Education Week reported Monday on a new policy in Mississippi's Lamar County School District: no social network communication between teachers and students. The district implemented the policy "after becoming concerned that casual contact between teachers and students would be unprofessional."
As most anyone acquainted with young people today knows, communication via online social networks is as commonplace as chatting on the phone, if not more so. Does this policy create roadblocks to the formation of critical relationships between students and the teachers, mentors, counselors and other adults who might offer support? Over at Scholastic's On Our Minds blog, Tyler Reed writes, "embracing these technologies, I think, is important not just for helping students develop online collaboration and communication skills, but for helping teachers and adult mentors talk to students on their home court."
For further reading, see the March 2008 issue of Educational Leadership, where Marc Prensky discusses the frequent disconnect between students' high-tech, interactive lives and their time in the classroom. He encourages the active use of technology to engage students and specifically suggests that students should "have a meaningful voice in setting all school policy regarding technology use. Hold assemblies that include teachers, students, parents, administrators, and technologists to hear all points of view and establish school policies regarding such issues as blocked Web sites and use of cell phones."
FYI, we've been having a little conversation about this over at Dangerously Irrelevant:
http://snipurl.com/35e8e
I agree with Tyler's 'home court' analogy!
Posted by: Scott McLeod | July 28, 2008 at 09:38 PM