We've questioned before if it's appropriate or not for kids to be Facebook friends with their teachers. And while these kinds of online relationships always present risks of oversharing and damage to one's online reputation, teachers and professors are becoming more and more present online. According to a Pearson Learning Solutions report called "Social Media in Higher Education," college students are likely to have professors online with whom they have no choice but to connect in some way.

The survey, with participation from almost 1,000 faculty members around the country, found that 80% of college professors are active social media users because of the value it provides in teaching. Some noteworthy stats are as follows:

• 59% of faculty have more than one social networking account
• Almost 25% of faculty have four or more accounts
• Over 30% of faculty use social networking to communicate with students
• 52% of faculty use videos, podcasts, blogs and wikis in teaching their courses
• The use of social media by older faculty members (teaching for over 20 years) is only slightly less than that of younger faculty

Additionally, professors' social networks of choice in communicating with students are, in order, YouTube, Facebook, Skype and LinkedIn. And their favorite social networks for general teaching and communication, and in order of popularity, are Facebook, YouTube, Skype, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Finally, professors' testimonials in the open response portion of the study provide additional insight into the popularity of social media and networking in higher education:

• "Podcasts can be a useful tool for creating more interactive, student driven learning."
• "I think online video is an incredibly valuable tool for teaching accounting online. It gives the class a face to face feel, and helps clarify for students things that may be confusing through reading."
• Social networks are also positive because they "extend the classroom," professors can "talk to them in the language they are using," and they are "good for review and reinforcement."

The important takeaway from this study is that, while kids probably don't have to connect with their teachers online right now, social networking is expanding to all sort of niches that you wouldn't expect (i.e. college professors). So it's best for teens to practice smart and safe online habits now to keep a clean slate for when they have more online interactions with professors in the future.

What do you think about the increasing use of online interaction and social media at any level of education, whether it's middle school, high school or college?