School2Home teaches parents about digital literacy with Skype
On June 7th, teachers, parents and students were recognized for their hard work and help in developing School2Home, a model technology immersion program designed to close the Achievement Gap and the Digital Divide in California. The program has 10 core components including the provision of a computing device to each student for use at home and at school, teacher professional development and coaching, and meaningful parent education and engagement.
Through a 6 hour training program, parents are taught basic digital literacy skills as well as how to connect with teachers, monitor their child’s homework, and guide their child’s use of the Internet. Parents at Stevenson Middle School in Los Angeles, California were especially thrilled to learn how to use Skype to connect with families in other countries. Via video call, these families were not only able to talk to catch up with friends and families in other countries, but also discussed their new digital skills and ability to use technology. For many of these families, the School2Home computer is the first computer they have ever had, so using Skype video calling was new and exciting.
To help with the festivities, Skype provided headsets to the parent and student leaders as well as to the teacher “technology champions” who helped their colleagues integrate technology into their lesson plans every day. Because using Skype was such a success in connecting international families, Stevenson Middle School is interested in joining Skype in the Classroom, a free online community for educators, to start connecting with schools around the globe.
School2Home is co-sponsored by the California Emerging Technology Fund and The Children’s Partnership. For more information about the program, visit www.school2home.org. To talk with someone about School2Home, contact Elaine Carpenter, Director of School2Home, at elainecarpenter@mac.com.
