ISTE3 EDTC6433 Resolution Reflection Module 3

ISTE3 EDTC6433 Resolution Reflection Module 3

Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society. Teachers:

a.             Demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations.

b.            Collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation.

c.             Communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats.

My Question: What digital tools are available to educators to communicate grades, ideas, and other important information with their students, parents, and local community to support student’s success?

Growing up through the time where technology continues to make new developments, makes it extremely difficult to keep up and catch on to all the “newness.” I also think that because I am one of the youngest on my team at work, they expect me to be more tech savvy, which is not always the case. However, this class and with research, I have definitely come across and become more aware of what is available to create new learning situations for my students, colleagues and find ways to get parents involved, which is all what ISTE3 is about.

I approach working at Horizon Elementary with a mindset that this school and these kids are my mission field. It is not the easiest at times. As I have mentioned in posts before, I work in an area of high needs kids. They come from families that are not always involved or want to be involved with their child and school. In an article that a fellow cohort member posted states how parent involvement in school correlates with student success. It is said that “Students who have parents who are actively involved in their education have higher grades, test scores, enroll in higher-level programs, graduate high school, and go on to post-secondary school” (Olmstead, 2013). Knowing how important parent involvement is, set forth my question of: What digital tools are available to educators to communicate grades, ideas, and other important information with their students, parents, and local community to support student’s success? Katie Adams, posted an article that I really enjoyed. In the article “Using Technology to Increase ParentInvolvement in Schools” brought up a point that really made me think of how to address parent involvement. Olmstead refers to parent involvement in two ways-reactive or proactive. “Reactive involvement in schooling includes activities such as attending meetings, family activities, or volunteering. Proactive involvement in children’s learning includes activities such as helping with homework, staying informed about school events, and following a child’s progress.” From that list, we would want parents to try and do all those things, but unfortunately there are situations where parents either cannot or wont. Continue to read the article, it brought up the point the convenience to access materials.

Through my research, I found an article ( 7 Free Apps for Keeping Parents and Teachers Connected) that introduced 7 phones apps that allowed parents to stay in the loop with their child’s teacher using their cellphone or tablets. The one app that I feel would be best is the Teacher App & Gradebook by Acedemically InformED. This particular FREE app offers a lot to parents who wish to use it to stay informed. This app offers access to grades, messaging, interactive class calendar, attendance records, a way to send assignments, and assignment grades and notes. I feel that this app offers a lot and is a great resource for parents that is literally in the palm of their hand. The other app, which I am looking into implementing in my classroom soon, is the Remind app. Horizon caters to a high foreign language community, Spanish, being the most popular. This app sends messages straight to parents phones AND has the ability to translate messages into 70 different languages. We often send home notes that are translated, but the odds of that paper getting from a child’s homework folder into the hands of their parent or guardian is slim, compared to the instant message sent directly their phone. Remind has the ability to send to a single person or to a group, and you can tell who is receiving them.

All in all, I feel that my question has definitely been answered. There are MANY different ways using technology that can get parents involved with their child’s classroom. I also really enjoyed Vanessa Oh’s resource of "SocialMedia for School Leaders : A Comprehensive Guide to Getting the Most Out ofFacebook, Twitter, and Other Essential Web Tools" offers a TON of insight as well. This book gave so many different ideas of how to use different technology formats to communicate and for students to display work-each chapter giving the benefits, best practices, and how to use.

 

                                                  Works Cited:

Dixon, B. (2012). Social Media for School Leaders : A Comprehensive Guide to Getting the Most Out of Facebook, Twitter, and Other Essential Web Tools. Retrieved November 5, 2016.

McCrea, B. (2013, June 11). 7 free apps for keeping parents and teachers connected. THE Journal. Retrieved from https://thejournal.com/Articles/2013/06/11/7-Free-Apps-for-Keeping-Parents-and-Teachers-Connected.aspx?Page=1

Olmstead, C. (2013). Using technology to increase parent involvement in schools. TechTrends, 57(6), 28-37. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.spu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip&db=eft&AN=91587612&site=ehost-live