Families play a critical role in shaping student success. Research shows that parental involvement in a student’s education leads to higher academic achievement and greater motivation.
Schools often organize events to get parents involved in their student’s learning, but drawing parents in can be a challenge.
The Portsmouth school district in Virginia, however, has found success by turning family engagement into shared learning experiences through a series of “Tech Nights,” said Allyson Hartung, a technology resource teacher in the district.
Hartung presented a poster session on June 30 on “Inspiring Family Engagement Through Innovation” at the ISTELive 25 + ASCD Annual Conference 25 here.
“We wanted our families to see what the students were able to do in our district and in our school,” she said, especially with all the digital tools the district provides. “We wanted [students] to be able to do those activities [on those tech tools] with their parents.”
The key to boosting turnout and excitement? Building events around fun, engaging themes, Hartung said. One example is “Tech or Treat,” a play on “trick or treat.” At that event, students and families can stop at different stations that have a specific tech tool—for example, coding robots or an augmented reality app—and play with those tools.
These events also serve as opportunities to promote digital citizenship and help parents become more familiar with the digital tools the schools use to communicate with families, Hartung said.
Students enjoy the events, too, she said. Teachers don’t always use all the digital tools available to them, so the events are sometimes the only places that students can try out other tech tools.
To organize a successful “Tech Night,” Hartung recommends these steps:
- Choose the time, date, theme, and location. Some themes Hartung has done include: Tech or Treat, Coding in a Winter Wonderland, and Tech Camp.
- Collaborate with others in your building, such as a parent liaison.
- Choose tech tools to highlight. Make sure you have multiple sets of each.
- Design short, engaging activities around the theme and the tools. Keep each activity between 10-15 minutes. Provide giveaways, food, and/or entertainment.
- Create a one-page instruction sheet so that families can complete the activities with little support.
- Assign staff to stations to offer support as needed.
- Market the event well in advance. This could include sending flyers home with students, as well as promoting the event on the district website, social media, or regular newsletters.
In her first year, Hartung said it was a challenge to get the parents to the events and connected to the digital tools the district uses.
“But the more events we’ve done and the more resources we provide for the parents,” the more parents are likely to engage with the events, she said.
