Reflection Journal

How much do you use electronic communication in your own life? Why or why not?

I utilize electronic communication on a very regular basis. I consider my telephone line to be more of a line for electronic data transfer more than that of a voice communication line. I rarely use the telephone to communicate with people for my family and acquaintances use e-mail on a very regular basis.

I also operate a business on the internet and conduct over 95% of my business electronically. My banking, investment and most of my major purchases are conducted over the internet. In terms of operating a business, it is very inexpensive to set up online rather than at a physical location. Marketing and financial transactions are also much easier and more economical to conduct.

I prefer electronic communication because it is safe, secure, easy to use and always available. Most online services are operated on a continual basis rather than how most storefront businesses operate. It is also much more economical for me to send e-mail than to call people.

Do electronic communications make you feel differently than phone, letter or face-to-face communications? How?

I feel that electronic communication is less inhibiting than other forms of communication. Without the constant access that I enjoy I am sure that I would feel restricted by it. I am much more willing to communicate with people because the format is more casual.

How do you think electronic communication will fit into your classroom, assuming you have the hardware needed to achieve the things you hope?

I regularly use electronic mail to communicate with my students and they access their e-mail from my classroom computers. It would be very nice if 100% of my students had e-mail access on a regular basis. I would then be able to send list e-mails to all enrolled to communicate with them. At the present time I do not use e-mail for this purpose because it becomes a disadvantage for the less fortunate who do not have computers at home. I am sure that in the near future I will be able to establish communication more regularly in this manner. We are very fortunate to have good hardware and software that allows us to use electronic communication very effectively.

As a teacher, you also have to be aware of issues related to internet safety, inappropriate materials on the net, and etc. Explain how you would advice the parents of your students on these negative issues of the Internet.

Parents of today's students did not have access to electronic communication when they were young. Only if parents have a computer at home or at work, they probably have had little if any experience with the prolific nature of the internet. The best advice I can give to talk with their children about appropriate use of the internet and set restrictions, both on time and content, on their usage.

Another thing parents can do is to situate their family computer in a public, open location in their home. There is a twofold reason for this. First, it allows everyone in the family to have equal access to the computer and permits ease of monitoring. Secondly, it lets the student know that his online behavior must be appropriate enough for any family member to see.

There are many software packages available for parents to install on their computer system that blocks certain internet content. If parents are sensitive about particular content then they could install these safeguards.

Online Reflection
(posted to discussion board)

I know that I sound old by saying this (at the meek age of 24), but I think that students today are different than they were when I was in school. A few months ago I was at an inservice program where a speaker said something phenomenal; he indicated that the "problem with kids today" is that they don't play enough. That's right... they don't play enough. He said that when he was a kid his mother would make him leave the house every day and he would have to find a play group.
His notion is that kids when he grew up had to get together, communicate, work out their differences, and learn to get along in a play environment. This early behavior translates directly into the workplace and academic environment.

He blamed this transformation on television and video games. I can go a little farther by saying that the internet will be an even stronger force in the change of our socialization. (I hesitate to say it is a lack of socialization -just a different society.)

Internet communication allows even the meekest person to raise a stink with a perfect stranger without worrying about embarrassment or the potential for a broken nose. It is an environment where our students communicate in a different way - interpersonal communication is taking a different flavor!

The other notion is that kids used to have to entertain themselves in order to keep from being bored. This spawns awesome creativity. Today's young population not only can be entertained in many more ways, they also expect to be entertained - even by their teachers!