Communicating Online with Families

I received an e-mail earlier this week asking:

Can you steer me in the right direction for starting a blog for my students and parents? Where do I start?

Hence, I decided to answer this person’s question for all to see.  Here goes!

I’ve used a variety of medium for communicating online with my studetns and their families since I started teaching.  Here’s what I’ve used (accompanied by the pro’s and con’s of each):

EDUBLOGS:  This is what I’m presently using to communicate with my students and their families.  I like the format of a blog (obviously) and the way that you can update it whenever something strikes your fancy.  The downside is that the front page of the blog isn’t static, which means that people have to search for older posts, which can be a hassle if they don’t know how to use the “links,” “categories,” and “search box” systems.  Therefore, training students on how to navigate a class blog is of paramount importance if you know that families are not blog-savvy.

PBworks:  I didn’t use my wiki (last year) to its full capabilities.  However, if you’re up for having your students take an active role in what your site looks like, a wiki is a great option.  The free version of PBworks (which I used when it was known as PBWiki) is easy to use, but doesn’t have many whistles and bells.  So, if you’re looking for something fancy, this is not for you!

SCHOOLNOTES:  If you’re looking to post homework and just a few links, then School Notes is a fantastic option.  It’s very bare-bones, but it’s very easy to use for both families and teachers.

SCHOLASTIC:  When you need to keep your class’s goings-on private, then turn to Scholastic’s Homepage Builder.  While it might seem tedious getting everyone on-board with a login and password, it’s worth it if parents want a web page where they can easily access photos of their kids without having the rest of the world view them too.

Clearly, I didn’t mention all of the available resources for communicating with families in this post.  Hopefully others will share their online ideas in the form of a comment.