (Peel District School Board), Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (District 19) and Ontario Principals’ Council – Peel.

The guidelines are intended to help staff use social media safely, responsibly and successfully. They align with Peel board policies and procedures related to the use of technology.