He travels across the United States, speaking and consulting on educational technology, Web 2.0, social networking, free and open source software, computer reuse, and computing for low-income populations.

Classroom 2.0 is an online meeting place for educators interested in using the Web to build better relationships with their peers, students, parents and local communities.

If you want to see an online community of teachers in action, start at http://www.classroom20.com/profile/SteveHargadon and follow the links, threads and pathways.

Steve Hargadon is coming to Australia in November as a keynote speaker at the 2009 Annual Conference of the Victorian Information Technology Teachers Association, whose members comprise primary and secondary Information Technology teachers, tertiary educators, and any person with an interest in Information Technology education.

Read more at http://www.vitta.org.au/conferenceinfo/cid/1/parent/1/pid/1/t/conferenceinfo/title/vitta-annual-conference-2009

If you are familiar with the large format city-focused magazines on parenting known as Sydney’s Child, Melbourne‘s Child etc, you’ll have an idea of the content of Web Child.

As well as the news, opinion, reviews, resources, tips and (most especially) the stories from parents you find in the print versions, Web Child also has a Tech Talk column. The most recent, published 22 October, is called Social networking rules for online kids by Sara Howard, a set of five simple, conservative guidelines for parents.

Rule number one: Time, please

This doesn’t mean that social networking
sites are inherently dangerous. In fact, for some kids they can have
tremendous benefits – shy children, for example, can develop
communication skills and confidence in a ‘safe’ environment.

But, like any other screen-based activity,
we do need to put limits on the amount of time our kids spend using
these sites. And make sure they are also spending their waking hours
playing in real-life with their friends – not just instant messaging
them.

Read more at http://www.webchild.com.au/

It was started in 1996, initially a small group of parents in Toronto concerned about fundraising and about cuts to education budgets.

“When we started there was an atmosphere of division and polarization in the education system. Teachers were fighting with the provincial government; the provincial government was fighting with school boards; and parents were caught in the middle. It was hard for parents to find objective information about what was going on, because all sides in the fights were saying that they were “putting children first.”

We decided there needed to be someone providing information parents could trust. Information that was as objective as we could make it, that was in plain language, and that was based in fact.

We developed a survey that now goes to all schools in the province so that we could report each year on the effects of policy and funding changes on schools. That way parents and school councils could understand that policy wasn’t something abstact and inaccessible. And we hoped that by assisting parents and school communities in understanding
that policy eventually has an effect – on our schools, our children, and our communities; that we are all capable of having an effect on policy.

None of the parents who run People for Education are educators – we’re former lawyers, real estate agents, accountants, designers, business women, stay at home parents, editors, and students. Since our beginnings as parent activists in the mid 90s, we’ve matured as an organization, so that now we occupy a fairly unique position on the educational landscape. We are equally at home in the land of parents, of academics, educators and policy makers. In fact, we act as a kind of bridge between all those worlds.”

People for Education now runs an online community that provides an effective model for online, mutually supportive, parent-focused discussion of education issues.

Read more at http://schools-at-the-centre.ning.com/

“I am a former trustee, a parent advocate, family studies teacher and a realtor. I recently helped facilitate a parent involvement project with the Niagara Catholic District School Board and the Board wide Parent Involvement committee, the Niagara Catholic Regional School Council. The project involved a focus group of parents and educators developing resources and program to assist parents and teachers form strong working relationships while supporting student learning.a forum for parents and educators to discuss issues related to parents and schools. “

A blog, abbreviated from ‘web log’ is an online diary, a journal in which one person posts their opinions and – generally – invites other people to comment, perhaps sparking a discussion.

The great thing about the blog format is that the blogger can not only say what they want as often as they want, but can easily add video, audio, photos, forms, downloadable files, links and more.

Lorna Costantini’s latest blog post, on 17th October, started like this:

Parents use the internet to get back at teachers.
A principal’s worst nightmare is the havoc a disgruntled parent can have on their own reputation, the school’s reputation, a teacher’s reputation or even the reputation of a student. It is hard enough when the chatter is spread through the parking lot but take the attacks to the global stage and there is no end of stress and anger with one-sided and biased viewpoints filling the pipe.

Read more at http://www.ourschool.ca/

Ms Costantini participated in an online discussion on 19 October on the topic of both encouraging and moderating parent engagement with schools in an online environment.

Listen online or download the audio at http://www.edtechtalk.com/node/4575

Incidentally, EdTechTalk itself is a great resource: http://www.edtechtalk.com/.

The 20 Seed Funding Award winners for 2009 were announced on 7 September. Full list with project descriptions is at http://www.schoolsfirst.edu.au/sf-2009-awards-winners/index.phps.

The Local Impact Award winners in each state/territory will be announced between 24 September and 13 October. The State Impact Award winners in each state/territory will be announced between 22 and 29 October. Read the full schedule of winner announcements at http://www.schoolsfirst.edu.au/sf-stories/announcement-of-schools-first-award-winners.phps.

Read more at http://www.schoolsfirst.edu.au/

Forty years of research show that schools with effective partnerships have

• Students with higher grades and test scores, better attendance, higher graduation rates, and greater enrollment in postsecondary education
• Students with more positive attitudes and behavior
• Teachers with higher morale and higher ratings from parents
• Families who give the school more support
• Communities which regard the school more highly

The Wisonsin Department of Public Instruction Community Learning and Partnerships Team offers publications, tools, presentations, PDF Document and events to help schools and districts start and sustain partnership practices that make a real difference.

Former State Superintendent Burmaster established the Parent Leadership Corps to share information on successful family-school-community partnerships across the state. DPI has instituted a Family-School-Community Partnerships Policy.

Partnerships also play an important role in Wisconsin’s REACh (Responsive Education for All Children) Initiative to enhance the success of all students.

Read more at http://dpi.wi.gov/fscp/fscphome.html

A Toolkit for New Mexico School Communities

This Toolkit is designed to support the development of school, family and community partnerships with the ultimate goal of helping all children and youth succeed in school and in life.

For teachers and administrators to strengthen, examine and reflect on their own family involvement practices as well as support strong partnerships between school, home and community.

For parents and community members to guide involvement and the strengthening of partnerships between school and home.
Training modules designed to provide opportunities for understanding the six types of parental involvement, meet challenges towards improvement, and link partnership activities to results.

Read more at http://www.cesdp.nmhu.edu/toolkit/index.html

Children move between two influential environments that build attitudes and readiness for learning: the home and the school. Family involvement research clearly demonstrates that children thrive academically when the family and the school agree that they are stronger together than apart.

Schools and homes that share philosophies, resources, goals, information, and the hard work of teaching give children the stability, consistency, and encouragement they need for academic success.

Family involvement has proven to work regardless of the educational context, the age of the child, or the family’s situation and experiences. From preschool to high school, family involvement accelerates learning, although it takes on different forms.

Organizations with strong ties to urban America believe that family involvement can help low income and minority children transcend the educational barriers. Major initiatives such as Head Start, Even Start, and the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration program require family involvement as a core element, as crucial to academic success as an effective curriculum.

Read more at http://knowledgeloom.org/practices3.jsp?location=1&bpinterid=1051&spotlightid=1051

SEDL is a private, nonprofit education research, development, and dissemination (RD&D) corporation based in Austin, Texas. Improving teaching and learning has been at the heart of SEDL’s work for more than 40 years.

National Parental Information and Resource Center (PIRC) Coordination Center: The National PIRC Coordination Center, a partnership of SEDL, the Harvard Family Research Project, and the Miko Group, Inc., supports the nation’s 62 PIRCs through regional and national conferences, new grantee orientations, workshops and training events, dissemination of research-based materials, on-site technical assistance, and program evaluations.

The PIRCs work to promote parental involvement policies and activities that can lead to improved student academic achievement, particularly among low-income, minority, and limited English proficient (LEP) students in elementary and secondary schools.

National Center for Family and Community Connections with Schools: SEDL’s National Center for Family and Community Connections with Schools disseminates research-based information and resources to foster connections among families, communities, and schools with the goal of improving student academic achievement.

The Center emphasizes connections that impact student achievement in reading and math, as well as connections that contribute to students’ overall success in school and in life.

Read more at http://www.sedl.org/expertise/family_community_services.html

Canada is another country exploring how family-school and community partnerships might positively influence student achievement and satisfaction.

A key element is providing guidelines and resources to help parents support their children’s education at home.

The Ontario Ministry of Education provide sets of 10 tips to parents of primary school students:

• Help Your Child with Reading (K-3, 4-6)
• Help Your Child with Math (K-3, 4-6)
• Help Your Child with Writing (K-3, 4-6)
• Help Boys with Reading
• Help Your Child Do Homework
• Get Your Child Ready for School
• Help You Communicate with Your Child’s Teacher
• Use Arts and Crafts to Develop Math and Literacy Skills

Read more at http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/abc123/eng/tips/