E-Learning in the K-6 Classroom

After reading Richards post (following on from Katie’s post) about Online report cards, I considered the implications. As a parent it would be good to be able to have a longitudinal view of how my child is going at school, although it could have me worrying unnecessarily over the nitty-gritty (she has had a bad day and not done well on a particular task). As a teacher I can envisage a nightmare scenario. From personal experience working at my daughter’s school office, I know that there are quite a few parents that are constantly up at the school ‘nagging’ staff because of some minuscule issue with their child. I can imagine if regular, ongoing, online reporting were in place these parents would be camped out on their child’s classroom verandah, teachers would need ongoing counselling to deal with nervous stress! We need to take a step back and look at the whole picture when we are contemplating a child’s progress at school, and address real issues when a teacher sees the need. Having said all that I believe that when I am teaching full-time I will embrace online communication with parents (via email) as a way to keep them up to date informally, and when there is an area of concern or something to celebrate. It will certainly make my life easier if I don’t need to be phoning parents all them time.