Online Webinars for Parents

Several districts in Ohio are experimenting with online webinars – basically online chats – for parents who can’t make it to the district’s regular in-person meetings. Done over the lunch hour, it is a way for the districts to get information out and answer parents’ questions. The districts are still trying out different formats, but with upwards of 50 people signing into the webinars, the districts feel they are having some success.

No Fear When You Are Doing The Right Thing – Social Media At School

With all the negative things that we hear about schools, teachers, and social media, it is always heartening to read about districts in Florida where they have used some common sense and are taking advantage of the tools - also known as Twitter, Facebook, and You Tube.

Are You Distracting Teachers?

It’s difficult for all of us to fight the urge to check email, text messages, social networks, and/or app info on our cell phones, computers, and other digital devices. Schools often have rules against teachers making and answering personal calls while they are teaching, but do parents contribute to the problem for teachers?

Peter DeWitt in his Education Week article, “Do You Check Your School E-Mail Too Much”, reminds parents to recognize that teachers have lives outside of school and expecting instant answers can distract teachers from their jobs. We’ve talked about this before in this blog and in articles on this site. Make sure you are respectful of a teacher’s time when emailing and let them know when an instant answer is not necessary.

Educators Put In Place Safeguards Against Cheating Online (and Otherwise)

As online courses become more and more popular, concerns are growing that some students are cheating or getting too much help from parents. Some schools are putting measures into practice such as having students complete work in person and monitoring parents' logins to a virtual schooling site. Parents of students enrolled in the online courses are also given an "auditor" login—separate from the student's login—for the learning-management system, which allows parents to see everything in the course but does not allow them to turn in work. Teachers can then see how much time the auditor has spent logged in, and if the parent seems very familiar with the student's online learning, but has not logged in as an auditor, it could raise a red flag. Of course, plagiarism detection software remains a popular detection method. Web conferencing software also allows educators to better gauge student understanding of the material.

Social Media and School Discipline – Still a Gray Area

As schools still grapple with what to do about disciplining students for their online behavior, especially when it does not take place on school grounds, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and others contend that a U.S. Supreme Court standard allowing students to freely express themselves in school still stands. That standard was set in 1965 in the case of Tinker v. Des Moines, which upheld students’ right to express them selves in the school setting, in this case, as part of a demonstration against the Vietnam War. The ACLU has put out a handbook on the subject and has a one page flyer for students on their social media rights. This fall, as schools grapple with trying to implement social media policies, expect to hear more opposition from the ACLU. One case recently has cropped up in Maine over the online rights of town employees and another in Connecticut over the social media rights of high school athletes.

Social Media Policies for Athletes

Perhaps, your school is grappling with a social media policy for athletes. Or maybe you are just looking to have a discussion with your tween or teen about your expectations of their behavior on a social networking site or in using social media like Twitter. One good place to start is the social media guidelines created by boys soccer coach Scott Suleski at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Dover, N.H. that has inspired similar policies in other high schools around the country. The policy does not restrict student-athletes from using social media, but rather aims to serve as a guide.

How School Districts Can Use Social Media to Advantage

A blog post on The Huffington Post site enumerates several reasons why public schools need to embrace social media as a way to communicate with parents and the community-at-large. The author, Joel Gange, also discusses the importance for a school to promote transparency, accountability, and a two-way dialogue with its constituency. Digitally posting financial filings, budgetary reports, and board meetings contribute to a spirit of openness and trust between the taxpaying community and the district that depends on them, according to Gagne.

Ways for Parents and Teachers to Use Texting Effectively

If you and your school are looking for better ways to communicate with parents using cellphones, take a look at this blog post from Lisa Nielsen. She suggest several free and easy-to-use resources including a mass-texting service called Remind101 that allows for safe, one-way communication for reminders and announcements and relays information to parents. Other recommended tools include ClassPager, which allows parents to respond to polls and questions using their own devices, and Poll Everywhere, which gives parents a chance to relay their opinions.