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Harnessing
the Power of the Internet
Most teachers
do not take full advantage of the opportunities for
parent-school communication afforded by the Internet. For
example, a recent article in Business Week indicated that
even simple technology like a class webpage, which would "be
a perfect way to satisfy the parental clamor for more
information," is used by only a minority of teachers (Wildstrom,
2002). The NetDay Survey (2001) revealed that only 20% of
teachers used the Internet to communicate with parents, only
a third of teachers (public/private) are attempting to
integrate the Internet into their classroom instruction, and
only 18% posted lesson plans online.
According to
a recent report (Pew Internet & American Life Project,
2002), there are 45 million parents online today, making up
43% of Internet users. However, schools do not yet seem to
be jumping into the Internet age in any great numbers.
According to a 1999 survey, of the 36 states that produce
school-level report cards, only 26 require the report cards
to be made available on the Web (Olson, 1999).
The slowness
of schools to use the Web to communicate to parents about
their students' curriculum, progress, homework, or on a
variety of other topics may be rooted in a complex array of
factors-lack of technical skills on the part of teachers,
difficulty of maintaining websites, and privacy concerns.
However, there are some good reasons for schools to put
forth the effort.
Greater use
of the Internet among parents and teachers could solve some
of the most endemic problems that prevent parents from
becoming more closely involved in their child's schooling. A
few examples of how advanced two-way and asynchronous
potential of the Internet can improve the rate of parent
contact are listed below:
While most parents will not read a lengthy school report,
smart web design can offer some significant advantages.
Information can be readily updated, and there is almost no
cost to end-users.
The new technology can simplify and expand opportunities for
parent-school communication. Using e-mail, busy teachers,
principals, and parents can communicate asynchronously. In
addition, schools can host virtual parent-teacher conference
evenings, thereby mitigating the problem of busy
single-parent or working families that are unable to attend.
Assignments can be posted on classroom webpages, accompanied
by a list of resources that parents might also be able to
access to support the child's work.
Innovative
Programs to Increase Participation
A key issue
that may well be at the core of schools' slowness to embrace
the Internet as a means of parental communication is the
fact that not all parents have access to the Web, and
placing too many resources in this area may discriminate
unfairly against those parents who find themselves falling
on the wrong side of the digital divide.
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