Involving Parents and Carers

Children’s use of ICT at home is an important aspect of their progress in ICT capability even before they enter the learning setting. When you work together with parents and carers the results have a positive impact on their development and learning in ICT capability.

Parents can help identify a baseline assessment of their child’s ICT capability through initial discussions, samples of recorded work collected at home, and photographic evidence. This evidence can then be included in the learning journey of the child.

You can invite parents to contribute to the policies of the setting. Things to consider include developing a working party consisting of parents, carers and educators. The party can then discuss new initiative and contribute ideas. Remember to evaluate the impact of these new initiative (Glazzard, 2010).

It is important that you value these contributions of assessment that parents provide for you. They need to be included in the child’s learning journey so ask them what information they can give you. You may find that this evidence gradually increases and you might need to ask them to jot down some notes based on observations. One possible extension to this evidence could be a recorded discussion of their child’s conversations to do about technology. Video

Make it clear to the parents that you are interested in the evidence of achievements and in the child’s learning journey. Create opportunities for parents to regularly discuss their child’s achievements and identify ways in which you support progression and identify the next steps in the child’s ICT capability journey.

Parents will need to understand these steps in all areas of learning and encourage to support their child in working in them.

Enabling parents and carers to become confident assessors

As an educator, you can also help children’s parents and carers to be confidence in their assessment of their child’s ICT capability. This can be achieved by even sharing your own observations and annotated photos with them and then ask them to complete this at home.

By inviting them into the learning setting to observe you and other practitioners, they can benefit from these models of good practice. Each observation can then be followed up with a debriefing sessions. If you act as a mentor to parents, then you will helping the children progress significantly in their capabilities in ICT.

Another way to achieve this is by having an informal training sessions where you can train parents to observe their child effectively.

Opportunities can be created for you to achieve this if you “technify” it. According to Simon and Nemeth (2012, pp. 121-122), the following guidelines are useful:

• Open House or Back to school meeting

Take your parents around the classroom to introduce the learning centre. As you describe the objectives in the learning centre, also explain how technology is used in that area.

• Classroom Newsletter

Add a column about technology use throughout the centre to every issue. Include screen shots and photos wherever possible, and always include tips such as:

• How to set boundaries and limits for technology use; • Using appropriate technology tools and activities at appropriate ages; • Using appropriate technology to engage with their children.

• Family photo books

Some programs provide material for parents to make family scrapbooks for children to bring on their first day to ease transitions. Help parents build their computer skills and connect with their children by inviting them to work with their child using Picasa, PowerPoint, Word or other programs to create a book about their families, complete with photos. Offer the opportunity and equipment for the parents and children to scan some of their treasured family photos so they can take them home on a flash drive, email them, or store them on a free online photo service.

• Family Surveys

Many programs survey parents to find out more about their home lives or to get their input for planning and administering the program. Add questions about how much access they have to technology and how they use it with and in the presence of their children. If parents are interested, you can even create a simple home assessment checklist to help parents track their time so they can plan to be more engaged with their children.