“Books” by Jules Hawk is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Resource Purpose

I have reached out to multiple school districts in British Columbia on finding clear policies that outline peer-to-peer communication for high school students, and found that there is a gap with this resource. The British Columbia Ministry of Education is going to roll out their back to school plans any day now, and quite possibly accompanied resources may follow. At the present time, I feel it is better to add material to the learning community and provide a document that can be modified and changed to fit the school culture and policies of not only British Columbia, but those of all educational facilities that want to support peer-to-peer communication in learning spaces without the continuous presence of an educator. An example of such an environment would be students working in groups of two to four in break-out rooms facilitated by the teacher using Zoom video conference software or the use of Microsoft Teams.

The   Expectations for Communicating with Peers Online document is intended for educators to use in communicating with parents and students for use in the following:

  •  A guide for structuring lessons that reinforce the principle outlined in digital citizenship and peer communication.
  •  A document that students need to acknowledge prior to building online relationships with their peers.
  • Communication for parents with an understanding of school policies and online expectations for their child.
  • Acknowledgement from parents on expectations of student behaviour with communication in an online school facilitated environment. 
  • Information on consequences with unexpected behaviour for all parties involved with student communication online
  • The document is intended for the reader to make modifications to tailor for school policies surrounding bullying and harassment. The school policies in the current document are a reflection of Prince George Secondary School’s policies, which are a reflection of my work environment.

It is recommended modifications are made in the document that reflect your own school’s policies on harassment and bullying.

Date of Publication and Resources

The resource document was created in July 2020 that relied on resources from the British Columbia Government and from the current high school I am working at as a teacher. Resources for creating the Expectations for Communicating with Peers Online document can be found in the document itself.

About Me

I have been teaching in Canada since 2009, but started my teaching career in South Korea in 1999 as an ESL teacher. I have taught in various roles from K to adult learning in both countries, but currently teach at Prince George Secondary School in British Columbia, Canada, as the newly designated business education teacher.  Over the years I have drawn on support from my peers and administrators in teaching various subjects by integrating technology tools with the new British Columbia curriculum guidelines. I am also a part-time student and currently engaged in my second year of the Masters of Educational Technology Program at the University of Victoria through online education.

 

Final Note

The University of California’s Evaluating Resources guide was used as a guideline to provide a rationale and reflective evaluation of the Expectations for Communicating with Peers Online document.