The Importance Prepping Parents for 1:1

Here we are about three months in to our 1:1 iPad Pilot, and we have just received the Survey Monkey results from our first parent survey.  Now I will say that some of the pilot teachers were a bit frustrated, but deep down we all realize that none of the feedback was much of a surprise.  And now we have confirmation that we are on the right track, and we know exactly what we need to improve.  Like I told one (the most upset) pilot teacher, "the good thing is, we can only go up from here!"  (That makes it sound like the feedback was awful, and it really wasn't, but sometimes we can take things a little seriously and personally.) 

The BIGGEST trend we saw in parent open-ended feedback was this: 
"I don't know what my child is doing in school anymore!" 

Here's the my-school-specific disclaimer: this is always a major concern from parents in the transition from 5th to 6th grade, but we know there are ways the iPads have intensified this parent frustration.  

So, here are our lessons learned that you can hopefully use to your advantage: 

1. Don't spend so much time supporting the teachers and students that you forget about parents.  One parent night at the beginning of the program isn't enough!
2. Try to feature something about the iPad or other device (hopefully in a nice, integrated manner) in the email updates you already send home to parents.  A lot of the surveyed parents didn't know how the iPad is affecting their student, because they don't really know what their student is doing, and in particular, creating on the iPad!
3. In general, communicate with the parents about what great things are being done with or on the iPads.  Send sample projects home, have students email their work to their parents, let parents know what, specifically, they should ask their child to show them.  This was the hardest thing to take for us.  We know we've done some amazing things that have required a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, but guess what? The parents have no idea!        
4. Provide parent education.  Parents want to know what apps their children are using.  What are they using to take notes?  Are they keeping a calendar?  How did they make that really cool podcast you emailed us?  Even send them articles about how to support a child in a 1:1 program. 
5. This one's tough - Remind parents to talk to their children about school.  Okay, I might be a little snotty on this one, but it's hard to feel bad that you can't go in to your child's backpack while they're asleep anymore and look through their folders.  Sit down with your child.  Have a conversation.  Ask him or her to show you two things from the school day.  And now I'm really going on a rant, but if we're so afraid that technology de-socializes us, why aren't we TALKING more?! 

So, let's get back to the professional stuff.  Here's what we're doing at my school to make parent communication in the pilot program better.  Most of this was in the works a few weeks ago, but now we've realized we need to speed up the process a bit.  

1. Distributing Schoology parent access codes.  Teachers were very hesitant about this, but now that we've had a chance to explore the parent view, we are just about ready to grant parent access.  Parents will have access to each course calendar, assignment, and teacher feedback on individual assignments.  Of course, this does require parent education. 
2. Creating student-driven team blogs.  One team is creating a blog, which will be updated weekly by assigned students, to share what exciting things are being done in class.  Parents can subscribe to email updates from the blog.  Pictures and other media will be included.  In fact, I just got the team news reporters started on this today! 
3. Hosting a parent night.  We envision something where our students teach parents how to use the apps and share some of the things they've done in class this year.  This is the one thing we've got to hash out the most.  

In general, you will find, like us, that parents are excited and happy with the program.  Most of their multiple choice responses were "good" or "very good," but it was clear, whether they came out and said it (and you know they did) or they implied it, that they just want to be more in the loop.  And I WANT them to be in the loop.  I WANT them to know how amazing the iPads are, and I WANT them to see all the exciting things we are doing in and out of class.