Keeping Parents Updated with Technology

Parents spend much of their time getting their students ready for school each year buying school supplies and clothes. Teachers also spend time getting the students ready for school, but what about preparing the parents?

Many parents want to be involved in their students’ academic life. They want to make sure their students are being well educated. Most parents will be used to technology and using it everyday, and this is a great way to connect with parents. Parents will have a phone and maybe even a tablet. Teachers need to provide parents with ways to be involved in the school through 21^st century technology.

A great way to stay in touch with parents or prepare them for school is through a school website. I have been on teachers’ websites, and I love to see the different amounts of information on their site. The most helpful thing I have seen on a website is the class schedule. Other great parts of the websites have been information on the teacher. The teacher writes about where they received their education and how many years they have been teaching. This helps parents feel like they know the teacher more. Before school starts, parents could go on their site and see the schedule and information about the teacher. Another useful thing on a website could be important upcoming events that parents could easily find by visiting the site. Many teachers put important information on sheets of paper, which many parents often misplace. If it is easily accessible on the website, parents will be able to keep up with the information.

Another way to prepare parents for school is a blog. The teacher could post what student will be learning each week on the blog and homework. By doing this, parents can look at the blog on their computer or smart phone and instantly be able to see their students school work. Teachers could even let students use blogs to connect with their parents about their school day. This would let students connect to their parents through technology, and keep parents updated on their kids.

Most parents are interested in what their students are learning. By using technology, parents can easily access this information whenever they want. So many parents have smart phones and tablets and constantly have this technology with them. This website has great tips of what to put on a teacher website so that parents will have all the information they need in one place: http://www.wacona.com/technology/teacherwebpages.html  .

This site is a great way for parents to get their student ready for school together: http://www.parentfurther.com/10-back-school-tips-parents-elementary-school-aged-kids .

iPads for Learning

I am amazed with the technology in schools. I am more amazed by how well most students can use new technology. When I went to school, we had expo board, computers, and overhead projectors. When I got to college, I was opened up to a whole new world of technology. When I started my internship, I was lucky enough to go to a school with great technology. This school had MacBook Pros, iPads, iPods, and Smart boards. The students already knew how to use the iPads and iPods. I know that not all households can afford to have these things, but they are great tools to prepare students for school. It is also great to introduce them to children before they get into school so that they will be prepared to use them in school.

The school I interned at had just been given iPads, and the classrooms could sign up for times to use them. I had not even used an iPad until my internship. When my classroom received the iPads, the students could not wait to use them. I was wondering how playing with iPads was going to benefit their learning. The school loaded only educational apps for students to use.  Many students kept saying how their parents had an iPad at home and had certain games on their iPads too. The students loved Lunchbox, which was a preschool application. (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/monkey-preschool-lunchbox/id328205875?mt=8) These children were learning how to use iPads before kindergarten and were playing educational games. Some students had not used an iPad, but the other students were eager to help and show them fun games.

It is great if a parent can afford an iPad and let their student use it as a way to learn. These applications were preparing the students for kindergarten.  The students probably did not realize that they were learning, but the games were requiring students to use their knowledge to win games. If a parent or family member has an iPad, it would be great to load educational games for the child to play. Students will learn and will have fun doing it. I have included a link at the bottom that lists great applications to download that prepare students for kindergarten.

It really amazes me how much technology has changed. There are so many new ways to teach students. It is great for a child to have some exposure to an iPad or iPod and the many educational applications that they can offer. It is a great way for children to learn information for school and to learn about technology. Many schools are lucky enough to be able to let children use new technology. Students will learn how to keep up with ever-changing technology in school. Although, having some knowledge of new technology before school is very helpful to children.

http://prekinders.com/2010/03/ipod-apps-for-preschool/

http://kids-apps.mobi/pre-k-letters-and-numbers/ 

Twitter List

https://twitter.com/#!/Brittany_Cofer/twitter-list-ed-529

From the creation of my Twitter list, I learned that there are many different resources available to teachers, even on Twitter. I never really thought of Twitter as a place to find information on education. I guess I do not see social networking as a place to find teaching resources. This Twitter list taught me that I was not using a Web 2.0 tool that could provide me with a lot of information on education. This list definitely opened my eyes to how useful Twitter can be in the education field. I will be using this list to keep up with education articles in the future.

Some criteria for my list were an account that had many links and useful resources. I did not want a site that included a lot of useless posts. When I picked Twitter accounts for my list, I tried to search the Internet for good accounts relating to education and technology. I wanted a trusted account that was recommended by others. I would look at the last five posts on the accounts and see if these posts included useful topics or links. If it did, I would include them on my list. If a site did not seem to aim at my degree of elementary education, I did not include it.

Some of my favorite resources that I found when creating my Twitter list were @TheEduTrap and @Welearnmore. Both of these sites post great articles and links. Their posts really catch my eye and make me want to read them. They stood out because I could look at my Twitter list feed, and I wanted to read the articles from these two accounts. @TheEduTrap is all about staying up to date on education and the latest innovations. @Welearnmore feeds great education blogs to Twitter.

Other professionals can use my Twitter list to find articles on education. Most of my accounts on my Twitter list are aimed towards education in general, but a few of my accounts are aimed more towards elementary education. Elementary teachers may find my lists more helpful, but I wanted my list to be helpful to everyone. Other professionals can use these accounts to stay up to date on educational innovations, and other topics involving education. My list does not have to only be for teachers. If a parent is interested on learning about education, they could also use my Twitter list to stay up to date on education.