That education and social media will share borders and encroach on each other’s area of influence shouldn’t come as a surprise. On one hand, education as we know it is very much a social engagement in itself, involving teachers (the channels of new cognitive experiences) and students (the learners of new or restructured knowledge). On the other hand, social media is both a technological tool for communicating different ideas as well as an enriched environment for collaboration. As such, the benefits that social media can deliver to contemporary education can be very tremendous, indeed. In fact, it is now very easy to imagine a virtual classroom that melds the current platforms of the most innovative online universities with the powerfully engaging and personal experience of social media. How the learning dynamics will be influenced by this theoretical setup is still open to debate but it is a possibility that may now have already taken root in some form or another.

While the exciting, positive advantages of using social media in education is a topic that can rouse a lively discussion, the serious ethical issues that result from their melding inspire a much more heated debate. In July this year, the state of Missouri enacted a law that prohibited students and teachers from being friends or contacts in social networks such as Facebook. However, following a strong clamor from teachers who deemed that their fundamental rights are being assailed by the legislation, the original bill was substantially modified, finally granting individual school districts the freedom to establish their own policies on social networking.

Both sides of the argument have persuasive merits. It is no secret that social networks have become a virtual setting for instigating various crimes ranging from bullying, extortion and sexual assault. That there are people with criminal intent who use social networks to plan and execute their series of capers is clearly undeniable. There are quite a number of disturbing stories about them that we encounter almost every day.

In addition, some psychologists and social scientists believe that taking the conventional student-teacher relationship out of the classroom can lead to dire consequences. When taken to the highly informal environment of most social networks, the traditional authority of teachers can be eroded to the point that classroom engagements will be among peers, not between teachers and students whose roles and expected behavior are clearly defined. » Read more: Teacher and Student Relationships in the Age of Social Networking