Technologies for Learning: Unpacking the Objectives – Parental Engagement
We are in the middle of an on-line debate about the future of technologies for learning in our schools. This has already included some significant announcements regarding a change of direction to Glow and we will be continuing to develop our thinking building up to the Scottish Government ICT Summit on the 17th October. To help inform our work I have set five objectives, the fourth of which is unpacked below.
Objective 4: Deepen parental engagement
There is no doubt about it – parental engagement is improving in Scottish Schools and many of the parents I speak with feel more in touch with their child’s learning. But I also get a sense that some schools could do more.
I wonder how many school newsletters get lost between the school gate and home? Or how many parents there are who would be keen to know about a schools extra-curricular programme, so they could encourage their child to take part?
Technology can provide a catalyst and a mechanism for improving parental engagement and I would like to see more schools moving in this direction. Over the last few months I have seen a number of schools that have taken small steps that have had a big impact on wider community relations.
These steps include emailing school newsletters to parents (and anyone in the school community who would like a copy), publishing school calendars and timetables on-line, development of wonderful websites (and even school Wikipedia entries) and using translation software to improve communications for parents where English is a second language.
These achievements are great building blocks but we need to do more. Schools should actively be encouraging the use of social technology to communicate better with parents and to share pupils’ work and achievements. How can tools like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, Google+ etc. play a role here?
By improving parental engagement, I hope that we can increase the amount of communication between schools and homes. This will ultimately increase involvement of parents in their child’s learning through greater access to opportunities while improving digital literacy for all.
What do you think? Why don’t you have your say and contribute to the on-line discussions taking place between the 12th September – 10th October. You can find out more information and join in at http://glo.li/eduscotict.
Michael Russell
Cabinet Secretary for Education & Lifelong Learning
Related information
Technologies for Learning: Unpacking the Objectives – Introduction
Technologies for Learning: Unpacking the Objectives – Confidence
Technologies for Learning: Unpacking the Objectives – New Behaviours
Watch the video - Cabinet Secretary for Education Michael Russell discusses the future of Glow – the schools website
2 comments
No doubt technology plays a part in supporting parental involvement and as an organisation we encourage Parent Councils and PTAs to explore what works for them, but it cannot be relied upon for all – we are still a country where a signficant number of families are unable to use the internet because of technological, financial, language or other barriers.
Within 30 miles of Edinburgh we have communities which still rely on dial-up; those who are financially excluded are among the least likely to have internet access – or to engage with their child’s school. We’d say that access is a fundamental issue which must be addressed first and foremost if we are to strengthen parental involvement and avoid re-enforcing existing barriers.
@parents@sptc Thank you for your comments please make sure that you add your concerns about ‘access’ to the #EduScotICT Wiki http://glo.li/eduscotict
Michael Russell
Cabinet Secretary for Education & Lifelong Learning