Proceedings of the Families, Technology, and Education Conference
General
Sessions
General sessions at the Families, Technology, and Education Conference were devoted to broad issues related to technology use in the lives of families. Each of these presentations points to a cluster of issues in the use of technology in the education and development of children.
Dr. Roberts, who came to the U.S. Department of Education from the Office of Technology Assessment in 1993, has successfully focused national attention on the importance of getting schools connected to the Internet and has encouraged schools to devote sufficient resources to training. As the U.S. Department of Education’s Director of Educational Technology, Dr. Roberts has worked to increase access to and the quality of use of computer technology in schools and libraries through offering grant programs and planning for the E-rate strategy. Mike Eisenberg, creator of the "Big Six," a nationally accepted foundation of information skills necessary for learning in the next century, and director of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Technology, is a well-known advocate for school library and media centers, and for school librarians/media specialists as in-school experts on the Internet. Dr. Eisenberg focused in his presentation (which is not included in the proceedings) on information skills that will be needed by children in school and as adults, and on helping children with homework through technology. Barbara Bowman of the Erikson Institute discussed technology and young children, and especially equity and teaching issues related to technology. Scott Somerville, of the Home School Legal Defense Association, discussed the growing home schooling movement, which has been substantially supported by computer technology. And the Blondins, a Michigan family who traveled across the country with their children and stayed in touch with the school in their home community, described their journey and how they enabled their children to keep up with school work and share the experience with their classmates via notebook computers and the Internet. Their presentation speaks to our growing understanding of education as a process, not a place.
Applications
In contrast to the general sessions, individual presentations in this strand focused on specific instances of how technology has been used in programs that serve parents, children, and teachers. In most cases, the presenters discussed both the successes and drawbacks of these applications of technology.
The presenters in this strand of conference presentations ranged from film makers (Patty Burness) to those operating community programs (Lillian Coltin and Kate McGuire); from child care consumer educators (Anne Goldstein) to preschool teachers (Melissa Groves, Michele Jarnigan, and Kendra Eller); from parent educators (Walid Elkhoury and Dana McDermott Murphy) to an educator from Estonia (Mihkel Pilv, who described a program using technology to support elementary educators and home-schooling families).
Other presenters focused on Internet resources for military youth facing relocation (Mareena McKinley Wright, Rebecca Schaffer, Kathleen Coolbaugh, Gary Bowen, and Gina Wiley); avoiding the dangers of Repetitive Strain Injuries posed by computer use (Sandra Ubelacker); and creating Virtual Libraries for parents, teachers, and counselors (Garry R. Walz and Jeanne C. Bleuer). The diversity among presenters was strong testimony to the democratization and widespread use of the Internet.
Not included in this section is the paper Exploring Nature and Science presented by David Haury.
If there was an underlying theme in all these presentations, surely it was that our growing technological capability is clearly already available to, and used by, not just the corporate world, but also by many of those concerned with supporting families in the raising of their children. Communication, dissemination of research-based information, and national efforts to advocate for and educate "consumers"—in this case, parents—are activities that have undergone subtle changes as use of the Internet has become commonplace at home. Through use of the new technologies, and despite problems related to the major paradigm shift in beginning to use them, those who work with families unanimously agreed that their organizations were able to do a better job because they had adopted and begun to use the new technologies.
Equity
How do we achieve equity in family access to computing technology? Given the concern that computer use further separates the "haves" and "have nots," many community-based programs are working to increase Internet and computer access among underserved children and families. The parents attending the FTE conference were unanimous in their concern about equity and their hope that technology can be accessible to all families and all schools.
The papers in this section address a variety of equity concerns. Addressing equity may mean adapting models developed in other sectors—such as large organizations like the military—for families. Edward J. Degnan and John W. Jacobs describe the application of a military model for technology integration to five communities that are using technology integration methodology to create extended learning communities that are inclusive of all community members. The use of technology in adult education and family literacy programs (Susan Imel and Judy Wagner) is another strategy that is being tried to address community-wide equity issues. Focusing on students’ out-of-school time is another strategy (Ken Komoski), and one used by a variety of communities in the LINCT Coalition (a nationwide collaborative of socially concerned, nonprofit organizations working together to help communities achieve universal access to electronic information and learning via community networks and the Internet). Responding to parents’ information needs using technology is also described in this section (Ron Banks and Anne Robertson). Other efforts include NeighborhoodLink (Mary Ellen Simon). Finally, Anthony Wilhelm discusses Hispanic families’ uses of technology.
Not included in this section are the following papers presented in this strand at the conference:
Cyndy Colletti, Fostering Family Literacy through CD-ROMs
Eileen E. Faucette, Increasing Appropriate Technology Usage
Erwin Flaxman, Families, Empowerment, and Technology
As the papers in this section suggest, access and equity mean much more than simple physical accessibility of computer equipment to all families. There is the issue of intellectual accessibility—providing information on the Internet at many different reading levels and in a variety of languages—as well as the issue of providing information in "user-friendly" ways and making such information easy to find on an increasingly crowded and complex Internet information highway.
Exceptionality
Whether gifted or differently-abled, children and families with special needs and abilities are finding that the new technologies offer great potential for improving family life and educational opportunities. In this section, college planning for gifted students (Sandra L. Berger) and easing the extra effort involved in individualizing instruction while sharing accountability with parents (Donald F. Rubovits and Jay F. Mulberry) are discussed. The use of technology to support individualizing our work with children and families was also the topic of the following papers not included here but presented in this strand at the conference:
Sandra Berger, Constructing New Realities
Janet Peters, The Positive Aspects of Internet Experiences
Elaine Robey, Applications of Technology to Promote Literacy
Joan Smutney, Technology and Its Impact upon Gifted Children
Common themes in this strand included the power of technology to individualize educational experience and its ability to enhance educational and social opportunities for children with varying abilities and needs.
Internet
One of the key questions that we wanted to explore at the Families, Technology, and Education Conference was whether (and how) the Internet’s impact on children and family life differed fundamentally from the impact of television. The papers included here again illustrate the variety of applications that are relevant to families and the many issues and opportunities that the Internet poses for families. Home schooling (Scott Somerville); the Internet as a personal communication channel (J. Michael Jaffe and Amy Aidman); the Internet’s effects on young adolescents (Myron Orleans and Margaret C. Laney); using the Internet to strengthen community programs and collaborations for children, youth, and families at risk (Josephine A. Swanson, June P. Mead, and Heidi L. Haugen); and ethical online behavior (Nancy Willard) are the areas highlighted in these papers.
Not included in this section are the following papers presented in this strand at the conference:
Larry Rudner, Internet and CD-ROM Based Tests
Carl Smith, Grow Together through Stories
Our conclusion? The interactivity of the Internet—at a level not widely possible at this time with television—appears to heighten its impact on families, especially when compared to television. Families tell us that electronic mail has changed their lives through its capability to keep family members in touch with each other and with others who have similar interests. A second aspect of the Internet, its potential to democratize access to information on education and other family concerns, also has a significant effect on the adults in the family. Parents now have access to much the same information base of educational research as educators and health providers, although we have yet to see how that will affect these areas of family life in the long term.
Links
Barriers to parent involvement in education can be reduced, and parent–teacher communication enhanced, by exploiting new communications technologies in telephone systems and on the Internet. The speakers at the sessions in this strand addressed the use of technology for helping parents and teachers stay in closer touch (Jerold P. Bauch; Jay Blanchard; and Sharon Kristovich, Nancy B. Hertzog, and Marjorie Klein), how to close the gap between research and practice in educating children with disabilities (David Osher and Stephanie Snow), and ways to develop partnerships between schools, families, and communities (Beth S. Simon, Karen Clark Salinas, Joyce L. Epstein, and Mavis G. Sanders).
Not included in this section is the paper ParentLink presented by Vivian Murphy.
These presenters suggest that there already appears to be a body of evidence that supports using technology to create or strengthen home–school partnerships. The speakers believe that it is possible to use technology to develop and maintain such partnerships, and to use them to bring together the home, school, and community contexts in which all children grow and develop for the common purpose of helping students with their education.
