A qualitative research study on the viability of using a classroom Web site as a school-to-home communication tool in a southwestern United States elementary school and middle school.

Abstract

This study examines the concept of using classroom web sites as tools for parent communication by focusing on parents' views of how useful the web sites were for them, and how useful they could have been with appropriate information on them. Classroom web sites can be useful communication tools if they contain useful information, and this study will describe what parents believe is useful.

The same web that provides the student with information and the mother with clothing options is the same web that teachers can use to establish another line of communication with the parents of their students. Web sites that have been carefully and purposefully constructed by classroom teachers can be great sources of school-to-home information sharing, and teachers, once they have determined that enough of their parents have access to the web, must consistently keep these web sites updated and informative for their students and parents.

Computers and the internet have become a main source of communication in today's society. Individuals are becoming more comfortable with using the World Wide Web for many tasks that were formerly completed by other means. A student can gather information for writing a term paper by using the web rather than spending hours in a library. A mother can purchase clothing for her child by using the web rather than driving to a department store. The web has provided society with enough information access to change our methods of how we conduct day-to-day tasks.