Parents Still Scared of Laptops in Classroom

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One response to “Parents Still Scared of Laptops in Classroom”

1. 

   Carol Timms

   September 25, 2006

   “Under-Involved” may be a more useful description when trying to improve schools than “uneducated.” The reason I say this is because there are plenty of well-educated parents, and well-meaning parents I might add, who feel strongly that the use of laptop computers in schools is wrong. Why do they feel this way? Of course there are probably lots of reasons, that fall into several categories. One of those categories is simply that they don’t know what is happening in the schools. Because they are not aware of what is going on in the classroom and they are thinking of their child as a student rather than a future member of the workforce, they are under-involved.
   For many parents and others who have a stake in the output of our schools, the institution might as well be a black box. Their child goes in, they get processed-through in ways that are sometimes mysterious, and they come out on the other side, presumably prepared to be self-sufficient in society. The parents put the artwork on the refrigerator and see the report cards, and assume that the system of education that they went through is working fine for their student. So with one part mystery, and one part assumption, what standard do they have to use to measure whether or not a particular school is the right one for their child? The only yardstick they are offered at the moment is test results.
   What schools across America must do in order to relieve the need for high stakes tests and to improve the experience for their clients, teachers, students and parents, is to invite parents to be more involved in the classroom. Andy Wibbels writes “Let’s face it: if it was kids who could dribble a basketball faster than anybody else, they’d bend over backwards to make sure they had whatever they needed to succeed.” Part of the reason why this is a truism is because the schools themselves don’t have the same partnership for the education of students with the stakeholders in the community like they do with the athletic boosters. Yes, P.T.A.’s provide valuable, dedicated support of education. Their contribution can only be applauded. And, it is not the same as the involvement and passion of the ubiquitous sports boosters. When the cheerleading of curricula becomes equal with the ballyhoo for the basketball team, our society will have achieved the community involvement in the classroom that will mean most parents are fully-educated and involved.
   How is this lofty goal achieved? One certain step is that personal relationships must be built by all the stakeholders. Ironically, technology offers another possible answer. Through the use of web sites for the teachers, blogging by teachers and parents, and e-mail, to name a few technological tools, everyone can cooperate in the education of the students. Everyone can be current about where each of their children are in their studies and can contribute to getting the children to their destination – the understanding and application of the concepts they need to complete their grade.
   Just as every student has a slightly different learning style than every other student, every citizen has a slightly different view of what must be done to improve our schools. The great news is that when all citizens are involved in a dialogue about what we can each do cooperatively to make things better in schools, we are all educated best.

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