In reflecting about the StakeHolders for a successful Technology Integration, I think I'm going to target Parents/taxpayers in my final Project. There is so much to share with them to make sure that we are all on the same page. As I've taken over as Technology Director, I have found there is a lot of "misunderstandings" about what we are trying to accomplish. Parents seem to feel as if they have no right/control over their child's use of technology. This is quite the contrary, even though students may be assigned school work that will be enhanced with Technology, there is still a line where parents need to feel that they still have some control over what their child is doing.
My plan would be that for starters, have a parent meeting before handing out the student's 1:1 device. Even if the device stays at the school all the time, make sure parents know what the plan for usage is actually going to be before the students start to use the device. Explain some of the programs to be used, and how they are "controlled".
The key items that we need to share with Parents/TaxPayers about our 1:1 initiative are the following: Digital Literacy/Digital Citizenship, RUP (Responsible Use Policy), and possible "penalties" for mis-use/abuse.
Many parents, and some teachers are not aware there is a difference between Digital Literacy and Digital Citizenship. Everyone needs to know basic usage concepts and troubleshooting (Digital Literacy) of the device they have been handed. Many times in the Technology Department we see students whose "Computer does not work." We reboot the computer and everything is fine. This is a basic step they need to know when at home. Digital Citizenship is something I personally feel should be learned in the home, and the school just re-enforce this concept of behavior. However, we all know not all parents themselves practice good Digital Citizenship. Therefore pointing out the highlights of this concept at a "student" meeting will help to educate everyone.
Sharing the RUP at a Parent/Student meeting will make sure that everyone is on the same page. Also, all staff members need to know what is stated in the student RUP in order to make a Classroom Management plan that follows these same rules.
And finally, if we share our Plans for usage of the device, then parents might feel that they even have some ownership in the process. I know this past year, I have had parents contact me that they did not want their child to use the laptop they brought home for anything other than homework when at home. I proceeded to talk with the parent and let them know that they had full authority over the device once the child was at home. If they wanted to put the laptop up after homework, by all means they could do that., but please send it back to school the next day with the child. Or if a Parent did not want the laptop coming home at all, we have worked out a check-in/check-out system with the library for these devices as well.
Flexibility is a part of the whole process, not everything in Technology has a one size fits all solution.
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