Designing and Developing a School-Based Parent

Webpage to Increase

Parent Involvement and

Home/School Communication

By Robert FleckETEC 542

Personal InformationTeacher for 12 yearsHave taught third, fourth, and fifth gradeCurrently teaching fourth grade at Andrew Jackson Elementary in Indio, CA.Currently a Master’s student in Instructional Technology at CSUSBHave been a technology representative for a number of school sitesWas a technology mentor training teachers on district programs and software applicationsFacilitator of students at Student Showcase at CUE ConferencePresenter at EdTech Conference at CSUSBCommittee member for district strategic plan/ for technology component

Project Description

Designing a web-based resource where parents and their children can access lessons, approved websites, and other informational resources.

Purpose of Project

The purpose for designing the parent website is to build and maintain a parent support page into the schools’ existing school website. It is an effort to provide additional resources outside the classroom and school environment that parents can access specific lessons and activities that are crucial to learning the skills that their child needs. It is also the hope of the designer that it will open up channels for home/school communication.

Literature Review

Evidence has shown that technology has become a crucial component of everyday life. This clearly can be seen in the rise in development and use of school websites in recent years.

Because of this increase, concerns about the value of the content, form, and use of school Web sites have emerged, much like interest in the educational value of software appeared years ago (Higgins, Boone, & Williams, 2000; Larsen, 1995; Lee, 1987; Truett, 1984; Zane & Frazer, 1992).

Literature ReviewFunctions and Goals of

School Web Sites

Elementary, middle, and high school Web sites have two primary functions: serving as information systems for site visitors and acting as intermediaries between the numerous stakeholders in the educational process. A number of specific goals are particularly significant to elementary schools. These include: 1) introducing the educational stakeholders to the school, 2) providing opportunities for local and global publication of student work, 3) acting as an intermediary to a larger body of information, and 4) providing a rich source of locally relevant data related to a variety of instructional topics(McKenzie, 1997). These features have relevance in evaluating the Web presence of schools and provide the basis for developing tools for studying this aspect of technology resources.

Elementary school websites have the potential to provide a comprehensive overview of a school. It can also provide a platform for developing a collaborative effort, addressing the needs and goals of various members in the school.

Literature ReviewSelecting the Right Curriculum

One of the toughest jobs for educational leaders in the decision making process is the selection of curriculum materials. Some would argue that if a topic is not covered, in all likelihood the teacher will not teach it, and therefore the students will not learn it. While still others contend that how material is presented in curricula—that is, the pedalogical approach through which students are expected to learn the content—is of equal importance to what topics are covered ( Project 2061 n.d.).

Typically content analysts compare selected curriculum materials against a set of external criteria to determine important topics, concepts, and skills are covered. Analysis in the United States typically use standards, frameworks, and other countries curricula as their external criteria (National Research Council [NRC] 2004).

How Criteria is Selected

The factors that are involved in selecting the criteria for evaluating informational materials , lessons, and other resources that stipulate what goes on the parent Web page are as follows:

1.Sources of student academic assessment data to include: CST(California Standards Test), CELDT (California English Language Development Test, School or district performance tests, Assessments incorporated in the district/school adopted textbooks, and student grades.

2. Sources of relevant background data that could impact achievement, such as student ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic background, student participation, and adequate yearly progress (AYP)

How Criteria is Selected

3. Standards and Frameworks (http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/)

4. Surveys and interviews with teachers, staff, and parents to determine needs.

Evaluating Instructional Materials/Resources

When evaluating instructional resources, several questions should be asked regardless of the type of resource you are considering.1.Does the content match the curriculum?2.Is the content accurate, up to date, and appropriate for students?3.Do the materials teach and/or reinforce learning effectively?4.Will these materials be motivating to the students?5.Do these resources enhance instruction?6.Is this resource easy for students to use?7.Are the materials of high quality technically?

(http://web.utk.edu/~mccay/apdm/selusing/selusing_d.htm)

Instructional Media: Selection and Use

Steps in Implementation of Instructional Media Review instructional goals, objectives, audience and instructional strategy Determine the best medium for the lesson components Search for and review existing media /materials Adapt existing media/materials if necessary If new media/materials need to be developed:

a. Determine format, script, visuals, etc.b. Draft materials and mediac. Check for clarity and flow of ideas

Conduct formative evaluation Implement/apply Evaluate/revise http://www.umdnj.edu/idsweb/idst5330/instructional_media.htm

Factors in Media Selection

Strauss and Frost (1999) identify nine key factors that should influence media selection: institutional resource constraints, course content appropriateness, learner characteristics, professor attitudes and skill levels, course learning objectives, the learning relationships, learning location, time (synchronous versus asynchronous), and media richness level. These factors are summarized in the following figure:

Factors in Media Selection

Reiser and Dick (1996) distill these nine factors down to three major criteria for selecting instructional media: practicality, student appropriateness, and instructional appropriateness

Practicality: Is the intended media practical in that the media is available, cost efficient, time efficient, and understood by the

instructor? Student Appropriateness: Is the intended media appropriate for

the developmental and experiential levels of the students? Instructional Appropriateness: Is the intended media appropriate for the planned instructional strategy? Will the media allow for the

presentation of the proposed lesson in an efficient and effective manner? Will the media facilitate the students’ acquisition of the

specific learning objectives?

Criteria for Evaluation of Internet Information

ResourcesScope Graphic and Multimedia design !. Breadth 2. Depth Purpose 3. Time 1. Audience 4. Format Reviews Content Workability 1. Accuracy 1. User friendliness 2. Authority 2. Required computing environment 3. Currency 3. Searching 4. Uniqueness 4. Browsability and organization 5. Links made to other 5. Interactivity resources 6. Connectivity 6. Quality of Writing Cost

http://info.lib.uh.edu/pr/v8/n3/smit8n3.html

ReferencesAlabama Department of Education (2003)http://web.utk.edu/~mccay/apdm/selusing/selusing_d.htm

Higgins, K., Boone, R., & Williams, D. L. (2000). Evaluating educational software for special education. Intervention in School and Clinic, 36, 109-115.

McKenzie, J. (1997), Why in the World Wide Web? From Now On: The Educational Technology Journal, 6(6)Available at: http://www.fno.org/mar97/why.html

NRC: On Evaluating Curricular Effectiveness: Judging the Quality of K–12 Mathematics Evaluations. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 2004

Project 2061. “Middle Grades Mathematics Textbooks: A Benchmarks-Based Evaluation.” N.d. Retrieved October 18, 2005, from http://www.project2061.org/publications/textbook/mgmth/report.htm

ReferencesReiser, R.A., Dick, W. (1996). Instructional planning: A guide for teachers. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Smith, Alastair G. (1997) Testing the Surf: Criteria for Evaluating Internet Information Resources. The Public-Access Computer Systems Review 8, no. 3 http://info.lib.uh.edu/pr/v8/n3/smit8n3.html Strauss, J. and Frost. R.D. Instructional Technology Selection (1999) [Web Page]. Accessed 2003 Mar. Available at: http://unr.edu/homepage/jstrauss/merpaper.html

Zane, T., & Frazer, C. G. (1992). The extent to which software developers validate their claims. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 24, 410-419.