From Fear to Freedom: Empowering K-12 Students Online
 Good teachers never teach anything. What they do is create the conditions under which learning takes place.
Samuel Ichiye Hayakawa
Something there is that doesn’t love a wall, and wants it down.
Robert Frost, Mending Wall
Think of any K-12 school or district. It could be the one you or your children attend, or you may be employed by one. Take a moment to dig up the school or district's mission or vision statement.
Here are some excerpts from the first five Google hits using the search phrase "School District Mission Vision":
• "... achieve their full potential as competent … citizens."1
• "... preparing all students to succeed in a dynamic global society."2
• "... build a solid foundation … in … reading, writing, speaking, computing"3
• "... ensures every child is a … productive member of our community"4
• "... prepares our children with the tools and skills to succeed in a changing global environment."5
Examples from Hamilton, Halton, Peel and Toronto in Ontario, Canada:
• "... contributing citizens in a challenging, changing, ... world." (Hamilton-Wentworth)
• "... proficiency with technology in order to adapt to a changing world ." (Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic)
• "... prepares our students ... as responsible, participating citizens of the global community." (Halton)
• "... able to contribute to society." (Halton Catholic)
• "... lifelong learning." (Peel)
• "... meet the challenges of the future." (Dufferin-Peel Catholic)
• "... knowledge, skills, ... to become responsible members of ... society." (Toronto)
• "... technological instruction." (Toronto Catholic)
• "... changing world community." (York Region)
• "learning community of collaborative partners." (York Region Catholic)
Clearly, educational institutions (likely including your own) have made it their mission to prepare students for a changing world—but do they actually do it? Even with significant reform efforts, K-12 curricula have not changed dramatically since the 19th century. Which of the following do you think best prepares our children to succeed in a changing global environment?
• Express y = ax2 + bx + c in the form y = a(x – h)2 + k by completing the square.
• Describe the stages of mitosis – prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase.
• Recognize and use passé composé of verbs conjugated with être.
• Identify by characteristics the major rock types (for example, igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic).
- or -
• Handle and compose email.
• Participate in conferences and bulletin boards.
• Navigate and create electronic content in a variety of forms (for example, web sites).
• Use instant messaging.
The first list is the sort of mandatory information found in high school courses throughout the world, while the second list (with the possible exception of navigating web sites) would be difficult to find anywhere in a standard school curriculum. Information technology programs in my jurisdiction are optional, begin only in high school, and focus on basic applications, programming and hardware concepts. While these topics and the various academic disciplines are all worthwhile to one degree or another, it is an absolute that citizens of our dynamic global society must be able to communicate and collaborate effectively online, whether the curriculum calls for it or not.
In the United States alone, it is projected that email volume will grow from 1.5 trillion in 2003 to 2.7 trillion in 2007. Ninety-one percent (91%) of adult Internet users send or read email, and an estimated 147 million use it daily. The next most popular online activity is using a search engine to find information6. In Canada (pop. 32 million), 8 million households have Internet access, with two-thirds of those using a high-speed7 connection. In the Canadian business world, email is used in 74% of private businesses, and 99.8% of public sector institutions8. Online courses, training programs, and post-secondary degrees have also proliferated wildly in step with the growing connectivity of our planet.
Given the pervasiveness of online communication and learning, and given our common educational mission to prepare students for the world, it is clear that all K-12 institutions should support and encourage student use of email and other tools. But in your own school or district how many of the following statements are true?
Does your district:
• allow students to send or receive email on school computers?
• provide district email accounts for some students?
• provide district email accounts for all students K-12?
• maintain uninterrupted student email accounts for their entire school career?
• allow students to exchange email with all students in the district? ... with all staff? ... with the outside world?
• allow and provide technology for students to publish web sites for classwork?
• allow students to maintain class, school or district web content?
• maintain electronic conferences/forums for student-student and student-staff collaboration?
• allow students to moderate such conferences/forums?
• allow students to create and edit content on the district intranet?
• allow students to use instant messaging (IM) in any form?
• ensure students are represented on decision-making committees regarding IT and/or the above?
• not overreact to student incidents (e.g., shut down all student accounts if a student misbehaved online)
In my own district, I feel fortunate (after years of collaboration with open-minded technical and academic staff) that all of the above are true. We still have some limitations (for example, instant messaging is being tested only by pilot student groups), but we have successfully crossed the threshold of bringing K-12 students and staff together online. This breakthrough has allowed for the rapid evolution of a healthy, vibrant online learning community in which:
• learning in face-to-face programs is greatly augmented and supported
• literacy is supported through increased reading and writing opportunities and initiatives
• students and staff collaborate in class, club, school and regional electronic conferences
• knowledge bases and discussions evolve on topics ranging from poetry to physics
• students develop and refine critical ICT skills
• all users respect and appreciate the principles of positive online cultures.
Even though these benefits are readily apparent to many people, the real shocker is that so few districts have acted on this knowledge. Instead, student use of email, instant messaging, or other tools is often restricted or forbidden outright. To move beyond paralyzing fear-based thinking we might compare it against freedom-based solutions taken from real online student environments.
Fear |
Freedom |
Students will misbehave online. |
Of course they will misbehave, but not nearly as much as feared. When we trust students (rather than take a "guilty-until-proven-innocent" attitude) it is amazing how positively students respond. From our own incident data, the median number of misbehaviours requiring followup by school staff (per school, over an 8 month period) is one (1) incident requiring 8 minutes of followup. At the district level, out of 45,000+ students, 18 had their email rights suspended by central IT or program staff at some point during the 04-05 school year. |
I don't have the time to follow up on student incidents. |
Districts already grapple with issues involving free email (e.g., hotmail) and web sites (e.g., geocities). Giving students district-based accounts ensures positive identification, thus reducing anonymity and misbehaviour. By proactively promoting Acceptable Use Guidelines (AUG's) and modelling positive online culture it is possible to eliminate serious misbehaviour almost entirely. |
If students misbehave on the system we will shut it down. |
If a fight breaks out in the playground should we close the school? What is the bigger error--giving online freedom and having a few abuse it (type 1 error) or removing freedom so nobody can learn or communicate (type 2 error)? Those pre-occupied with preventing type 1 errors need to be reminded that it is necessary for a small amount of misbehaviour to exist in order to provide a free, powerful and open online community. |
It's not our responsibility, they will learn this stuff on their own. |
It is our responsibility (see above). If we leave students to learn from the dog-eat-dog live chat world (e.g., MSN), where teens are urged to commit suicide by their anonymous online peers and responsible, adult moderation is limited or non-existent, we have abdicated our responsibility as educators. It is fascinating to observe students in our district when they first encounter an asynchronous discussion conference. They typically start using it like a live chat room (posting many short, insignificant emails in rapid succession). It is rewarding to later see them writing complete, purposeful messages, sensing their appreciation for netiquette and seeing that they understand the complimentary nature of synchronous and
asynchronous collaboration. As outlined earlier, we have a mission to live up to. |
The IT folks, teachers, Superintendents won't let us do it. |
Decisions about student learning and communication online should be made jointly by technical, academic, administrative staff (and students where possible). IT staff are highly skilled but may not have worked at length with students in schools. Senior administrators are strong leaders and regulatory experts but hail from a generation that adopted ICT later in life. Teachers may not appreciate the district's technical challenges. A champion (from any domain) must come forward and lead a representative group of stakeholders to a democratic conclusion on the technical, educational and legal perspectives on these important decisions. |
We can't control this, it is too big and scary. |
Start small. There are always keen teachers willing to work with their own class of students online. In cases where the entire student body at a school are given email accounts, only a fraction will adopt in the first year anyway. The key is to provide as much freedom and openness as possible from the outset. Adoption rates must be balanced against system resources, AUG inertia, staff experience and technical readiness. In any case, the primary attitude should be one of freedom and openness to avoid unnecessary restrictions that will hamper success and cause more issues than they prevent (see below). |
We must put in place many restrictions, students don't need to ... |
Significant restrictions hamper learning and may actually encourage unwanted behaviour. The knee-jerk reaction to limit student powers is a sure path to failure. For example, one common restriction (where students are granted district email) is to only let them address other students in their class or school. This limitation prevents a whole dimension of inter-school and regional collaboration that we have seen first-hand. See "openness and empowerment" below for more details. |
The students will be put on a separate system from staff. |
The classic, fear-based response to compartmentalize is not only unnecessary but wholly unworkable for a true collaborative community. There is no need and no point in putting students on a separate system (or having teachers and administrative staff on two systems for that matter). In fact, any move in this direction will only lead to ineffectuality and failure. |
We don't have the money, time, personnel, leadership, interest, etc. |
Compared to the resources required for enterprise HR, financial or student administration systems, providing district student email will seem like peanuts, and should be judged at least as important as balancing the books or scheduling classes. If adoption and resources cannot be had in a top-down (lack of leadership) or bottom-up (lack of interest) manner, then pursue the "somewhere-out" approach which requires only a few random pioneers to begin. |
For educational institutions to move from fear to freedom requires only that we trust students. Once we believe that students can and should learn online, our environments will naturally provide the openness and empowerment which is vital for that learning to occur.
Openness
Conferences in our district are open to all users (reading and posting) unless there is an overt, demonstrable reason why they should be restricted. While some shades of privacy or closed forums are sometimes necessary or beneficial, a lack of openness will generally inhibit learning and foster negative behavior.
Openness ... Privacy ...
- raises awareness + sensitivity - limits awareness + sensitivity
- opens communication channels - closes communication channels
- increases trust - decreases trust
- creates transparency + accountability - creates rumour, distortion + secrecy
- ensures the left-hand knows the right - isolates the left-hand from the right
- slashes bureaucracy + integrates - fragments into disparate groups
- encourages systems thinking - encourages turf thinking
- allows for wisdom cross-pollination - limits the transfer of ideas
- is easier to maintain - requires more setup
- leads to a collaborative online community - does not!
Empowerment (Trust)
Student-staff online collaboration is challenging enough without adding unnecessary restrictions or limits on what staff and students can do. If users cannot quickly and easily create content and build environments, or have to ask permission to do things, they will simply focus their limited time and resources elsewhere.
Online communities not only reflect the educational institutions they serve, they shape them. When staff and students are allowed to collaborate fully in an open system, the result is not only individual growth, but the emergence of an organizational vision for learning from all levels.
Fostering online learning communities requires a culture of freedom, not fear. Our stated mission of preparing students for the world requires that we create open and empowering learning environments where learners can grow into ethical, educated, and effective online citizens.
 References7) CRTC, Status of Competition in Canadian Telecommunications Markets, November 2004
8) Source: Statistics Canada, 2003, Canadian Economic Observer, Cat. No. 11-010-XIB, June 2004, Ottawa, Canada.
Jeff Catania
Instructional Coordinator (eLearning & 9-12 Math)
Halton District School Board
2050 Guelph Line, Burlington, Ontario, L7R 3Z2
905.335.3665 x3250, cataniaj@hdsb.ca
"We must become the change we want to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi
Notes
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