Dad…I’m Doing Fine…Don’t Worry About It!
Uncategorized November 29th, 2007No matter what the focus of the article may be when it comes to social networking and the classroom, there is always one element that is considered: the parents. With social networking comes the threat of online bullying and other online predators. Parents rightfully have a problem with these types of problems and this has been a large barrier when it comes to filtering social networking into the classroom. The article “Powering up our education system” has acknowledged this problem, and has worked to introduce the positive aspects that Facebook and Myspace, and other blogs have offered to parents. With the use of these networking sites, parents can track their child’s progress better than every. What if each classroom in high school used the blackboard application for students and parents to access? Let’s say I’m in high school and I’m doing terrible in math. (Hypothetical example of course). My dad is asking me every week how my grades are and I tell him everything is fine. He believes me because he doesn’t really have any way of finding out the truth, unless he calls my teacher and he really doesn’t want to do that. So he backs off and assumes that I’m passing. The report card gets sent home and I failed math. Dad is raging mad. Things aren’t good. If only we had had access blackboard. In case I didn’t make it clear, I think the use of blackboard, or some other type of networking site in classrooms would be greatly helpful for parents. My dad could have asked me how my grades were, and I would have said fine. But maybe he had checked blackboard before he asked me, saw my grades and progress, and knew that I was failing. He would know on a daily basis if he wanted how I was doing in school. For a student, this access for parents might be a nightmare; at least it would have been for me when I was in high school. But realistically it is the answer for communication. It is easily accessible, up-to-date, and confidential.
Source: Google Blogs
Author: e Government & E.U.
Title: Powering up our education system
Link: http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/news.nv?storyid=single9702
December 4th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
I must admit I am not a HUGE fan of blackboard. It is a lot of work keeping up with all of the changes that are made on blackboard (sometimes hourly, it seems) but I am not saying that it’s a bad idea. The school I taught at utilized a program called Edline. It was similar to blackboard but a bit more user friendly. Since I taught at a boarding school and the students’ parents felt generally out of touch with what their kids were doing they could sign on to Edline and see how their child was doing, what they had for homework, their daily schedule, what their $40,000 was buying them…but let me tell you, it was A LOT of extra work for the teacher!!
December 5th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
One of my teachers in high school attempted to use Blackboard, but it never really got off the ground because it was very confusing to use, and also because most teachers felt it was unnecessary. Instead, all of the teachers in my school were given website that could be accessed through the school’s main webpage. Teachers posted homework assignments and upcoming events there. Also, all the middle and elementary schools in my district have a call-in service, where parents can call an extension number and hear all the homework for the week.
Also, I don’t really see how giving parents access to a Blackboard-type site would help in a situation like the one you describe. Even if they were given such an opportunity, some parents would still be too lazy to actually check it, so the problem would continue. Parents who actually care about how their child does in school have always had ways to check their child’s progress, and parents who don’t care have always been able to ignore their kid’s academic progress.