Tech Parent Ed and the Home/School Connection

[Barbara Cohen]

We’re thinking deeply about our current approaches to Tech Parent Ed and I hope you might have a moment to answer a few questions. I’m wondering about how your tech department involves itself in the business of parent ed. I’m going to also compile everything on our BAISNet wiki here: http://baisnet.wikispaces.com/Parent+Ed. Here are some specific questions:

• “PROACTIVE” TECH ED FOR PARENTS: Do you host (or co-host with other campus leaders) tech-related parent coffees, evening events or drop-in sessions for parents? What is the content/tone of these events? Who organizes/attends? Inside or outside speakers?
  

• TECH COMMUNICATION: Do you have a regular way of communicating with parents about tech? (blast emails, web page, tech dept. blog, etc.)
  

• HOME TECH INCIDENTS: How do you navigate the rocky terrain of tech-related incidents that happen at home but trickle into school? (Cyberbullying, inappropriate uses of tech at home, etc.) Is there a general protocol? Do you do any tech sleuthing at school to help parents figure out what happened/what to do after an incident occurs at home? Do you (or others) do any kind of just-in-time learning with kids if an incident happens at home? Do you (or others) send any kind of community-wide correspondence to parents informing them about the incident? Who gets involved in the follow-up of these incidents? Tech Department, Division Head, Head of School, school counselors or others?
  

• TECH SUPPORT AT HOME: Do you ever/often help parents to get their (non-school owned) laptops/home networks/devices set up or privacy/parental control settings configured?
  

• IF YOU’RE A 1:1 SCHOOL: What does the laptop rollout process look like for PARENTS specifically? Is there an event?  A packet? A series of things? One-time or ongoing?
  

• RESOURCES: Do you have parent ed handouts, slides, delicious/diigo links, resources, etc. that you’d be willing to share with others? Again, if you share I’ll post these on the wiki link above.
  

Thanks SO MUCH in advance!
Barbara

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Barbara L. Cohen, Director of Technology
Marin Country Day School

[Sarah Hanawald]

Hi Barbara,

I just added a video that our tech faculty made as an opener for a recent parent ed session on social networking, parents, and teens. It was a great session.

Sarah

[Barbara Cohen]

THANKS, Sarah!

[Marti Weston]

I am collaborating with a small group of four independent school educators who are presenting a workshop at the NAIS Conference, Parents are 21st Learners, Too.  We represent four different schools, three geographic areas, and four different types of independent schools (although our school missions share much in common).

We are addressing and sharing our information on many of the topics above.

Please plan to come.