Can a twitter discussion make parents and teachers work together? Will the power of Twittering change the way parents and teachers communicate?
I sure hope so!!! I am understandably excited to see an outstanding opportunity poised to take off. Next Wednesday January 27 at 9:00PM EST (GMT_5) will see the first #ptla hastag used to carry on a synchronous (at the same time) conversation about parent and teachers and schools on Twitter. This initiative is lead by www.parentella.com Congrats to Aparna and her staff for getting this started.
As excited as I am to start the conversation I know that we will only be touching those teachers and parents who have an online presence, understand more than using email and are already active in using technology to connect and communicate.
Together I am hoping that this Twitter conversation will start to alleviate some of the fears parents have about online communications and student use of the Internet. It may just increase parents understanding of social networking.
If you have been following this blog you may remember that I am involved with a collection of like minded volunteer parents and teachers spearheading the Digital Parent Project. Our goal is to encourage parents to get online and understand how their children are learning and interacting in online spaces. The media does a wonderful job in inflaming discussions about all things “Facebook” and little to promote the useful educational value of social networking and other web 2.0 tools.
We have set up a wiki www.digitalparent.wikispaces.com to outline the goals and objectives of the project, record our progress, thoughts and ideas. You are welcome to join us. It is going to take a lot more work than our crew can muster to roll out this project.
This a chance to make our own media with accurate and powerful information from teachers, principals and parents who are making web 2.0 tools an effective part of their students learning. I am convinced that educated parents can make a big difference in how our schools are run and teach. Folks who understand the need to teach 21st century learning skills can and should pass on the good news stories. BUT and its a BIG BUT – some one has to teach the parents.
Can you be that somebody? We need your ideas about what workshops to create. What handouts you think would help explain twitter, facebook, blogging to parents. Would you be willing to share the resources you are using in your school? Would you be able to run a workshop in your school or online? Will your school support you in sharing ideas about wiki’s, flickr photo sharing?
Sounds like a lot of work but after listening to Karen Bantuveris from VoluteerSpot.com, we need to identify the small pieces of the digital parent puzzle that you and other parents can fit into their schedule. Can you spare one hour of your time? ( well maybe 2 or 3 – we are convinced you will get on board!)
We will be meeting earlier in the evening on the same date as the Twitter conversation. Wednesday January 27, 2010 at 6:00 PM EST (GMT-5) at learncentral.org We will be using the Elluminate virtual meeting space platform. Here is the link to our Elluminate room. http://tinyurl.com/lcparticipant The Elluminate room will be open at 5:30 so we can help you set up your mic or give you a tour of the virtual meeting place before the meeting starts at 6:00 PM
If you can’t fit our meeting into your timetable, please check back to the meeting recording posted in the wiki
Useful resources to get started:
Is my computer set up to participate in an Elluminate session? Link
How to participate in an Elluminate session.
What is twitter and how do I use it?
What is a hashtag and how do I use it?
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I wish you the best in this endeavor. I have seen the success of #edchat over the last few months. I hope that a good number of educators and parents take advantage of this opportunity to converse and that you see the same success as #edchat.
We have to thank http://www.parantella.com for the great idea to get this going. Very pleased to see you supporting this.
The only way we will truly get the changes in education that we need is by getting more parents engaged in a meaningful conversation. We have had parent support in schools for quite a while which is when parents answer our call for volunteers or support an initiative. However, we have not had significant parent engagement which is when parents have a seat at the table and are part of the decision-making process. In this new model of engagement parents know that their voice counts and that they are trusted and valued members of the change process.
Patrick, I agree with your comment but I wonder how to make that happen. Can you tell us how you bring parents into the conversation? What does a seat at the planning table look like? I have been watching global conversations on this topic and it seems there are few places that this happens. Parents tell me all the time how it may be advertised as shared decision making when it is not. Schools need good working models to follow. Please share.
Lorna I think we need to share best practices where true engagement is taking place. Just asking for parent input one or two times will not accomplish much. We have to build some trust first and show them that we mean what we say. I would like to say that we are there at my school, but I think we are moving in the right direction. Having a blog helps, but I am thinking that I would like to really change the way we do business when it comes to decision-making.
I think when we hold meetings with groups making decisions that will impact students and parents we should start streaming video and setting up back-channel conversations so that people can get more engaged. We don’t have to rely on parents being physically present in our building to move the agenda. Of course, I don’t want to cut out the face-to-face meetings because I think personal interaction is also very important.
I just think that it all comes down to communication (two-way communication) and showing parents that there are a lot of tools out there that will allow a meaningful two-way conversation will help a great deal.
Patrick – Are you using streaming to communicate your meetings? What two – way communications do you recommend? use?