Should We Be Concerned About the Use of Social Media In Our Schools?

The North Carolina State Board Policy outlining employee use of social media was updated in December.  The language in the policy is quite strong and effective in discouraging the use of social media sites even for educational purposes.  The policy states that school personnel may use only school controlled technology resources and social media tools to communicate directly with students or comment on student matters through use of the Internet.  It further states that any employee seeking to establish a social networking website for related purposes must have prior written approval from the superintendent or designee and the principal...and meet all the requirements of the other policies.

I understand and agree with the premis of the state policy, but should this mean that no collabortive websites can be used in education (i.e. Wiki, Edublog, Edmodo, Google Docs)?  I hope and truely do not believe this was the intent of the board's policy, but it does force teachers and school leader leaders to pause to examine which and how 21st Century instructional learning tools and strategies can be used with our students.  I hope that the State Board will offer some clarification for the social networking policy.