ICT for Parents

ICT for ParentsTwo schools aimed to engage parents in a local democracy project through the promotion of adult ICT training facilities.

Overview

Schools sometimes have difficulty in finding ways to get parents involved in the life of the school. There are numerous reasons for this and schools need to think creatively in order to break down the barriers to parental involvement. One way is to offer parents the opportunity to learn new skills in a supportive environment. Two schools set up new ICT training facilities and asked parents to drop in and find out about the eDemocracy project taking place in the school.

What did the project aim to achieve?

The project aimed to:

Developing the project

Both schools identified a space that could be used for setting up ICT facilities for parents. They set up several laptops/computers with Internet access. Parents were told about the computers and invited in to school to try them out. Sessions were organised to teach parents how to use the computers and how to use the internet. The 'hook' for some of these parents was being invited in to look at the online eDemocracy project that the pupils were involved in.

ICT for Parents

What worked well

The parents enjoyed and appreciated the opportunity to access information about the local council, most of them had not realised the wealth of information available.

At a day when several teachers were available to facilitate, many parents came to complete the online questionnaire set up by the Sage Educational Trust to find out the views of parents and grandparents on a range of local issues.

Several parents took the opportunity to set up e-mail addresses and intend to use the facilities made available through the e-Democracy funding to continue to use them.

Some parents agreed to assist with the development and creation of parents/community web pages on the school web site in the future. It looks as if an additional benefit may be that with some further training a team of parents may be able to share some of the ongoing maintenance tasks (uploading whole school letters, holiday dates, local information etc.).

What went less well

The project was, in the end, very rushed. With other whole school projects, staff training and staff absence to contend with setting the project up within the time scale has been difficult.

We encountered some temporary difficulties with Internet access using the new equipment, but these were soon solved.

Some of the further training on using the web design package will have to be done after the school holiday.

Benefits gained from the project

While completing the questionnaire in the company of others some lively discussions took place and parents were keen to think about local issues and practical ways they could address these e.g. collection of large items of rubbish and whether it should be a free service the council provides.

For some of the participants this was the first time they had used the Internet and they have expressed an interest in further using it for finding out information, e-mail and entertainment. For others it was the first opportunity they had had to use laptop computers.

Unexpected outcomes

As people filled in the questionnaire they mentioned such things as:

and began informally discussing possible resolutions to these perceived problems, including involving the local council to address them.

Did technology improve the project?

Without the use of technology the project would have been very hard to run.

The parents were keen to 'have a go' at using the technology that their children use on a daily basis.

Without the wireless internet connection the sessions would have been difficult to run as the parents' room has no dedicated internet connection, so we relied on the new wireless base station located in an adjacent room.

Parental involvement

As many of the facilities in the new parents' room (tea and coffee making facilities, toys for younger children, computer equipment, furniture) are very new we are just beginning to see its potential and parents are gradually keen to use it.

The introduction of the technological equipment has 'broken the ice' with some parents and inviting them in to complete the eDemocracy questionnaire in a non-threatening and supportive atmosphere has meant that parents who have so far been unreceptive to other groups we have set up were prepared to come in and have a go.

We have had some offers of help with the school web site and other parents expressed an interest in the videoing we were doing, with the possibility of them coming to work with groups in classes.

Initial pages of the web site can be seen at:

www.cooperslane.lewisham.sch.uk/Parents/parents.htm (page no longer available)

Overall evaluation

We have engaged far more parents than anticipated in completing the online eDemocracy questionnaire.

Parents have been supported in completing the questionnaire and some had further instruction in using the Internet and using the computers.

Sessions are planned after the school holiday to train some parents to add parents' pages to the school web site addressing issues of interest to the parents.

A number of parents have set up e-mail accounts.

Comments by Parents

“I really appreciated the opportunity to get into the new parents' room and use the new lap tops that I had heard about. I have strong feelings about the local council and the service they offer so thank you for this opportunity. We need more informal forums such as this to enable local people to have their say.”
(Parent of child in Year 5)

“It was good to have the opportunity to to use an up to date computer that links to the Internet as I do not have these facilities at home. The questionnaire was thought provoking and it was nice to feel I have a say.”
(Parent of children in Year1 and Year 4)

“It was great to be able to have an opportunity to give view points of the school and community. I was interested to find out about the Downham Arts Consortium which I didn't know existed.”
(Parent of child in Year 5)

“Thank you Coopers Lane for letting me use your technology to have my say and can I say I was very impressed by the friendly nature of your staff in helping me access the technology.”
(Parent of child in Year 2)

“A good way of communicating my thoughts.”
(Parent of child in Year 6)

“Having done this I hope the councillors will truly listen to the thoughts of their electorate.”
(Parent of child in Year 4)

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local e-Democracy National Project

The Sage eDemocracy Project is part of The local e-Democracy National Project