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Originally Posted by Daoust
So here's a question for all... I would appreciate feedback on the matter of my online discussions with my previous students.
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I have a couple of points, as a parent. I really discourage the use of MSN in my house for a couple of reasons. One is that it is very tempting for the kids to ignore their homework in favour of this activity. It once took my son 3 hrs to write a paragraph of his assignment, because he was multitasking by chatting simultaneaously with his buddy. he typed about 20x as much in IMs than he did on his assignment. So they don't get to chat unless work is complete.
Secondly, it is really a time waster. There's too much to be done without spending hours on the computer. Not to mention that the computer is in the Kitchen, so having a teenager sprawled out in the busiest room of the house, while we all are trying to get things accomplished is just plain annoying. If they have their homework done, there is a lot of household activity to be accomplished (chores, sports) as well as jobs to go to. As well, adolescents need 10 hrs of sleep a night. The last thing I want is timeshifting where they are staying up to 3 am chatting, and then sleeping till noon. Forget it. again, there are activities and appointments to be met.
As for chatting with teachers, I have no real problem with it. As long as it is kept clean. As I said, in our household, the time that the kids have to chat is really limited, so the conversation are all targetted to conveying logistical information, not long chats.