Many of you who have been following my blog will already know that I am presenting at the FROG national conference this year, specifically looking at parental engagement and the parent portal. The conference is now only a few weeks away and I am turning to all of you for a bit of help. I want to make the session as constructive and thought provoking as possible, I already have my own ideas about what I would like to present with regard to the FROG parent portal but want to target it to the audience as much as possible. What would you all like to experience (for those who are coming) - and for those of you who aren't, why not? :)
Please submit your ideas through comments, be great to here from you all.
Dom
Posts
4 comments:
I run an MIS and a VLE and have been thinking abut this a lot lately - both as a parent and a teacher. As a parent I'd like to be able to login to a school space and check that the school has my contact details correct, that the doctors name is right and any additional notes about my child (Health, SEN)are available. My presumption is that if these are available for me to see - the school and teachers are aware of them as well.
I'd like to be able to check on my child's timetable; particularly when she has PE. (Forgotten PE kit can be a nightmare!)I'd like to be able to see the homework timetable (so that she can't bluff her way into spending more hours on the xbox) and the homework details. In this way I could tell whether coursework was due, or a test had been set.
I'd also like access to a learning area. I'd like to see schemes of work, subject content, examples of tests, worksheets and other learning material. I say this because I have four children - 3 are adults now, but 'the crumpled piece of paper at the bottom of the bag' has often been the case in our home.
I'd like my child to be able to submit work easily electronically, and I'd like access to assessments and reports. In this way I can quickly pick up on any shortfall in progress - ahead of the termly reports. It would be useful to be able to compare and track her progress against other students in her Year and even nationally. I'd also like to be able to see if she's been awarded a commendation,or a detention for work or behaviour.
Strangely enough, I'm not too concerned about having the email address of the teachers. Perhaps this is because if there's a problem, I'd rather go in and speak to the teacher concerned.
I feel the same about attendance - although some parents might wish to know that attendance has been noted, I currently anticipate that the school will alert me if she's not in. I might change my mind when my child is in year 12 or 13though!
I'd also like to have access (all in one place) to a global school activity calendar and to any notices from groups, sports teams etc. she might take part in. These might include specific notices from her class teacher. I'd like her other teachers to be able to contact me via this space as well.
I'm sure I'll think of more in a bit - but I just wanted to put some of my thoughts on parental engagement down.
Kerry, this is fantastic stuff and is very close to my own visioning on this subject. Great post and thank you!
I'll be attending as a journalist to cover the conference Dominic. I'd like to know what is distinctive about Frog. What it gives you that other VLE's don't.
I'd like to know how it helps you fulfil government expectations (ie what parents get access to), and your own expectations for your school's relationship with parents.
I have seen a primary in Buckingham use Moodle to enable children access their work from home, and parents were even provided with software to help support their children with their learning. Can this sort of thing happen with Frog? Looking forward to catching up with you.
Kerry I think that your post shows what teachers are up against in modern day schooling. The responsibility of learning, remembering PE kits and making sure that people are kept informed lie with the student. The whole point of attending a school is to prepare young people to be able to face the big wide world outside the education bubble.
A parent's role regarding their child's education is to support the school or college 100%. Supporting in terms sanctions, discipline and making sure their child has an appropriate place where they can complete their homework.
A VLE or software package that allows parents to communicate with the school should be there to compliment the relationship developed with the school already. The portal should be a place where ideas are passed back and fourth between home and school. If we allow parents increased control over education where do teaching staff fit into the mix? One of main issues in modern day schools is consistency.
In terms of timetables, which can change monthly in some cases due to set re-shuffles, are not always able to be kept up-to-date electronically. In my opinion I would prefer more money to be invested into my child's learning over employing someone to ensure that a school's back office details correct. Instead of employing someone and paying £30,000 per annum, lets take the children out on educational trips and lets bring their learning to life!
SEN details are private and confidential and you would be walking into a mind field if these were published on the Internet. If the account details where misused would you be happy for your medical information published?
If a parent has access to assessments and work how do we clarify if the work submitted electronically has actually been completed by the student.
Electronic portals for parents is a good things but there are point where parents need to take a step back. Parents need to be involved with learning, fact. But children need to be taking complete responsibility in there learning and time management. If a child is playing for time and spending every spare moment on their xbox and not completing their work then they will need to face the consequences in school.
If parents are too involved in a child's life this can in most cases affect them when they get into college and work. Children need to develop into adults and make mistakes. They also need to be prepared for meeting targets because this is what they will face in university or in the working world.
Technology can make a brilliant addition to education but lets not allow it to take over the complete running of the school day.
I work in a school and we are one of the most modern schools in the town. VLE, Parentmail and Parent webspace re part of our school but the information we upload is only as good as the information we have. Information may not be ready available and how many hours will school staff have to work to ensure that this information is as up-to-date?
Post a Comment