MANAGING ICT Supporting parents


Continuing our recent ICT focus on engaging parents, assistant headDominic Tester discusses how schools can use technology to ensure parents are supporting their children’s learning


F


OR MANY parents the question “can you help me with my homework?” is the catalyst for a sinking feeling in the stomach, and a quick flashback to their school days past, slaving away at complex mathematics equations and lengthy reading assignments.


It is not uncommon for parents to struggle when


helping their child or teenage student complete homework assignments. A recent survey found 83 per cent of the 2,000 parents asked had been unable to help their child complete a homework assignment when asked.Almost a fifth of these cited their inability to help as embarrassing, with maths and science identified as the most problematic. Children also confirmed that parents are not always


the best substitutes for their teachers, with 58 per cent reporting that their parents’ methods of teaching were confusing or “out-of-date”.


Educating parents


Whether it is a lack of understanding of the theory behind learning content, or a lack of understanding about how and what children are taught at school, there is a clear need for schools to engage parents. Many parents struggle simply because it has been many years since they attended school, and the modern classroom is a very different place to the black chalk board and computer-less desks they may remember. Despite this, it is clear parental aid can be very


important when completing homework or coursework assignments. The research above also showed that 37 per cent of students were unable to finish an assignment because there was no-one at home able to help them.


Barriers facing parents


The biggest issue for parents is being unfamiliar with the content of the lessons students are taught. Without the background to a lesson, homework, coursework tasks and assignments are seen out of context by parents. Frequently, completing a homework assignment requires an understanding of information or insight delivered during lesson time. This issue can often be compounded by individual


student’s note-taking. If this is not comprehensive, parents can find themselves pouring over a child’s homework diary to decipher handwritten notes before they can even begin to help. The increasing presence of technology in the


classroom can also be a stumbling point. While some subjects, such as English language or history, will likely have changed very little since parents were at school, few parents will have been tasked with recording a podcast, for example. It can also be difficult for parents to contact


teaching staff at their children’s school for further support and insight into the assigned work. Both busy teaching schedules and the usual working day take up the majority of daytime hours. With homework predominantly completed outside of school hours, there is a natural disconnect between parents and schools, outside of formal parent/teacher meetings.


Engaging parents with learning materials


One way to aid both parents and students with learning is by providing learning content that can be accessed from the home via the internet.At my school, Costello Technology College, a virtual learning environment (VLE) has been implemented to provide students with access to learning materials, homework and coursework aids outside of school hours. As part of this project, a Parent Portal has been developed, designed to support and engage parents with learning. Teachers create a vast amount of learning content


that can be made available online for review both by students and by parents. Learning content is often created using screencasting


or “lesson capture” software. At Costello, we use a program to record a video of the activity on a computer screen, with a voice commentary of the lesson being delivered overlaid on the video recording. This allows teachers to explain what is happening on-screen as


SecEd • June 17 2010


the video is played back or provide a narrative over a PowerPoint presentation. Screencasting was initially used as a method of


demonstrating how to use specific software programs. For example, if a classroom activity involved students recording and producing their own podcasts, a video could be created to walk students through this process on a step-by-step basis, with a teacher’s voice narrating the video. It is also increasingly common for teachers to use


PowerPoint to deliver lesson content, recording the slides and their narration as they go. This learning content is uploaded to the VLE to allow parents to view from home. Far from having to decipher a student’s handwritten notes, parents can view the theory of a lesson, skipping to the area where their child may be encountering difficulties. This allows them to understand the nature of the lesson, in context, and provide extra help or pointers to their child, while maintaining a consistent teaching approach.


Teacher-to-parent communication


Screencasting has also been very helpful for demonstrating how to use the Parent Portal. For students, the portal is somewhat second nature. The students at Costello are what we call “digital natives”, as they have grown up with computers in their homes and access the world wide web as part of their everyday life. By contrast, some parents are not overly familiar with the online world, and have been hesitant to use the portal. To aid in this, a screencast video was created that


shows parents the main aspects of the portal, with an accompanying voice-over narrating the different areas that they can access, as well as where learning content, homework assignments, supporting materials and student diaries and schedules can be found. This proved to be a very effective way of introducing parents to the portal and getting them online. The VLE also allows parents to view all assignments


given to their children, as well as viewing hosted learning materials. By providing each parent with their own log-in, they have access to email and discussion forums that allow them to contact teachers and school staff directly regarding assignments set. As this is done online, parents send information and requests to teachers at any time, fitting with their own work life.


Benefits of the VLE at Costello


By providing these learning materials and screencast videos online, a stronger learning partnership between the school and home has been developed with parents better able to support their children’s learning. Parents are also able to gain a better insight into


what their children are being taught at school, how they are progressing, and exactly what they are being set as homework and coursework, as well how their learning is being assessed. With the VLE fully online, Costello is now looking at ways to further improve the resource for both parents and students. Each department within the college will have a dedicated presence on the portal, providing important course information to


A properly resourced school nursing service is required to help schools meet the government’s health and wellbeing objectives.


Research published in the British Journal of School Nursing (BJSN) shows that more school nurses are needed to meet these objectives and ensure school children receive the health care and support they deserve. Therefore


the BJSN has launched a campaign to increase the number of school nurses.


For more information on the campaign visit


http://moreschoolnurses.co.uk Support the campaign or send us your views at:


bjsn@markallengroup.com


SCHOOL NURSES FOR BETTER CHILD HEALTH


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parents. Discussion forums for all subjects will also be brought online so parents can communicate directly with individual teaching staff and ensure support across the entire curriculum.


SecEd


• Dominic Tester is assistant headteacher at Costello Technology College, a third phase specialist school for 11 to 16-year-olds in Basingstoke. Costello uses the Camtasia Studio lesson capture programme.


FOR BETTER CHILD HEALTH SCHOOL NURSES MORE


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