I came across a story that CNN posted about online student teacher relationships. http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/08/12/studentsteachers.online/index.html The story was about teachers creating these accounts on Myspace and Facebook and “friending” their students…and about a Missouri legislator sponsoring a bill banning elementary school teachers from doing so. It was very interesting and caught my attention immediately because for my Electronic Communications course my professor created a Facebook account and "friended" all of the students in the class. Before reading this article I didn't not think that a teacher friending a student could be wrong but it does have its positives and negatives.
The story brought up some topics we had discussed in my communications class about how the Internet can be abused and people may use it in the wrong way. A teacher friending a student can be good for reasons like opening up a different line of communication and making the student feel more comfortable. However like the story says a teacher is not meant to be a friend. I don't know if I consider communication with a teacher over the Internet to be a positive way of communicating because teachers should be encouraging students to speak up and ask for help. So are the Missouri school districts taking things overboard by banning these relationships? I can see where protecting children is necessary and online relationships can become inappropriate. My opinion is that the vast majority of teachers and students would use the tool for beneficial and productive purposes. However because communication becomes easier it can be easy to think of your teacher as a friend and become more personal with them. Also liked we talked about in my communications class with CMC messages can be misinterpreted. Which could also create a problem.
I think every school district should have its own policies and regulations with about whether students and teachers should interact through these social networking sites. In Missouri's case because of the student teacher sexual relationships that have happened I believe they do need to do something about online communication. I also agree with the story in CNN that there are predators out there who are using online communication with their students for the wrong reason and they will find a way to do so even if there are laws passed. Are online student teacher relationships a good new way of communicating or are they pose an issue?
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2 comments:
Online relationships between students and teachers can be a very controversial subject. This is probably because of the negative stigma attached to online relationships with minors. I agree that opening up another form of communication with can be good, but these sorts of relationships can become inappropriate very quickly. I think that any online communication between teacher and student should be strictly school related and monitored by the student's parents.
Being aware of what you wrote about is why I never request friendships from current students. I only request from former students. I actually created a group, students joins, and I asked them to request friendship from me for the technology fast.
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