Before I read the information about Web 2.0 I was under the impression that this was something that would be very new to me. Unfortunately I was wrong, web 2.0 is something that I use on a daily basis myself. Whether it be on facebook or uploading pictures for my friends and family to see, I was unaware that this was considered web 2.0.
I can see some pros and cons when it comes to web 2.0. My place of employment currently uses snapfish to allow parents the opportunity to see what the children are working on in and out of the classroom (field trips). We have had positive feedback in regards to this site. This is one way to help connect the parents with what their children are doing in the classroom which in turn can give them more communicating options. Most of the time the parents will ask their children what they did and the usual response is "nothing". This gives them the opportunity to open the door of communication and say "I saw that you did....today". Using these sites to connect parents gives them the chance to help the children recall and describe what they actually did.
blogging sites for parents and teachers is another way for communication. It helps the parents find answers and ask questions about the daily routines and what their children are working on. This is another pro when it comes to web 2.0.
One thing that I see as a con is the lack of personal attention. It is much easier to write a blog, send an email or post some pictures online but in the end we miss that face to face conversation. The personal communication that some people really enjoy and need. Another con that I see is with my ESL students. Many of their parents need to have visuals and explanation of those visuals. This is not always something that is easy to do over the internet. I have many parents that have only been in the country for the last year to three years and have a difficult time with some of these sites. These are my parents that are much better with a face to face personal meeting then they are blogging or communicating through the internet.
Kimberly: I agree with your sentiment that face to face interaction is lost when using the internet to communicate with parents. I rarely see parents at conferences. I would love to see more faces. I think the internet takes away from that.
ReplyDeleteWhile it does come in handy when dealing with students, it lacks the personal touch. It has its pros and cons.
I feel that it can be important for the face to face interaction with parents. Personally I have a lot of parents that do not speak very fluent english. With that said, many of my parents need the face to face interaction in order to understand the conversation we are having. In other situations the mother does not speak english but the father does. When I run into this situation I have to write down what I am trying to convey to the parents. The mother will take the note home and show it to the father and he will then translate the information to the mother. Many of those situations the mother is a stay at home mother and the father works. We will see the mother every day but not the father and the father is the one that understands english. Its a very sensitive and some times difficult situation.
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