Technology Tools in Your Home

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You can build the greatest Parent Portal, but if parents cannot access it what use will it be?

A computer attached to the Internet will be needed by any parent wanting to connect with the Parent Portal in your school or district. What percentage of homes have Internet access? How will you address the homes that do not have access?

You may already have the data about access from homes in your school or district, and know the extent of the issue you may or may not have. If you do not have that information you need to collect it. You could conduct a survey, however think carefully about the impact of asking the question. The survey would need to be a take-home paper survey or a telephone survey or a question asked of the students in school. In any case, if the reason for not having computer is affordability then there will be privacy concerns to be taken into consideration. As an alternative, you may be able to access government statistics that allow you to estimate the availability of Internet-connected computers in your students’ homes.

When you know the magnitude of the problem, there are steps you can consider to reach those parents without a computer and Internet access in their homes.

1. If you evergreen (regularly replace) the computers in your school, you can donate the computers to school families (be sure to wipe the hard drive clean of data first).
2. Check for local charities that donate computers to families.
3. Work with local internet service provider companies to access lowest rate possible for basic internet services.
4. Some local governments are “blanketing” their jurisdictions with free wireless Internet access. Consider lobbying your local government for this service.

Sally's Good Ideas

Focus on family-school relationships and respect individual situations and beliefs in building school community.