Technology is an integral part of daily life. People use social media sites, online networking, and technology for everything from staying connected with family and friends to career advancement.
The benefits are extending to the classroom with innovative technology used in the classroom and for schools and teachers to connect with students, parents, and communities. Living Tree is an innovate private social network for schools that leverages technology to enhance communication, collaboration, and partnerships in the context of K-12 education.
Creating a private social network offers advantages for family communication with each other, teachers, schools, and community organizations. Teachers, schools, and school districts have implemented technology in various ways to increase family engagement in education technology for the benefit of students. Check livingtree.com to learn how easy it is to create your own private social network.
Backed by Research
Research has been conducted by the Harvard Family Research Project on how technology is being used to engage families in the education of their children. The research shows several positive results of implementing technology to engage families. The researchers found that using technology to engage families helps them become more involved in education, which offers advantages for student achievement, such as better grades in elementary and high school, higher graduation rates, better attendance, and a higher rate of students going on to higher education.
The United Way has implemented projects that are designed to support communities in improving education and reducing dropout rates using technology. Their projects utilize technologies that include text messaging and online data systems to facilitate communication between families, students, and schools.
Technology has been used in high school classrooms for several years with great success. In recent years, the use of technology has expanded, with teachers, schools, and entire school districts now using this idea to support academic performance and family involvement from Pre-Kindergarten through high school graduation.
How Technology is Used in Schools
Online data systems have been used for a number of years by school districts across the country. A username and password are supplied to parents to log in to the online data system. This enables parents to keep track of how their students are doing in school, check upcoming assignments and tests, attendance, and other details.
Parent groups, sports teams, and organizations have created their own pages and groups on social media sites for the purpose of communication and collaboration. However, privacy issues prevent many from making this leap. A private social network offers enhanced security that social media cannot guarantee. Private social networks are used by families to stay organized and communicate with teachers, schools, and sports teams. Schools and community organizations can use the network for event planning, volunteer signups, and communication. Teachers are able to engage more effectively with their students and families.
Increasingly, people are using mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets to access the internet, send emails, and keep track of schedules and activities. A family engagement app allows parents to receive notifications and communicate with the network using a smartphone or tablet, so notifications are received and everyone gets where they need to be on time.
