Instructional Principle: Parents are their children's first and most influential teachers. What parents do to help their children is more important to academic success than how well-off the family is economically.
Instructional Principle: Parental involvement helps children learn more effectively. Teachers who are successful at involving parents in their children's schoolwork are successful because they work at it.
Research shows that many parents spend little or no time helping their children with schoolwork or even conversing with them about intellectually stimulating topics. However, research also shows that when parents do discuss school events, help their children meet deadlines, discuss school problems and successes, provide books and a place to study, observe educationally useful routines, and monitor time spent watching TV, then these activities often lead to greatly improved academic performance. Many parents are willing to help with their children's schoolwork but are uncertain how to go about it. The factors that contribute to parental improvement of the educational process are summarized in Walberg (1984).
The computer is certainly not the most crucial component of parent-child-school interaction. Indeed, if children spend more time with computers, they might spend even less time with their parents. Nevertheless, an increasing number of parents are obtaining home computers, and these parents often consider educational applications to be one of their primary reasons for doing so. These parents often want advice from the school regarding the purchase and use of computer hardware and software. Teachers should know which students have access to computers and should be aware of software that is educationally useful in the home. Parents who have computers are often eager to receive programs sent home by the teacher and see to it that their children run these programs correctly. This involvement often enables parents to engage in tutoring in a much more constructive manner than would otherwise be possible.
Publishers and vendors are acutely aware of the potential sales that can arise by marketing software to parents. Many of them have web sites that not only demonstrate and promote their software, but also offer additional advice for parents that is genuinely useful. For example, Knowledge Adventure's Our Family Space not only promotes JumpStart software for children at a variety of ages, but also supplies information on multiple intelligences, developmental levels of children, and numerous other topics of interest to parents.
Excel@ High School claims to be a complete, self contained software program that includes a full high school curriculum. Its publisher says that this package is designed to help students excel in subjects and organize their study time. For example, the math lessons include short animated segments called 'Video Tutors' that demonstrate how math problems are solved. A handy 'pop up' reference window conveniently displays math formulas and equations. The software also includes an interactive multimedia encyclopedia (ideal for report writing and reference), as well as educational foreign language programs, games, and activities. All this for only $19.95! Our opinion is that this is actually pretty good software - and so are several other packages. In the past, numerous young people really did educate themselves when their schools failed them, and no doubt there are some young people who will greatly expand their learning by using programs like these.
However, it's important to note that a large number of students who have problems in school need something more than additional practice or a "full high school curriculum" on a disk. Students who fail in school often suffer from misconceptions that interfere with subsequent learning, and these misconceptions are almost invariably best addressed by persons who understand both the subject matter and the needs of the individual students. In other words, although these students can benefit from additional practice, this practice needs to be integrated with the effective assistance of a qualified teacher. {Obviously, in cases where there is no effective teacher, then a good curriculum on a disk plus a loving parent is far, far better than nothing!}
To put it differently, when a child is having trouble with learning, it makes a difference what the learner's problem is. If the child's main problem is finding opportunities for the responding or feedback phases of learning, then a computer program at home is likely to be extremely useful. However, if the problem is that the learner is having trouble at the selective perception phase, then it is likely that a skilled teacher would be more helpful. Likewise, if the student has already mastered information and simply needs to review it or keep from forgetting it, then the computer can supply a more useful service than if the student lacks prerequisite skills and is unaware of this problem. The ideal solution is for an effective teacher to make available to parents (perhaps through email, a message board, or a class web site) information regarding what is available to help meet the needs of individual students.
Many instructional programs are simply not designed for the home environment; they are meant to be used in a school context where there are teachers, reference books, and supplementary sources of information. Other programs can be used at home. Some companies publish two versions of the same program - one for school and one for home.
Entertainment programs that have at least some potential educational value are often referred to as edutainment. Many such programs do a good job of supplementing the school curriculum. In the Stickybear Bash component of Stickybear Spelling (Figure 3.x), children develop spelling skills, build sight vocabularies, and practice listening and hand-eye coordination by putting the letters of a spoken word in the correct order. "Teacher options" (which are hidden from the student) make it easy for a parent, teacher, or aide to customize the program for individual learners.
Figure 3.x. A screen from Stickybear Spelling.
Several web sites listed in the Online Links offer information to parents who might be interested in obtaining edutainment programs for their children.
Even though they mean well and would like to help, parents often do not know how to teach. Left to their own instincts, they may teach inaccurate content or use faulty pedagogy. Especially if teachers supply supplementary guidelines that describe how to use programs effectively, the computer can provide structure that enables the parents to become effective teaching aides. Teachers should be able to make recommendations to parents regarding the acquisition of both commercial and public domain software. Some schools and libraries are developing policies to loan software to students to use on their own computers. Some licensing agreements even provide for home copies of the software. For example, a school that purchases a license for HyperStudio can run that program on all its Macintosh computers at school and then (under the same licensing agreement) let children have copies to run on their families' computers.
As we pointed out in the Homework section of this chapter, teachers can post the homework assignments online at class web sites. In addition to enabling students to keep track of the assignments, this strategy enables parents to double-check their children's story when they claim that they have no homework. An assoicated message board and email system can enable parents to commuicate with teachers about homework and other school-related activities.
Even parents who are excited about the opportunities computers can offer their children may have good reason to be cautious about the dangers that seem apparent in letting their children "go online" at home. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children suggests the following guidelines to minimize dangers that might arise when children use the Internet at home.
Chapter 5 of the present book discusses these dangers and possible solutions in greater detail.
At the present time, many parents are certain that computers are educationally useful, and they are willing to help their children use computers to improve their academic performance. It would be a serious mistake to ignore this resource.
Parental Involvement
KidSource Online
http://www.kidsource.com/
This web site was founded by a group of parents who wanted to "make a positive and lasting difference in the lives of parents and children." They have created an online community that shares their values and goals in raising, educating, and providing for children. Their goal at this web site is to help parents and caregivers find the right information, resources and advice to take greater responsibility for their children's health and education. It's very well done.
Where is the Teacher in the Technology?
http://www.bctf.bc.ca/parents/PublicEdConf/report99/appendix2.html
This essay is a carefully reasoned set of comments by a parent on the possible problems that might arise as we precipitously rush toward putting computers into out classrooms.
The Review Zone
http://www.thereviewzone.com/
The REVIEW ZONE's mission is to provide in-depth reviews on "the best" kids' and family edutainment software hardware, computer books and cutting edge technology for parents and teachers.
Parental Involvement in Education
http://mel.lib.mi.us/education/edu-parents.html
This is an exceptionally good set of links on the topic from the Michigan Electronic Library.
Parental Involvement in Education
http://fanafana.com/Consumers/Education/Parental-Involvement/
This web site approaches education from a "consumer perspective."
Parental Involvement Is as Easy as PIE!
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr030.shtml
This online article with numerous good links introduces a research-based program in Phoenix that is designed to use parental involvement to substantially improve education.
Increasing Parental Involvement: A Key to
Student Achievement by Dan Jesse
http://www.mcrel.org/products/noteworthy/noteworthy/danj.asp
This is an exceptionally good collection and integration of the research on this topic from the Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning web site.
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