NDM: Weekly News Article - W/C 17th April (64)

Ofsted considers using social media to monitor schools

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/mar/31/ofsted-considers-using-social-media-to-monitor-schools

Summary

Teachers criticise the possible use of "unsubstantiated gossip" to help decide whether an inspection of their school is needed. Ofsted has raised the possibility of using Facebook and Twitter posts to analyse how schools are performing. The school's watchdog said it was exploring “the possibility of using near-real-time data and information from social media and other sources to predict and prevent a decline in school performance”. Ofsted says that the frequency and content of posts about particular schools could determine which inspections are bumped up the list. Mark Orchison (Manging Director Of 9ine Consulting) which advises school's on everything from safeguarding to cyber security says "it seems like the exercise would require gathering real time data and this could be potentially dangerous." Schools ranked “outstanding” do not have routine inspections unless there are concerns that standards may be slipping, while “good” schools have short inspections every three years.

KeyStatistics

• A 2015, survey by The Association Of Teachers and Lecturers which recently voted to merge with the National Union of Teachers found more than 1 in 5 school staff have had a false allegation made against them by a pupil. 

My Opinion

This is quite an interesting story. I didn't think I would see the likes of Ofsted an important educational institution using social media to determine inspection dates for schools anytime soon. Like with any use of social media there are concerns of privacy and trustworthiness of the source and as per the statistic above about false allegations is using social media really the best way for Ofsted to see how school's are performing. Yes, people tend to speak their mind on social media nowadays rather than in person so they are hidden behind the screen in most instances but you do not know whether it's true or not. And with false allegations already being a known problem, and being posted on social media how many people's livelihoods could be getting ruined because on social media people are not afraid to name and shame and that post is not going away.