Ethical aspects and capabilities of social networks — Students, teachers, and Facebook in Elementary schools

While social network friendships between teachers and students are forbidden in Great Britain, they are allowed in Croatia. However, there are no recommendations on the student/teacher communication by any of the relevant institutions. A study conducted in the Ante Kovačić Elementary school in Zlatar, Croatia in June 2013 shows that more than two thirds of students have at least one teacher as a Facebook friend. Even though this social network is a convenient medium for teachers to make the learning faster and more interesting to students, this potential is seldom utilized. The study shows that both teachers and students think that their friendship and communication on Facebook cannot get them into trouble with the school board or the parents and that this does not undermine the teacher´s authority. Until there is no regulation on student/teacher relations on Facebook in Croatia, every school can solve this through creation of its own Social Media Policy. In the absence of Media Education, the IT teachers and the school librarians are those who should inform the students about the critical use of Facebook and the media by teaching Information literacy.