Involving parents in your project 

We have been learning how to use Web 2.0 and how to improve our work over time. Now it is time to create a project for students and parents to work collaborativily with Web 2.0. Parents are vital in a childrens education and so we must try to include them.

- Children must be able to prove that they have taught their parents how to use technologies such as facebook, flickr, del.icio.us and other such programs.

- Good ways to get parents involved include calling a meeting to explain it to the parents, sending a note home or talking to them personally. 

- We have to assume that most parents dont undestand these kind of programs and that they will be interested in their students education.

- This project should be aimed at year 7 or 8 and a group of about 3 students

Make sure the children have a concept of the six important questions of Web 2.0 and keep these in mind

The six questions are -

1) How are students motivated to be engaged in this kind of learning?

2) Is this collaboration being done in a way that requires all to contribute equally?

3) Does this web 2.0 technology really add educational value and improve learning?

4) How do students effectivly communicate when working together using Web 2.0?

5) What happens to stufents who do not have access, or the skills to use Web 2.0 technologies?

6) How reliable is the information, what should be used and how private should it be?

To make it easier on yourself, find papers written on the subject of parents involved in education. The following paper by Sara Bradshaw.

www.cs.tcd.ie/Sara.Bradshaw/portfolio/research/respaper.doc