Digital technologies have transformed and reformed the ways that teachers interact with students and parents. Teachers have always felt a sense of caring towards their students and parents, therefore spent time outside regular school hours working on teaching activities. Email, however, extends the ability to communicate which can have many positive effects. Notes of support, reassurance, or comfort can be sent in a moment and can foster the deepening of relationships. Topics that may be difficult to discuss in person or on the phone for a variety of reasons can be broached via email. Questions may be answered quickly and may relieve both students and parents. The asynchronicity of email also affords the ability for parents and students to connect with teachers outside school hours and also offers the time for a teacher to consider a response before sending or to defer a reply. Increasingly, schools are requiring teachers to use student information systems and social media to communicate with the school community. We must begin to ask: Is there a limit to the number of ways and amount of time teachers are expected to engage in communication?

Published in: World Congress on Education (WCE-2018)

• Date of Conference: 15-18 July 2018
• DOI: 10.2053/WCE.2018.0032
• ISBN: 978-1-908320-91-9
• Conference Location: Dublin, Ireland