A teacher wrote the other day asking for us to block students from emailing teachers

 "Many of the emails that come from the students are impolite and rude.  Nine out of ten are from failing students.  They tend to be disrespectful in the email and write as though they were talking to a friend via instant messaging.  I’d like to see an option to receive email from parents only."

While much of the focus on technology in schools today is centered on data-driven decision-making, a digital revolution is taking place. Students, living in world of text messaging, gaming communities, and simultaneous AIM chat sessions, are reaching out to their teachers in new ways, breaking down traditional barriers in both the style and nature of student-teacher interaction. Some see in this the future of education:  Engaged, empowered students interacting openly with adults in neutral digital settings, working together, challenging each other. Others see a threat to their most precious resource, time, and a breakdown of the respect and decorum that many believe creates a functional learning environment. Caught in the middle are administrators, reform leaders, and technology directors looking to strike a balance that works. One thing is for sure, there is no turning back.

When I first read this email, I almost cried.  Here's a teacher complaining that his failing students were reaching out to him.  Geez...isn't this what we all had hoped for?  Finding ways to engage failing students and helping them to  take an interest in their success.  As I struggled to understand the teacher's concern I realized that this was deeper than an overworked teacher concerned about more work.  Rather, this is an example of how far we have to go for the promise of technology to really impact education.

From this teacher's perspective, the issue isn't the content of the messages, it's the style and place.  Had the student approached him in class respectfully, he would not complain.  He would review his gradebook with the student and explain what was needed to be successful.  But rather than a formal, structured, hierarchical encounter, he got a informal, unstructured, peer-to-peer communique, in vernacular!  It's like a message from another planet.  It breaks all the rules, uncurtains the Wizard, and threatens the foundation of the historical teacher-student relationship.  In that world, students follow a well-trod path in these encounters, right?

The problem, of course, is that most failing student haven't trod that path -- ever.   They don't have the skills, confidence, or interest to engage in that sort of dialogue.  But online, it's easy, safe and non-threatening to flash out a message, and it's easy to flash that message in the informal language student's use online.  So they do, and they wait.  Sometimes their teacher's engage, and it's often wonderful. We get tons of messages from teachers talking about the new type of relationships they have developed, how much more deeply they understand their students, how well they are able to coach and teach.

So is this teacher wrong?  Yes and no.  Clearly if the student is failling and reaching out, perhaps engaging in this environment might help turn things around.  But he's right that the language of AIM is not appropriate in this setting.  So why not make this a teachable moment, a chance to help students understand that different styles of communication are needed for professional conversations online, that the power that they have to reach out comes with a responsibilty to do so in a way that engages both parties. 

To me, this sort of exchange is at the heart of reforming education.  First, particularly at the secondary level, we need to find ways to connect with kids, to build a network of adults they can talk to, adults who care about them and their lives.  If some of those relationships are digital, so be it.  We also need ro help students see that school is relevant to them, not by lecturing them on the connection between a degree and earnings, but by helping them to master the technologies they value, and by using those technologies on our turf and in our way, to help students mature into responsible adults who understand the value and sophisticated use of different types of media, from texting to chat to eamail to blogs and to use those tools in a way that helps them make their way in the world.

Mark Gross, CEO/Founder School Loop (and a former teacher)