How has your school introduced their parent cohort to the Ultranet? Was it successful?

[Samantha de Vos]

Hi,

I am currently a 4th year student at RMIT University completing a Bachelor of Education.

I am completing a project as part of my assessment this semester which involves my investigating ways to involve parents in their childs education using the Ultranet as a vehicle for collaboration and communication. I am researching ways in which schools can effectively introduce parents to the ultranet and encourage them to use it as a means of collaboration and a way to be more involved in their children's education.

I would like to find out:

• Whether parents are regularly using the ultranet as a space to collaborate or to check up on their childs homework expectations etc.
• Are  teachers using the ultranet as a way to involve parents in their children's education via discussion boards etc.?
• what strategies do people use to help support parents to navigate the world of technology

I would also appreciate if you are will to share whether you think the implementation of the ultranet has been a successful venture at your school and what was most beneficial as a way of encouraging parents to be involved. Some questions I have are:

• did you send out regular updates?
• Do you have a help page or a contact that parents are able to speak to regarding any queries?
• Have you had much parent interest?
• Did you have information nights and did many parents attend your information nights?
• Do you have a community space within the ultranet space for your parents?
• Has it impacted on the way parents and teachers communicate? If so, in a positvie way or a negative way?

If you happen to have that type of information I would appreciate it if you would share your findings with me. All information would remain confidential and used only in my report. I will not use any identifying information.

I thank you in advance for considering my request and am happy to answer any queries that you may have about my project.

[David Westaway]

Hi Samantha,
I've just started at Bullarto PS this term as a teaching principal. To kick start Ultranet usage I have had the children work on their personal learning goals and post weekly blog entries on what work they have done at home.
This was shared with parents at parent-teacher-student interviews so the parents could see my comments and they could join in as well. They will have an Ultranet info night in Week 2 of next term. A tip is to ensure that gmail, yahoo & hotmail aren't blocked so parent registration can take place at school on the night.
I'm happy to let you know how this phase works.
Regards,
Dave

[Samantha de Vos]

Thanks Dave,

I appreciate you sharing that with me and I will pass that tip about gmail etc. to my daughters school as they are planning to introduce the Ultranet to parents next term.

 

As part of my assignment I have created a wiki space for parents at my daughters school to help them understand about the Ultranet and to give them direct links to video tutorials and things that can be found in the parent manual. It also includes a discussion board where parents can post any queries or suggestions. The principal was very happy with it and is intending to have me present it to parents as a place they can go to for support.  It was originally intended to be part of a community space within the ultranet space itself but my visitor access code did not allow provisions for creating or editing spaces so we went with an external wiki instead.

 

I look forward to hearing more about how the next phase goes. Good luck

Regards,

Sam