'Families in Tech' Educational Program

'Families in Tech' Educational Program
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Abstract
Different parties, including parents, researchers, and educators, have constantly debated technology's impact on education. Most individuals claim that it is used in student empowerment and achievement of learning goals. The 'Families in Tech' is a special program that a local community center can run. The program requires staffing to assist the families in identifying their needs. Besides, it will also connect families with substantial community resources. The major funding sources for the program are local donations, sponsorships, and federal and state grants. It also has specific representatives who go to community spaces such as religious institutions, social centers, and other community events. The representatives will mobilize different families to attend the program. The program supports the families in acquiring technology skills and increasing their literacy in digital tools. It also offers affordable second-hand devices for smooth distanced learning. The 'Family in Tech' targets the major population: the parents. It exhausts the role of the parents in promoting education by acquiring adequate digital literacy. The target is significant since the parents play an educative role on behalf of the teachers during distanced learning. The program's major need addresses technological skills among the parents, which would allow them to closely monitor the children during distance learning. However, there are also inadequate connection resources, such as affordable network devices.
Introduction
Different stakeholders, including parents, researchers, and educators, have constantly debated technology's impact on education. Technology is one of the current tools in education used for student empowerment and achievement of learning goals through creating a reliable environment (Sari & Maningtyas, 2020). Technology is also becoming a critical tool in family education due to constant digital transformation and adaptations, allowing the learners to understand their strengths and weaknesses (Siahaan et al., 2021). Instructors and students also find teaching and learning easy due to increased virtual interaction. The students can easily air their views and concerns digitally without difficulties. Therefore, with increased technological tools, distance learning is becoming part of the education system. Besides, different uncertainties such as pandemics are also making distance learning relevant. For instance, since COVID-19 interrupted the educational sector, digital transformation and preparedness have been recorded to ensure smooth educational transition whenever such issues arise. Such a shift during the pandemic indicates adequate capacity to focus on digital learning. The instructors can easily use digital tools to track the children's progress and offer valid recommendations without physical interactions. Despite the technological preparedness, a section of parents requires adequate technological literacy to promote distanced learning. The 'Families in Tech' program advocates for technological literacy among parents to promote distance learning.
Goals
* To increase technology literacy among the families.
* To connect the families to technology resources.
Target Audience
The major population that the program targets are the parents. It exhausts the role of the parents in promoting education by acquiring adequate digital literacy. The target is significant since the parents play an educative role on behalf of the teachers during distanced learning. Besides, parents are the major targets since they can closely monitor the children at home and track their progress only when they have technological skills. They must create a conducive environment for the children to learn at home. Therefore, targeting the parents is essential for the success of the 'Families in Tech' Program.
Needs
The program's major need is technological skills among the parents, which would allow them to closely monitor the children during distance learning. However, there are also inadequate connection resources, such as affordable network devices. Without adequate digital literacy, it becomes complex for the parents to direct their children whenever there is any technical error. The researcher identified the needs through a primary interview among 14 participants who claimed issues such as poor connectivity and inadequate technological skills.
Program Overview
The 'Families in Tech' is a special program that a local community center can run. It also has specific representatives who go to community spaces such as religious institutions, social centers, and other community events. The representatives will mobilize different families to attend the program. The program supports the families in acquiring technology skills and increasing their literacy in digital tools. It also offers affordable second-hand devices for smooth distanced learning. The program also requires staffing to assist the families in identifying their needs. Besides, it will also connect families with substantial community resources. The major funding sources for the program are local donations, sponsorships, and federal and state grants.
Recap of Literature Review
The program is based on previous research, which aligns with the needs identified from the primary interview. Using the past research is relevant since it allows the researcher to seal the gaps left out by the past studies. For instance, most researchers identified that poor connectivity and lack of technical skills are the major problems that most parents encounter.
According to Stites et al. (2021), parents are needed in the distance learning intervention since they spend more time with the students than the teachers. Using a sample of 166 parents, Stites et al. (2021) identified that a larger percentage did not have adequate access to the technological resources required for distance learning, such as WI-FI and other devices. The program will seal the gap by connecting such families to second-hand and affordable devices. Most parents agreed with adequate technology information; engaging the learners and tracking their progress would be easy.
Cavendish et al. (2017) also concluded that a lot of efforts from the parents are needed to transform to digital and distanced learning. Cavendish et al. (2017) identified that the parents must work closely with the educators to ensure that the students are on the right track. Many parents also claimed that their students requested technical support at home and needed frequent intervention. Therefore, involving the parents in digital support is necessary for improving the children's performance. Their effort can only be increased by ensuring that they acquire reliable and sustainable digital literacy.
Many researchers, such as Stites et al. (2021) and Bergman & Chan (2017), also concluded that engaging the parents in digital learning is necessary since it would allow them to engage their children at a tender age. However, minimal effort from the parents would make the children have a rough time learning the primary digital skills. For instance, Bergman & Chan (2017) used 11,000 households and only discovered that 50% had adequate literacy skills and easily afforded technology resources. Therefore, the research shows engagement among the families for a smooth learning transition.
Lastly, Kraft (2017) concluded that digital learning is suitable for promoting high-quality learning since it makes the learners independent. However, the major problem is reduced literacy skills. After using a randomized control trial, Kraft (2017) realized that there is also a critical gap in the communication framework. Kraft (2017) recommended that parents be exposed to a suitable communication framework that would enable them to coordinate between educators and their patients. Therefore, among all the past researchers, the recurring need is digital literacy and the lack of affordable network devices that can promote digital learning. The program will seal the gap by providing a four-session program that would allow the parents to acquire such skills and access affordable devices.
Curriculum plan for 4 Units
Session 1
Subtheme: Computer basics
The main reason for taking the parents through computer basics is to allow them to have rough knowledge to help their students whenever they are stuck. It would be difficult for the parents who do not have the adequate computer knowledge to adequately engage the students. It is also essential for the parents to be familiar with other gadgets such as tablets.
Learning Objectives
* Understand computer terminologies
* Understand computer applications
Key Questions
* What is a computer?
* What is a desktop?
* What is double click?
* How do you power on a computer?
* How do you power off a computer?
Teaching Activities
* Reading handouts containing the theory of the computer basics
* Communal discussions
* Question and answers sessions
Teaching Methods
* Presentation
* Practical
* Group discussions (3-5 parents)
* Role-playing
Material and Equipment
* A desktop
* Handout for session 1 (Appendix A)
Timing
2 hours daily
Session 2
Subtheme: Websites
Note: The main aim of teaching the parents about the websites is to allow them to understand the key websites used for accessing virtual learning. From the previous research, many parents do not understand some critical websites that may contain malware and interrupt the children during virtual learning. Therefore, with an adequate understanding of the websites, it will be easy to prevent popup advertisements which may alter the learning process.
Learning Objectives
* To understand the key websites that the students should access during virtual learning.
* To understand the websites that the students should avoid during virtual learning.
* To understand the measures to address website penetration challenges.
Key Questions
* What do you understand by unsafe website?
* How do you know that a website is unsafe?
* How do you limit access to the unsafe website?
* What are the safe websites for virtual websites?
Teaching Activities
* Reading the handout in appendix 2 to understand unsafe and safe websites.
* Discussing the strategies how for identifying unsafe websites.
* Sharing knowledge on safe websites for virtual learning.
Teaching Methods
* Presentation
* Practical
* Group discussions (3-5 parents)
* Role-playing
Material and Equipment
* Handout (Appendix 2)
* Desktop
* Whiteboard and marker pen
Timing
1 hour 30 minutes
Session 3
Subtheme: Digital Assessment
Assessment is a major practice that every parent must understand. It would allow them to determine whether their children are in the right direction or not. It will also allow them to coordinate the learning process with the educators and note areas of weakness of the students. Understanding the digital assessment process would also allow the parents to recommend necessary actions to improve the student's engagement. Therefore, it is necessary for smooth digital learning.
Learning Objectives
* To understand the theory of digital assessment.
* To understand tracking processes.
* To understand the steps of digital assessment
Key Questions
* How do you conduct the digital assessment?
* What are the factors to consider during the digital assessment?
Teaching Activities
* Lecture on digital assessment
* The role-playing digital assessment process
Teaching Methods
* Presentation
* Practical
* Group discussions (3-5 parents)
* Role-playing
Material and Equipment
* Handout (appendix 3)
* Desktop
* Whiteboard and marker pens
Timing
1 hour 30 minutes
Session 4
Subtheme: Technical errors
Session four is the most important since it exposes the parents to the common technical errors that the students face during distance learning. The common issue that makes distance learning is the technical issues such as poor network connection and internet problems which may alter the learning process. The session also exposes the parents to cheap and affordable devices that promote smooth distance learning. The parents will have the opportunity to access different elements of a technical error in desktops, tablets, and other devices. Lastly, they will also learn how to rectify the errors.
Learning Objectives
* To understand the common technical errors in distance learning.
* To understand the process of rectifying technical errors during virtual learning.
* To understand how to access cheap and affordable technology devices.
Key Ques...