How can technology be used to help parents become more involved in their children’s education?
During the extended periods of remote learning, schools embraced real-time collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams and Google Classroom to communicate with students and conduct live online training. The parental engagement was an essential part of online learning.
As schools are returning to physical classrooms, these systems will continue to facilitate learning collaboration with students. However, online communication tools like Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams are ineffective in supporting parent engagement activities.
Schools that are looking to educate students in partnership with parents are seeking new ways to leverage momentum in technology adoption. Parent engagement strategies coupled with tools to engage parents in student learning are the way forward.
First, let’s know the reasons for limiting parent engagement at schools.
Understanding the common challenges of parent engagement in schools
- Lack of accessibility: School communications that are accessible only via computer (but not mobile) stand the chances of being overlooked by parents.
- Too many tools: On average, students have 8 different teachers, and in the absence of a common communication tool, it can lead to chaos.
- Fractured communication: Communication via multiple sources and platforms can lead to parents missing out on important information and making it difficult for them to sort and prioritize.
Ensuring good communication between school and parents is only going to be more arduous.
Adding to that, NEP (National Education Policy) 2020 announced a new educational policy aimed at bringing transformational reforms in schools and higher education.
As per the policy, students are required to design their own courses for study. However, at such a young age, students may not be able to choose what’s best for them. Or where their aptitude lies. That’s where alumni relations for parent engagement come to picture. Alumni engagement software Almashines connects parents and students to your institute’s alumni who can help with advising on how to design the course.
Let’s see the ways in which schools can get parents more involved by cultivating meaningful parent engagement.
Using technology to support parent engagement in schools
Parental engagement in student learning is instrumental. Research shows a positive correlation between parent involvement and students’ learning outlines. Now that the benefit of parent engagement in schools is established, here is how technology can facilitate this.
#1. Make it easy for parents to engage in their child’s learning – Without increasing the administrative burden, how can schools make it easier for parents to engage?
One way to do so is by having a single platform where parents could login. It provides all relevant information in one location. Schools are realizing that using a multitude of tools for parents to access relevant information is not making it easy for them.
Here, the parent engagement idea would be giving them visibility over their child’s learning process, teacher feedback and the ability to see new school notices, student calendars and timetables.
Read more: Benefits of setting up a connected school community.
#2. Harnessing the power of data and analytics – Schools have started utilizing the power of data and analytics to assess student development and to keep parents informed of the child’s progress.
The school learning and management system allows parents to access real-time updates and information on their child’s learning.
Although Google Classroom and Microsoft teams are effective for student online collaboration, the bad news is that they cannot collect data consistently. This means schools cannot track students’ achievements or show progress made over time.
The good news is that technology, in the form of school LMS, can provide educators with insights across diverse attributes of student assessment. Parents can receive important insights into the child’s progress as well as in specific areas where additional support may be required.
Read more: How can students make the most of virtual learning in schools?
#3. Timely communication – The shortcomings of video communication tools is that communication to parents cannot be personalized or centralized.
Almashines allows communication across all digital channels, to maximize parent engagement in today’s learning environment.
The right technology tools enhance the learning experience while ensuring parents are active participants in a child’s learning journey. They ensure more visibility, convenience, and parent engagement.
If you want to find out how schools can achieve a greater level of parent engagement, schedule an Almashines demo, today.
April 17, 2024
