Pauline’s Blog

Thanks Jill for checking out my blog. I have figured out how to put the entries in properly now! I would love any research you can find on the value of Web 2.0 tools, blogs or how we can use them to enhance home/school partnerships. I enjoyed talking to you today.

Possible QuestionsI have come up with to answer my research question include:
What kind of partnership do parents want with their children’s schools?
What are the benefits of using classroom blogs?
What are the barriers: for parents, for teachers, for students?
What percentage of parents access the internet?
Do all parents consent to their children having internet access and having their name/photo/work etc online - does this create issues for the classroom teacher if a parent does not give permission?
How do parents perceive home/school partnerships in the context of a classroom blog i.e. does it make any difference?Who is accessing the blog? Why? How?What are the features/advantages/benefits of using Web 2.0 tools? What are the roadblocks?
What is the value of using blogs in terms of communication, interaction, community building?
What does the Ministry have to say about parent partnerships?
How does the Ministry’s strategy for ICT fit with using classroom blogs?
Why do some people take up blogging while others don’t - motivating factors?
Who is the intended audience for the classroom blog? Will it create other community links?
What are the advantages/disadvantages of blogging? - for teachers, for parents, for students?
Does it make a difference if parents can contribute to the blog? - some are read only.
Does the blog extend to the wider family group e.g. grandparents?
What percentage of parents access the classroom blog?
What are the reasons for accessing/not accessing the blog?
What do parents see as the benefits/disadvantages of the classroom blog?Do parents feel that using blogs has improved the partnership between home and school?
How else could home/school partnerships be improved? (or do they need to improve?)

My next step is to discuss this with the school I would like to use and the teacher or teachers who are using classroom blogs, in order to seek permission for me to use them in my research. The proposal at this stage is exploratory.

I am trying to refine my research question and have come up with
“In what ways do the use of classroom blogs enhance home/school partnerships. I see this primarily as a piece of qualitative research. I intend to survey all parents in a class to see whether they use the classroom blog and to follow this up with semi structured interviews with a small number of parent volunteers. I would also like to interview the classroom teacher about her intended purpose in setting up the blog, positive outcomes, barriers, and negative outcomes.

I have set this blog up as part of my research project for 2008. I want to investigate how using a classroom blog can enhance home/school partnerships. I intend to use this blog as a reflective journal for my project.