Should Students and Teachers Be Allowed to Communicate Electronically?

Technology Enhances Student-Teacher Understanding

By Kiana Muramoto

An important task for a teacher is to communicate with their students, and technology has made this more efficient.

Much of this interaction can happen inside the classroom or during school hours, but contact outside of class hours can be helpful as well. Students can discus grades, academic problems, concerns, or interests. It can push students to be more involved with school.

In most schools, internet access is readily available. According to the National Center for Education Statistics website (nces.ed.gov), 51 percent of public schools in 2001 were reported to have internet access available to students outside of regular school hours.

In accommodation to students with different communication needs, such as home, hospital, and diagnosed disabilities, it is crucial to have a reliable source of communication between a teacher and student.

Because technology is now such a substantial part of teenage lives, internet can be found on phones, iPods, and small portable computers. This allows convenience for students to reach teachers.

Not only does communicating electronically have its benefits educationally, it aids in extracurricular activities. Some coaches and club advisors find it a necessity to be able to get a hold of their team or members via texting or phone calls.

It keeps everyone up to date on what is going on. This also comes in handy for field trips. Texting is appropriate as long as the communication is on the specific purpose and goes no further.

While most teachers don’t like having their phone numbers out in the open for students, another means of personal contact is through social networking.

New websites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and Blogspot allow pictures and personal information to be viewed with a friend request.

Granite School District has drafted a Social Networking Policy for their teachers. The Board of Education recognizes the potential professional teaching value, as well as potential hazards it has.

Melinda Colton, the Communications Director for Jordan School District, said, “For now, we are just telling our teachers not to get involved with [social networking].”

Electronic Messaging Poses Danger to Student, Teacher Safety

By Tracey Shane

Teachers and students have substantial communication through school lectures and school hours, but some see it necessary to communicate with each other outside of school, using electronic devices like cell phones and computers. But with so many new ways to communicate electronically with each other, texts and e-mails from teachers to students can go much further than the normal “What did I miss?” question.

Jordan School District doesn’t even have a policy on what is allowed and what is not allowed. Cindy Nagasawa-Cruz, Jordan School District Director of Information Systems, said that her department is starting to get requests and advice from teachers about the use of social media to communicate with students.

Other Utah districts have started to look into and outline new policies. Canyons is in the process of decision-making, and Alpine School District came up with guidelines that forbid employees from texting or using an online networking system to communicate with students if it is not school-related material.

The only district in Utah to officially write up a policy is Granite School District. Their policy insists that there should be a line between using electronic devices for an educational purpose and for a social purpose.

Not only is Utah adopting these new policies, but several school districts outside the state and all over the country have made laws against communicating with students electronically. In Louisiana, a new state law requires all districts to implement policies requiring documentation of every electronic interaction between teachers and students through nonschool-issued devices. Documentation includes filling out an electronic form that explains the reason behind the interaction, which is then sent to the school’s administration.

“Do not use social media to communicate with students, especially when it is unsupervised outside the classroom,” said Nagasawa-Cruz, Technical Coordinator for Jordan District.

Students do not want their teachers in the papers because they were using inappropriate text messages with a student. If a teacher or students need to get in contact with each other, they should arrange a meeting during school hours. Any other communication may lead to a disaster.