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: BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog

Technology rears its head yet again

Technology has opened avenues of communication for teachers with both parents and students?from the online grade tracking systems that parents appreciate and children detest, to e-mail submission of homework. But recently some school districts think that these technological advances have allowed teacher-student communications to go too far. An ABC News article reported that two Mississippi districts have banned teacher-student communication through text messages and social networking sites. The ban follows several scandals where teachers sent inappropriate messages to students.

The Lamar school district policy attempts to draw a line between using the Internet for informal socialization and for educational purposes. The policy does not ban all online communication. The school district specifically encourages teachers and students to use the technology and methods of communication that the district already has in place. It also does not prevent teachers or students from using social networking sites?they just cannot use them to communicate with each other.

"The policy is always playing catch-up to the technology, and that's what's happening with these schools," said National School Board Association (NSBA) senior staff attorney Tom Hutton. "They're relatively new policies because the use of these kinds of platforms for educational purposes is relatively new; you want to encourage the use of technology, but how do you make sure you're protecting children against some of the potential downsides?"

For a generation that communicates so heavily through cell phones and the Internet, restricting any of those means of communication may make a student less likely to communicate with a teacher. Teachers may find it frustrating that they are unable to reach their students through the methods their students are most inclined to use. At the same time, there is something to be said for placing limits on the teacher-student relationship; just because the technology is available to do so does not mean that a teacher needs to be available to students 24 hours a day?even for harmless questions about homework.

For more information about the habits of teens and 'tweens online, check out NSBA's study Creating and Connecting.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on July 25, 2008 (boomark / email).