Parental Controls

As an educator the scariest monster under my bed is the ill-supportive parent. Many parents do not necessarily choose to put on this mask as much as they just happen fall into it through lack of communication and/or just a flat-out fear of the unknown.  As a key stakeholder group, parents need to be in the know in order to be able to be the happy, fully supportive teammate we as educators need in our corner. Technology integration is a new, constantly evolving beast for parents. In reality, the most experience many parents have had throughout their own school careers was the required keyboarding class. That's it! That being said, parents do not know how to approach the idea of technology integration with their child's education and therefore will shy away from getting involved. In order to ease parents' fear of technology integration and therefore create a supportive home base, there are three specific points of knowledge I would like to share with them on day one.

1. The 3 P's: Purpose, Plan, Policy
The best way to help parents accept and understand educational change, is to provide them with well-explained process and procedures. It is hard to support and be a part of anything that is not fully understood! Our parents will need to be introduced right away to how technology integration addresses the 21st century skills and, consequently, is now necessary in today's learning environment. The plan for usage and detailed expectations, as well as consequences for not meeting those expectations, also need to be clearly addressed. This is so that parents are not met with an unpleasant experience with teachers and administrators later. (I mean to say, how many times have we heard, "Well I didn't know that app wasn't allowed!") In accordance with a letter written by Sandy Kendell,  parents need to know what kinds of activities to expect and what limitations to set at home. Continuity in regulations is essential to forming a proper safety net between classroom and living room.
   
2. Digital Citizenship
I cannot express how disheartening it is to see adults engaging in social network activities that we work so hard to prevent in our classrooms. Parents have to be role models in using technology appropriately. Being that technology integration (and particularly social media usage) began and has continually evolved far after the educational careers of our parents ended, a digital citizenship course for parents is nothing short of necessary. Essentially, we need to address how parents should "parent" digitally.

3. How to provide home support
The part of technology integration that stresses both parents and teachers out the most is how to adequately provide digital support away from the classroom. This should begin by teaching parents how to use the same devices/apps the students use. This could be accomplished by holding tech workshops for parents or online support forums ("how-to's")  for parents that cannot attend such workshops. Parents should be encouraged to get involved as often as possible in their child's integrated lessons and activities. The more that involvement occurs, the more the parent will understand and consequently become a part of the learning process.  In addition, parents who remain in constant contact with teachers about happenings in the classroom have the edge in being an effective educational ally!

I truly believe that by providing parents/guardians with the above information right off the bat, it will create an ease in what seems like such a complicated evolution in the daily educational process. And when parents feel more comfortable with what is happening in the classroom, teachers have a better-prepared partner to support our students growth beyond the bell.