With easy access to technology and social media, students have a chance to participate in online discussions on major social media outlets like Facebook or Twitter. While some aspects of this emerging trend appears to be positive, others may show negative indications.
As a main social media outlet, Facebook is a hub for many students to get information that is not present in the school-run Canvas by Infrastructure. Students may use these pages to ask for help on homework, tutor, and remind their classmates of upcoming assignments without bothering the teacher.
“I think [discussion pages] are responsible for students to create kind of a forum where if they need help and it’s outside of school hours, they can go and try to get help. I also think it is good for students to teach each other because it reinforces their understanding of the material,” says math teacher Ashley Fah.
However, some have raised the question of whether the discussion pages are appropriate due to their lack of adult supervision and the content that could be posted without restriction.
“I definitely see why some don’t like the [discussion pages] because there is no supervision and there could be cheating but in all the pages I’m in, there is none. If [the teachers] want, they can ask to look at the page because there is nothing shady going on,” said Dustin Tran (‘17), an admin for two Facebook discussion pages.
For now, online discussions show no signs of cheating. However this may change in the future, so keep in mind that cheating will not only get a student an honor code violation, it will also hurt them in the long run.
“I think that if you do cheat, it just is going to end up hurting you in the end,” said Fah.
