Engaging parents using communication technologies

Engaging ParEnts: using communication tEchnologiEs

I a i n W i l l i a m s – B r a d l e y S t o k e C o m m u n i t y S c h o o l

o Principles of engaging parents – the WHY

o Reasons to engage parents – the fringe benefits

o Methods to engage parents – the HOW

o Choosing your battles – the WHEN

o Practical tips – keeping it REAL

Session foci What we’re most likely to cover…

Current Y6 parents coming into Y7 OR

Pre-school parents coming into YR Many of them will stay connected to your school

longer than a significant proportion of your colleagues…

SO… what is the balance of time and effort invested in

your parent body compared to that of your staff body?

THINK ABOUT

o New secondary school in Sept 2005 – now 1020 students o Community school – a key driver o Oldest students now in Y12 o Judged as outstanding by OfSTED in 2009 o Culture of innovation o SSAT Consultant School o PEQS Gold Award – first school nationally o Ethos crucial and often commented upon o Stakeholder voice central to development o Inclusive: low exclusions, high attendance o Comprehensive intake – full age and ability

Contextual Information Bradley Stoke Community School (BSCS)

Our journey with technology

2005 24hr school

2007/8 EPRA

2009 FROG

2009 Texting

2009 Website review

2009 PEP

2010 Digital

Signage

2011 PEP/online

booking

2011 Online event management

A paradigm shift? What does the research tell us?

Shift Happens… Are you ready for a challenge?

How many educationalists does it take to change a light

bulb?

CHANGE ?!

No longer a 19th Century model

21st Century Welcome to the…

How ?!

Stop focusing on your model for

ICT…

and start focusing on your model for

learning and teaching…

ICT is a means to an end

NOT the end in itself

Winning Hearts

and Minds…

People expect technology to fail

It’s YOU they need confidence in

What technologies? Be strategic about… o Your outcomes

• what do you want to achieve using ICT? • what will the impact be? • how will you know?

o Your skills • what can YOU actually do? • what can you get/buy/beg/bribe someone else to do?

o Your buy-in from others • how can you get others involved? • what are the incentives? Use them! • how can you make sense of it for them? Initiative overload or seeing the joined up thinking?

Examples of ICT engagement tools 8 key areas

Area Cost 1. Website small 2. Email small - medium 3. Texting medium 4. Slideshare n/a 5. Drop Box n/a 6. Online booking facilities small 7. Learning Platform high 8. Social Media n/a

ICT – parental engagement tools Website & Digital Signage

Simple and fresh

Updating – anyone?

Bottlenecks

QA/QC systems

Open Source?

Link to other info systems

ICT – parental engagement tools Email

o Develop a Communications Policy and an email policy (alongside Complaints Policy) o Electronic communication is our STANDARD method o Parents need to request a paper copy of correspondence o One colleague co-ordinates most mass parent emails o Important to check integrity of MIS data (in our case, SIMS) o Caution about over-reliance on email to communicate emotive issues o Use it carefully for staff to parent communication o Have a few generic email addresses: admin@bradleystokecs.org.uk updatecontactdetails@bradleystokecs.org.uk contactteacher@bradleystokecs.org.uk o This helps to filter lots of emails

ICT – parental engagement tools Texting

o Cost SAVINGS!!!!

o Really useful for quick contact

o Limited number of characters

o Great for info on: detentions, trip letters, meeting reminders etc

o Does Email too

o You WILL get a reaction! (mostly ours have been positive)

o Make sure someone oversees and develops good systems!

ICT – parental engagement tools

9th most visited website in 2009

Free online repository for all your online presentations

Basic analytics in free version

Can link to your website via a really simple widget

Inspiration for your own presentations – any theme

Loads of other features: MP3, video, webinar, PDF/MS Office share

ICT – parental engagement tools

o Free 2GB online storage o Syncs with ALL your PC/MAC/Mobile devices o Lost your memory stick? o Memory stick too small? o Want to share files with parents? o Private and public files o Go mobile and still connect? o Untapped potential

ICT – parental engagement tools Online Booking Facilities

Booking Appointments - http://bradleystoke.parentseveningsystem.co.uk/ Booking appointments with staff was a problem o Reliant on forgetful students o Office taking too many calls about bookings o Confusion over what had been booked Managing tickets - http://www.eventelephant.com/frogparentportallaunch o Free if event is free o Manages booking, communication, sales and generates badges o Links via a URL o Also manages most admin (e.g. name badges, contact lists etc)

ICT – parental engagement tools Learning Platform

Learning focused

Fully owned by you

Fully controlled by you

Fully developed by you

ICT – parental engagement tools Learning Platform

ICT – parental engagement tools Lessons learnt with Learning Platforms

o Remember ‘Measure twice, cut once…’ o Only launch when ready and confident – you get one shot! o It’s not just about information (e.g. data) exchange o Your learning platform and parent portal must link – remember learning is central! o MUST be simple and user friendly o Can an idiot use it? o Designed by parents, for parents… o Think about the total cost of ownership. Don’t forget things like:

• Reduced printing costs (e.g. exam/SATs papers) • Extra network storage • Streamlining communications (integral email)

How do parents GET your info?

PULL Vs

PUSH

o FACEBOOK - 30 billion pieces of content shared each month o UK 51M internet users in June 2010 82% population online 48.5%% of population are on FB o 25% of UK FB users in 13 – 19 age range

o TWITTER – 300,00 new users per day, 3 billion requests per day by 180M unique visitors o 75% of Twitter’s visitors use third party apps! o UK = 5th / 10 for Twitter traffic 18% of US Tweets are from teenagers

o YOU TUBE every minute 24h of video uploaded o 2 billion viewers per day, 50% are under 20 years old o Today, You Tube occupies the same amount of bandwidth the entire internet used in 2000

o 90% of internet users use at least 1 social networking site…

The ‘S’ word Social Networking

The ‘S’ word Social Networking & Mobile /Smart Technology

o Soon, we will not be able to ignore its implications (limited resources/funds and student trends) o If such technologies are used, fear of ‘what might happen’ drives us o The possibilities of how we MIGHT engage them are overlooked – calculated risks are not taken o POLICY/PRACTICE, CONSISTENCY and EXPECTATIONS are essential o No different to a uniform policy in terms of the WAY you work with students – rewards and sanctions o ENGAGEMENT with the REAL issues o Better managed and in the open than wanton misuse behind closed doors – EDUCATE users

o Costello Technology College – Google them (School Facebook site and YouTube channel) o PUSH technology is the key (Twitter client or RSS feed)

o Start with TWITTER 1) CPD for yourself 2) Learning and Teaching

By 2014, South Korea plans to digitize all elementary level materials.

By 2015, the entire curriculum will be

delivered via an online device. A cloud-based system will host all software and

content…

MIT Technology Review

Useful Resources

o Parents: Do they know they matter? o https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationDetail/Page1/DCSF-RBW004 o http://www.amazon.co.uk/Parents-Know-They-Matter-Achievement/dp/1855394790

o Bradley Stoke Consultant School o www.bradleystokecs.org.uk/consultantschool

o Useful Tools o 100 top tools for eLearning o www.teachers2parents.co.uk o www.slideshare.net o www.eventelephant.com o www.sliderocket.com o www.prezi.com o http://www.parentseveningsystem.co.uk/

Useful Resources

o Useful Tools (cont.) o www.dropbox.com

o Useful websites

o http://shifthappens.wikispaces.com/home o www.2020plus.net o www.digeratidom.com o www.frogtrade.com o www.twitter.com o http://www.2mminutes.com/ o http://www.slideshare.net/grumbledook/parental-engagement-through-ict-tony-sheppard

Feel free to contact me on…

iain.williams@bradleystokecs.org.uk www.bradleystokecs.org.uk