February 8, 2017
What parents should ask teachers about technology
‘Technology in education’ has become the buzz phrase for cutting edge classes that are plugged into the latest education trends. Not surprisingly, it takes a lot more than a room full of computers, iPads, and apps to turn “tech ed” from marketing to mainstream.
For parents, where schools fall on that continuum — mostly marketing hype or taking the necessary steps to integrate tech — is critical. When you start at a new school (or classroom, or teacher), it’s important to understand the part technology will take to improve educational experiences for your child. Here are fourteen question you can expect stakeholders to answer — in depth:
Who teaches students to use class digital tools?
Many teachers (too many) think students arrive at school as digital natives, with all necessary digital knowledge downloaded into their brains. This myth exploded when students taking the year-end online tests didn’t know basic tech skills like copy-paste, keyboarding, using dialogue boxes, and more. So it’s a legitimate question: Who teaches students how to use the school’s digital devices and what training do they get to support that responsibility? Is it a one-off PD day or ongoing? Is there a tech ed curriculum to ensure topic coverage and that teaching is done “the right way” or is it up to the teacher? How does the school handle an unexpected tech need — say, programming for December’s Hour of Code?
Who teaches digital citizenship?
Without direction to the contrary, students enter the world of the Internet thinking it’s the 21st century’s version of the wild wild west: Go anywhere, grab anything, with impunity and few repercussions. Nothing could be further from the truth, especially with the huge changes likely to occur as the Internet home changes from the US to the UN.
Being a good digital citizen requires an understanding of the inherent rights and responsibilities including Internet privacy, cyberbullying, the legalities of using online materials, and more. Who is responsible for teaching that in the school? Often, when I talk to educators, the consensus is that “someone else is doing that”. Sometimes, the tech teacher admits it’s them, but they have neither the time nor resources allocated to do it right. Teach digital citizenship is easily done either through dedicated platforms like Common Sense Media and Netsmartz, or a full-blown curriculum like this one from Structured Learning. If the school doesn’t have a proven method of teaching these topics, accept that this is one of the topics you as parent will be expected to teach your children. Because, like crossing the street safely and not talking to strangers, it must be taught.
How tech-savvy are teachers?
How knowledgeable are teachers about technology? I often hear teachers complain that their students know more about using tech tools than they do. If this is the case in your school, what is being done about it? Who picks the digital apps, software, extensions, and programs used in the classes? Is it established by district policy or is each teacher encouraged to pick their own? Depending on the school, teachers may have a lot of flexibility in what technology they use in their lessons. This isn’t good or bad — just something to ask about.
Is student time on digital devices meaningful or babysitting?
Do teachers pull out the iPads only to practice rote math drills (which is a good idea) or do students become inspired by the creativity of apps like GeoGebra and take notes using a digital tool like Google Keep? If a school is new to integrating tech into the curriculum, they may be using it more for substitution than redefinition (as described in the SAMR Model). That’s fine, and valuable in its own right, but, you want to confirm that the school has bigger plans for technology like augmentation of existing lesson plans, modification to extend and deepen learning, and using it to include higher order thinking in inquiry.
How much classwork depends upon a digital device?
What digital devices are used for classwork? Is it provided by the school or parents? Can students bring it home? If not, what if the parent doesn’t have an up-to-date computer/iPad at home? What if they don’t have a robust Internet or Wifi available? And if the child doesn’t have these digital tools at home, will s/he be behind classmates? Are computers available after school to complete tech-intensive work, with dedicated teachers to help with problems?
If my student struggles with a technology skill, where can s/he go for help?
Know whether there’s a dedicated tech specialist or if it’s the classroom teacher to assist students with tech skill problems. Find out if this is informal or planned in advance, like a regular session that the student can attend (like after school for thirty minutes).
Where can I — the parent — get help on tech skills I don’t understand?
Find out if there’s a parent tech class you can attend and how often it is. Or is it a 1:1 program, offered as needed? This isn’t an uncommon concern. Largely, there’s a gap between what our children know about technology and what adults know.
For Common Core schools: How do they prepare students to succeed with online testing?
End-of-year assessments of the Common Core grade-level standards are delivered online. That’s fine, but teachers have discovered that lots of kids don’t have the rudimentary knowledge to succeed at these. That includes skills like highlighting, copy-paste, and typing in dialogue boxes. Here’s an article that discusses SBAC/PARCC testing in more depth. The school likely has gone through multiple end-of-year tests and has an idea of where students need help. Discuss that with them to be sure your child has the greatest opportunity to share their knowledge and succeed at the testing experience.
What digital tools should students have at home?
What digital tools are required at home? This might include a desktop/laptop computer, Wifi, and an ereader, as well as software, apps, extensions, and bookmarked websites used to complete schoolwork.
Additionally, lots of schools now make classes available online for students who have to be out of school for any reason — an unexpected trip, sickness, or even snow days. That might be as simple as a Google Hangout while the class is occurring or a webcast of the completed class. Find out if this is available and what is required of you to make this work.
Another important digital tool for students to have at home is a secure and reliable identity management solution. With the increasing reliance on digital tools and online resources for learning, it’s crucial to ensure that students have secure and authorized access to the resources they need. Tools4Ever, for example, provides a range of identity and access management solutions that can help schools and educational institutions manage user identities, access, and security. These solutions can enhance overall security with multi-factor authentication and other advanced features.
Does the school use digital tools to stay in touch with parents?
Should the parent join a blog or website? Or a stand-alone app like Remind? Does the school use programs like Google Forms to sign parents up for volunteer positions? How can parents track assessment such as grades, submitted classwork, and class behavior issues? Find out what program or tool is used for those purposes and how to make that available on personal digital devices.
One more: If you can’t make a parent-teacher conference, find out if the school offers virtual meeting options such as Skype or Google Hangouts in off-school hours. These are free, easy-to-setup, and can fit the varied schedules so common with busy parents.
What is the campus policy on bringing digital devices from home?
Such as cell phones. Are they allowed? Must they stay in lockers or backpacks? If the school is a Bring-your-own-device (BYOD) set-up, what do they recommend?
What is the campus AUP on using school digital tools?
The school’s Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) should be rigorous, detailed, and comprehensive. A short list of topics should include:
- Internet use
- digital device use on the school campus
- legalities
Here’s a post which covers fourteen AUP guidelines and places to go to view standard AUPs.
How does the school protect student privacy
This will partially be covered in the AUP, but there’s more. Is the school Wifi private and protected? Are students permitted to log in from personal hotspots (say, on their phones, that tie into their home network and by-pass school controls)? What provisions have been made to protect student information from malware and phishing?
Does the school allow teachers and students to be friends on social networks?
It’s becoming more common for teachers and students to be friends with each other online, maybe through Facebook or Twitter. This might be limited to class-related communications, but don’t take that for granted. Ask teachers if they use social media with students and if so, how. Then, talk to your kids about appropriate communications.
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As you dig into these questions, most teachers will embrace the conversation and make you comfortable and excited about the technology environment at the school. If the conversation raises more questions, don’t be afraid to ask. You won’t be the only person with these issues.
More on parents and tech
How Do Non-Techie Parents Handle the Increasing Focus on Technology in Education?
How Parents Can Protect Their Children Online
3 Digital Tools To Keep Parents Up to Date
Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-8 technology for 15 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-8 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, CSG Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, CAEP reviewer, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, and a weekly contributor to TeachHUB. You can find her resources at Structured Learning. Read Jacqui’s debut tech thriller, To Hunt a Sub.
