December 2003 — Features

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Engaging Families With Technology

Technology also plays a pivotal role here, because regardless of one's educational level or work experience, technology touches all of our lives every day. For individuals living in the United States, the mastery of technological skills for school and workplace success is a universal assumption. Therefore, technology-based programs for improving family involvement possess an inherent level of stakeholder buy-in that can greatly contribute to their success.

Families need to be clearly told — either through the initial written correspondence or first oral contact — that no matter their country of origin, the language spoken at home or the jobs held by parents, we all want our children to succeed to a greater extent than the previous generation. By acknowledging commonalities, educators join with families in an open process that facilitates working together.

Direct Benefits for Parents

Trying to raise students' interest in school, enjoyment of learning, academic skills or standardized test scores are lofty goals. However, often not enough effort is provided to get parents involved in their children's education. Programs that offer a direct benefit to the parents are the most likely to succeed (Lopez, Scribner and Mahitivanichcha 2001). In the FamilyTech program, computers were loaned to students for use at their homes, and computer instruction was provided as part of the students' school day. But, the program did not stop there. The FamilyTech program was also designed with computer training for parents as part of the intervention, which served multiple purposes.

First, it gave parents a free opportunity to learn skills that they could use at home (e.g., e-mailing family members who live outside of the country, keeping track of appointments with a computer calendar, overseeing household expenses with a budget spreadsheet) and at work (e.g., expanding skills used in current positions). Parents recognized the important role computers play in the world of today and tomorrow. They were also eager for their children and themselves to become more proficient in the use of technology.

Second, computer training afforded parents a chance to keep pace with their children. Following training, parents and students shared a common understanding of computer technology. Parents were better able to assist their children with schoolwork on the computer and with computer-related problems. Instead of waiting for children to ask their parents for help with homework, parents were given computer activities during training sessions that were to be completed at home with their children. In addition, when computer issues arose, parents reported being more comfortable initiating contact with the schools. Informally interacting with teachers during computer training sessions also contributed to this effect. In addition, calling schools concerning the computers was perceived as a positive issue, and parents expressed less reluctance to contact schools over positive versus negative issues.

Third, by training parents on the computers and enabling them to assist their children with computer-related schoolwork, parents automatically became more aware of what their children were learning at school. In fact, following the implementation of the FamilyTech intervention, teachers reported that the number of families involved 'to a great extent' with their children's school more than doubled from pre-intervention numbers.