Essential Condition: Shared Vision – The school board and administrators provide proactive leadership in developing a shared vision for educational technology among school personnel, parents, and the community.

The purpose of this presentation is to provide educators with strategies in working with parents to establish a common understanding of the social, legal, ethical and safe practices in the responsible use of technology. Technology education is no longer a keyboarding or web design class. Technology education is found throughout a school’s curriculum and is becoming more and more of a learning tool. Schools must recognize that this increased access and exposure can cause concern for parents, and proactively develop strategies to educate and engage parents in an educational, healthy partnership for technology.

We will share information regarding the curriculum of our Parent Technology Partnership Program, designed by our technology director and teachers, and the path taken by our student, parent and teacher Digital Citizenship Committee. Rather than being reactionary, schools need to reach out to parents proactively and help them to understand the digital world of their kids. Attendees will leave with an overview of our collaborative process in regards to establishing our school community’s definition of digital citizenship and a good understanding of the parent technology curriculum put in place this school year.

Objectives:
Drawing from the expertise of the Johns Hopkins Center for Technology in Education and each other, participants attending this poster session will be able to:

• Identify areas of parental concern in regards to technology use both at school and at home
• Identify Digital Citizenship and what it means in a school
• Share and apply a sample technology curriculum for parents.

Outline

• Outlines of the parenting courses offered in our school’s Parent Technology Partnership Program and a description of our process.
• Samples from our Digital Citizenship committee.
• Background posters that highlight our various parenting courses.
• Multi-media presentation

Supporting Research

Digital Citizenship in Schools, by Mike Ribble and Gerald Bailey.

Developing Ethical Behaviors in Students: What Schools Must Do,” by Doug Johnson for Educational and Media Technology Yearbook 2002. http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/developing-ethical-behaviors-in-students.html

Passport to Digital Citizenship: Journey Towards Appropriate Use of Technology at School and at Home” by Mike Ribble. Learning and Leading with Technology, December/January 2008-2009, pages 14-17

Presenter Background

Michelle is currently a member of the 2008-2009 cohort in the Johns Hopkins University online graduate certificate in School Administration and Supervision in partnership with ISTE.

She is serving as an intern with ISTE and helps manage the ISTE Ning. She is currently the Director of Curriculum and Professional Development at an American international school in Warsaw, Poland. She facilitates curriculum integration and professional development in the school. The American School of Warsaw has a laptop/tablet program in grades 5-12.

Co-presenter, Larry Kuhns, is the Middle School Technology Coordinator at the American School of Warsaw. He has been with the school for six years, was an integral member of the 1:1 laptop program roll-out team, and works in constant collaboration with content area teachers. He is the chair of the school's Digital Citizenship Committee and has worked all year in cooperation with parents, students, teachers, and administrators in defining digital citizenship for the school.