Many people these days lament the fact that technology is decreasing "face time." Increased reliance on social media replaces more personal forms of communication. They say that social skills are languishing due to technology use.
Although that may be true, I have found a different correlation between technology use and interpersonal relations in my 5th grade class. Ever since I gave my students the gift of Gmail, our interpersonal connections and sense of community have increased.
Being fifth graders, some of my students already had personal Gmail accounts, but most had never been exposed. I was able to teach them the many functions of Gmail, and they were enthralled. Changing font color and size? Adding ridiculous smiley faces? This is the best invention for school since recess!
While my students delighted to learn how to express themselves with these tools, my purposes were focused on improving learning. I had long been stymied by my lack of ability to teach (and instill a love for) writing. I love to write...but I struggle to teach it to children. My students' enthusiasm for technology has taken away the pain of writing. Now we use paper and pencil just for prewriting. Once we have our ideas mapped out, we go to the computer lab, get on our Gmail accounts, and craft our drafts. My students feel so grown-up "sharing" their document with me and their peers. We comment on each other's writing, offering feedback. Revising their drafts is now a painless process. The students love collaborating with each other. They feel ownership of their document. They feel the power of choosing who to share their document with. It increases our feeling of community. This was my intent as much as improving their writing was.
An unintended outcome of these accounts was student use of the e-mail outside of school. My students only have each other's e-mail addresses and mine. I taught them how to "reply all." As a result, my inbox often has a few student threads in it. "Hey is anybody on?" is often the subject line. At first I was annoyed to have to sift through these e-mails in an already crowded inbox. I was equally annoyed with their poor spelling and conventions. Then I began reading their content, and my perspective changed. Students who normally only communicate with each other at school were now communicating at home. Students who were isolated after school were now connected. Students who don't normally chat with each other were sharing ideas ("I like cheese" is a frequent idea expressed). E-mail is weaving our class into a close-knit community. As one student expressed, "you guys r like wow ya peeps are lol and a little weird but your my friends."
One of my fears was that students would e-mail me excessively. Although I do need to tell certain students that I have limits, the results of these e-mails have been quite positive. Students who are shyer in class are now e-mailing me their homework questions. Sick students communicate with me about what they are missing in class. Other students excitedly share news from their lives. I was surprised and impressed that students took initiative to experiment with other features of Gmail that we don't use in class. One student figured out how to make a form, and sent a quiz out to everyone on the math we have been learning this unit. Replying to these e-mails connects me to students in a different way. I didn't expect it to feel different, but it does. It is personal and less formal, and as a result, I feel more bonded to those students.
Such a simple tool, e-mail, but it has created a more unified community. My students are more connected with each other, and I am more connected with them.
Anniversary
12 years ago
