Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia (2017) 26(2), 193-209 Social Media Field Trips: Using Disruptive Technologies Without Disrupting the System KATHY SNOW Cape Breton University, Canada kathy_snow@cbu.ca This paper presents a discussion around the question of data protection, privacy, liability and the resultant policy that has developed both in public K-12 education and post second- ary education in Canada. With no central regulation of online protection in Canada educators in some provinces face a digi- tal divide caused by more restrictive policy of one province in contrast to another. To set the stage for the discussion I ad- dress the nature of social media and it’s use, institutional re- sponse to social media in schools with specific reference to the Canadian context. I then propose a potential solution in the form of a social media field trip and analyze three differ- ent types field trips I have conducted with graduate students against Moor’s (1999) just consequence theoretical frame- work. Finally, I present implications for practice and possi- bilities this model could offer K-12 educators to work within current policy, stay safe but still open the doors to social net- working and the world. INTRODUCTION Few would dispute that the Canadian educational landscape is risk averse, regardless of level. Both public schools and universities have spent considerable time developing and implementing policy for students’ safety and not without good reason. You only need turn to the news headlines de- scribing cyber bullying, identity theft, invasion of privacy, theft of intellec-