Designing and Developing a School-Based Parent Webpage

1. Designing and Developing a School-Based Parent Webpage to Increase Parent Involvement and Home/School Communication By Robert Fleck ETEC 542

2. Personal Information Teacher for 12 years Have taught third, fourth, and fifth grade Currently teaching fourth grade at Andrew Jackson Elementary in Indio, CA. Currently a Master’s student in Instructional Technology at CSUSB Have been a technology representative for a number of school sites Was a technology mentor training teachers on district programs and software applications Facilitator of students at Student Showcase at CUE Conference Presenter at EdTech Conference at CSUSB Committee member for district strategic plan/ for technology component

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

4. 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.

5. 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).

6. 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.

7. 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).

8. 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: 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)

9. How Criteria is Selected • Standards and Frameworks (http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/) 4. Surveys and interviews with teachers, staff, and parents to determine needs.

10. Evaluating Instructional Materials/Resources When evaluating instructional resources, several questions should be asked regardless of the type of resource you are considering. Does the content match the curriculum? Is the content accurate, up to date, and appropriate for students? Do the materials teach and/or reinforce learning effectively? Will these materials be motivating to the students? Do these resources enhance instruction? Is this resource easy for students to use? Are the materials of high quality technically? (http://web.utk.edu/~mccay/apdm/selusing/selusing_d.htm)

11. 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 media c. Check for clarity and flow of ideas Conduct formative evaluation Implement/apply Evaluate/revise http://www.umdnj.edu/idsweb/idst5330/instructional_media.htm

12. 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

13. 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?

14. Criteria for Evaluation of Internet Information Resources ScopeGraphic and Multimedia design !. Breadth 2. Depth Purpose 3. Time 1. Audience 4. Format Reviews ContentWorkability 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

15. References Alabama 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

16. References Reiser, 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.