Student faces Facebook consequences A student at Ryerson University (Toronto) is facing 147 charges of academic misconduct. 1 for setting up a Facebook group to discuss homework questions, and 1 more for each of the 146 students who contributed.
The homework itself contributed 10% to the final grade. The student who set it up originally got a B, but this was downgraded to an F, when his Professor discovered the site. It’s a little unclear as to whether the B was for the whole course, or just for the homework. (Even if it was just the homework, he’d still have to get good grades in the remaining 90% of the course to pass)
Via: Steven Downes. One of the comments is from another faculty member at Ryerson – who set up a group in Facebook for his students to share ideas…
I don’t think I understand why he received either the charges of misconduct or the ‘F’. Is it better to call those people to discuss the homework or to talk about it at Starbucks the evening before the course? Is one online platform approved for collaboration and others verboten? Could someone please explain this to me?
If people like this Ryerson student want privacy on their social networking sites, they should consider posting legal terms of service to that effect. See http://hack-igations.blogspot.com/2007/11/privacy-advocates-such-as-nyu-professor.html The idea is not legal advice for anyone (or a substitute for counsel by a lawyer), just something to think about. –Ben
Hi Mrsdurff,
I’m not sure that anyone can explain why discussing your work on Facebook (which, in anycase makes it easier to see the order in which posts were created …) is any different to discussing it in Starbucks.
One of Stephen’s commenters makes a valid point – how was it advertised in the first place….