Page 28 - The Inquiry into the Development and Implementation of a Multimedia Resource to Help Improve Parental Involvement in Their Child’s Reading Literacy During the Primary School Years.

and social media (Thompson, 2008). Furger (2006) suggested five ways to

encourage parental involvement through technology:

1. Giving teaching staff and office administrators an e-mail address.

2. Enhancing school websites by allowing the teachers and pupils to contribute
on a more regular basis.

3. Distributing short school newsletters electronically on a weekly basis.
4. Providing parents with online access to student information.

5. Distributing electronic devices such as laptops and tablets to students and

families in need.

Technology provides a useful solution to the problems of time constraints, travel
logistics and work commitments that many parents face today. The use of mobile

phone calls, emailing, voice-mail systems and the development of instant messaging
services such as WhatsApp, and video-enabled phone calls such as Skype or

FaceTime have addressed many of these issues and made communication with the

school and teachers more accessible (Calvo, Arbiol & Iglesias, 2014). Recently,
there has also been an increase in the number of schools availing of LMP (Learning

Management Platforms) or VLE (Virtual Learning Environments) such as Edmodo
and Google Classroom to allow parents to access resources relating to their child’s

education, thereby involving the parent even further whilst easing the transfer of

school work and learning into the home. These online managed learning
environments allow teachers to upload class homework, pupil sample work, best

practice videos and demonstrations, all accessible to the pupils and parents from
home via an online platform. They also encourage the involvement of the parent by

granting them access to their child’s progress reports, weekly homework and

demonstration or best practice videos for homework. With a growing plethora of
technological solutions available it is important to choose a method that best suits all

participants.

According to Lewin & Luckin (2010), technology can assist in the development and

sustainability of parental involvement and is beneficial for both learners and
teachers. Their study concluded that parents sought encouragement from schools to

use ICT to assist in their child’s learning by providing them with clear information

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