Group Research

Enhancing Student Learning Through Parents Technology Skills

Ahmed Falata

Hakimah Al-Mutaire

Kadejah MAnsi

Mona Al-Asiri

California State University , of San Bernadrdino

I. Introduction

In an ever-growing technological world, it becomes critical to assess the role of

technology in the classroom. This study aims to assess the role of technology toward

student performance, where the study evaluates how big a factor technology is in

enhancing student development. Furthermore, the study identifies the specific

technological skills that parents need to assist their students with learning, based on the

level of importance technological skills are for parents. The specific target of the study is

the parents of students in grades K-12, with a target region of the Inland Empire. Our

hypothesis is that parents become more involved in their students’ education through

strong knowledge of technology and the technological skills that come with that

knowledge. Additionally, the hypothesis suggests that technology creates a strong

connect between school and home, where more technological skills available at home

equate to a stronger performance in the classroom. Therefore, the parents become the

target as they are responsible for the performance of their children as students.

II. Literature Review

In modern times, it is often suggested that children understand technology much

better than their parents. If that is the case, it makes sense that the children would

introduce the parents to technology, rather than the opposite where the parents act as the

instructors. Student learning is highly impacted by the role of their parents. If the parents

are strong in their use of technology, the students are likely to become associated with

technological skills. Of course, if the student is the one teaching the parent how to use

technology, and the parent only applies knowledge learned from the student (but does not

pass on any new information to the student), student learning is going to only be self-

inspired in terms of technology. Now, the parent could enhance student learning in areas

outside of technology. The question is whether the student will be as successful under

this scenario, compared to one that involves technology as a medium between the parent

and student. The literature review assesses this and evaluates the hypothesis.

It has become clear that a student’s education is enhanced through parent

involvement, in any form. Therefore, regardless of the role of technology, it is helpful

that a parent is educated in order to enhance the learning of the student. Since the parent

serves as the ultimate role model to a child, the student is likely to want to achieve

successes similar to what the parent has accomplished. The benefits of parent

involvement are critical, where it “encompasses a range of actions and beliefs associated

with sending a child to school prepared to learn, setting and voicing expectations,

supporting a child’s out-of-school learning, advocating on behalf of a child,

communicating with the school staff, and maintaining a presence at the school”

(Shiffman, 2011, p. 162). This wide range of activities implemented by a parent that

directly affect student learning can be overwhelming, where a parent cannot take on all of

the responsibilities. However, once broken down the tasks become more manageable.

Parents must voice expectations concerning their children’s learning. That is, the

parent is expected to set educational goals that the student fulfills in-and-out of the

classroom. As mentioned, the parent serves as a role model. Therefore, if the parent is not

educated and the student knows this, the student is unlikely to pursue a strong education

because it was not considered a necessary component, at least by the parent. The student

begins to think that if his or her parent has become a leader without an education, it lacks

credibility. According to Shiffman (2011), adult education courses offer “rich sources of

knowledge, support, and efficacy to help parents foster their children’s education” (p.

168). Therefore, while an adult education (of the parent) enhances the perception of the

child to want to gain a similar education, it also better-prepares the parent to become

involved in the education of their children. Shiffman (2011) suggests that the parent is to

have an active role in the school to enhance the education of the student. That is, the

parent should be directly involved in some of the student’s activities. The teachers should

know the parent and actively communicate with him, her, or both. This bridges the gap

between parent and instructor, which is often large and causes distress within the parent-

teacher relationship. Obviously, if the parent is educated he or she is better-able to

maintain a presence in the child’s education, even if it means helping with homework,

setting up active discussions with the teacher, and so on. Still, even those who are not

educated can communicate with teachers and play an active role in the student’s

education through the use of technology.

One of the universal forms of technology, regardless of education, is visible

through e-mail communication. The frequency of parent-teacher communication through

e-mail is a key to showing how parents are actively involved in the education of their

children. This active participation becomes visible through the frequency of e-mail

communication between parents and teachers. Thompson (2008) finds that teachers,

within his study, only communicated with a “small fraction of parents on a consistent

basis via e-mail and communicated with a slightly larger percentage of parents once or

twice throughout the semester” (p. 218). Therefore, parents are not as actively involved,

at least on average, as they could be given the technological tools that bring convenience

to the communication process.

Within our study, our findings showed that 72% of respondents either agreed or

strongly agreed that a parent’s knowledge of e-mail to communicate with the school

(teacher) helps students to succeed. The parents, rather than the teachers are the primary

initiators when it comes to e-mail communication (Thompson, 2008). Therefore, the

parents are responsible for the focus of the e-mail and how frequent the e-mails take

place. While e-mail should be a communication medium for teachers to communicate

with parents more frequently, this is not the case as it only occurs on an inconsistent

basis. Our findings, based on the results of respondents believe that a student’s education

will be enhanced by consistent communication (by e-mail) between teachers and parents.

In contrast, there is minimal communication, likely unless the parent initiates

communication because of an issue where he or she has grief with the teacher. This

suggests that even though there are clear benefits to this technological form of

communication, the parents (and perhaps teachers) are not taking advantage and are not

progressing student educations using this technological medium.

The reasoning behind parents’ use of e-mail lacking may be a lack of motivation

where the parent is not properly influenced to become engaged in the education of the

student. Freeman (1999) claims that there are three effective strategies that must be

fulfilled in order to influence parents concerning the use of technology in the classroom.

School administrators and teachers must acknowledge and respect the apprehensions of

the parents, parents and educators must recommit to shared educational goals, and the

focus must be student achievement (Freeman, 1999). Therefore, parents motivation must

align with the progression of their children as students.

One of the focus questions within this study regards the ability of a parent to

search the Internet in order to help students succeed. The overwhelming response was

that a student’s ability to learn is enhanced when the parent understands how to search

the Internet (78% agreed or strongly agreed). Therefore, as parents become more well-

rounded with the Internet (and its search capabilities), it becomes likely that students will

become better-prepared to excel in the classroom. With the issue being parent motivation,

Somers & Settle (2010) discuss “helicopter parenting” where parents essentially ‘hover’

over their students to consistently watch and monitor them relative to their education and

other areas of their lives. One of the implications within the study by Somers & Settle

(2010) is that parents are eager to receive information regarding the events of their

students’ lives. However, there is variance in this as students who are the first in their

families to attend college, are from the poorest families or who are students of color may

be less likely to have a high level of involvement (or any involvement) from the parents,

compared to their peers (Somers & Settle, 2010).

Returning to motivation, it becomes even more important for these parents (those

of students prone to less parent interaction) become motivated to utilize all technological

skills possible, including being able to search on the Internet. By demonstrating this

motivation, the student will inevitably pick up on the influential qualities and become

more interested in his or her education. For example, one of our survey questions

addressed a need for parents to have knowledge of the student’s school website, and

follow up on their performance in order to help students succeed. This correlates with the

ability to search on the Internet as one who is likely to know the Internet is able to access

and manage the student’s school website, compared to those who have no knowledge.

Again, the response was overwhelming (80% agree or strongly agree) by participants

who believe that the parents should understand how to access the website of the student.

One could conclude that these are the aforementioned helicopter parents who are

consistently monitoring student performance. Gonzalez (2002) finds that the relationship

between parental involvement and student motivation is that “students are encouraged by

seeing their parents take an active interest in their school” (p. 133). Therefore, by

consistently accessing the school’s website (with the student’s knowledge), the parent is

demonstrating that he or she has an active interest in the student’s education, which will

motivate the student to become more engaged in his or her own education.

While being able to search the Internet, access e-mail and visit the school website

are not very technologically advanced, our study identified a more specific parental role.

Participants were asked about a parent’s knowledge of Microsoft Office tools and if such

knowledge would help students to succeed. While the response was in-line with previous

questions, it was not as overwhelming: approximately 67% of respondents agreed or

disagreed. One can assume that Microsoft Office tools are going to be used at home, in

addition to the school. According to Grant (2011), the engagement of a parent toward

children learning at home is a significant factor toward the achievement of the child in a

school setting. Therefore, if the parents understand how to use Microsoft Office at home

and are teaching the children how to use it, the children will be able to make a connection

between home and school, and their overall learning and education will be enhanced. The

same as any technology-based tool, when the parent understands how to utilize the tool,

he or she is capable to demonstrate the findings to the student, where the student becomes

capable of using the tool, as well. Doing so creates a connection between the home and

the school, as the student now takes the skills learned at home to the school as is able to

demonstrate them in a formal academic setting.

Through social networks, both the student and parent are able to make a

connection between the home and school. Skills in computers and technology have gone

beyond the basic expectations. For example, Uchida, Centron & McKenzie (1996) state

that computers and other technologies “are important as tools in delivering academic

content, but students also need to develop skills in operating and making the most of

these systems” (p. 2). One of the ways to make the most of these systems is through

social networking where the computer becomes a communication medium, potentially

connecting the home and the educational environment. One form of social networking

allows the parents to interact with the school, or teachers of their students; the students

can interact with fellow students to share information. Therefore, social networking as a

technological communication tool influences active communication as one of the keys to

the overall learning process. Knowledge of computers, as Uchida, Centron & McKenzie

(1996) suggested to be a critical student tool in the 21st century, is only the initial step.

Parents must be motivated to go beyond the initial expectations and become engaged in

technology in order to benefit student performance and enhance their student’s potential

achievements.

Regardless of the technology available, there are those parents who believe in

separation of home and school. That is, while they ensure that they are actively involved

in their children’s lives at home, they have little to do with their student’s lives at school.

Deslandes & Bertrand (2005) find that parents “must comprehend that parent

involvement at school is part of their responsibilities before they decide to become

involved” (p. 172). This ties into the aforementioned motivation of the parent to become

active in a student’s education. Deslandes & Bertrand (2005) conclude a strong

differentiation between school and home by the perspective of the parent. That is, the

parent understands and assumes the responsibility of caring for a child at home, but

passes off this responsibility while the student is in school. By understanding and using

technology, it eases the convenience for the parent to become more involved. Rather than

passing off the responsibility to educators and school administrators, the parents are able

to integrate themselves into the process and maintain activity in their children’s lives

while they are at home and at school.

The motivation that students have to embrace technology as a learning tool begins

with the parent. According to Ortiz, Green & Lim (2010), parents serve as the entry point

or the initial contact “by which young children are exposed to the function, purpose, and

value of a computer” where the attitudes of a parent (toward technology) “greatly impact

those of the child” (p. 203). Therefore, it begins with motivation on the part of the parent,

where the parent’s skills translate into the child’s skills as a student. However, a lack of

motivation to embrace technology by the parent can have a reverse effect, where the

student wants no part of technology as he or she develops. A computer can be

“detrimental to a young learner depending on how it is modeled as a training tool and the

attitudes held toward it by the parent” (Ortiz, Green & Lim, 2010, p. 203). Given the

importance of technology as a tool toward student learning, it becomes the responsibility

of the parent to initiate a student’s technology-based engagement.

Parents have differentiating perspectives of how the use of technology at home

translates into use of technology toward educational goals. There are those parents who

believe that students fail to incorporate learning into home computer use. Others find that

children using technology in any form is beneficial toward their educational development

and growth. Uline (2009) believes that those parents who are likely to incorporate

technology into their own education are likely to pass off a similar perspective to the

student. That is, if the student witnesses the parent becoming educated through the use of

technology, such as taking a college course online, the student begins to associate

technology with an educational tool, the primary example being an Internet-capable

computer. Again, it comes back to motivation and what drives the parent to use

technology, as that will consequently drive the student to use technology for the specific

purpose of becoming more educated.

III. Methodology

Research question

1. What technology skills do parents in the Inland Empire need to help K-12 students

succeed?

Subject

In this research K-12 students’ parents in the Inland Empire will be surveyed. Parent are

the best known about the technology that they need to help students succeed. Part of that

is the affective communication between home and school.

Data collection and analysis

The methodology used within this study is the collection of data through survey. Parents

of students ranging from grades K-12 were surveyed and their answers were collected as

data. The survey was delivered to parents in an online setting and the participant

responses were anonymous. The Surveymonkey website was used to obtain the data

through participant responses. Respondents were asked a serious of questions to which

they answered from the following choices: Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neither Agree

nor Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree. The questions were straight-forward and relevant to

the study, as they dealt with technology and its role in the education of students grades K-

12. The methodology used allows quick retrieval of data in an efficient manner, where

the method is convenient for the participants.

The survey is designed to collect quantitative and qualitative data. The survey consists of

seven questions. One of the questions is open-answer where the participant can respond

as he or she desires based on the question. Based upon research and the opinions of

experts in the fields of education and technology, tools are listed within the survey to be

evaluated by the parents. That is, the parents are able to address the skills that they find

necessary to assist their students in becoming successful in their education. Once the data

has been collected, it is imported into a spreadsheet for efficiency and organization. The

data is analyzed individually and collectively to make a conclusion based on the

hypothesis. The deep analysis is conducted based on the data collected.

The data is analyzed in accordance with the literature review in order to compare the

findings from the survey with the expert views of researchers. Conclusions and

recommendations are to be made based on the data and the literature review, where the

researcher formulates her findings based on the materials used throughout the study.

Table 1

Answer Choices Questions

5 4 3 2 1

Strongly agree

Agree Neither agree nor disagree

Disagree Strongly disagree

%62 %64 %81 %4 %6 Parents' knowledge of using E-mail to communicate with school help students succeeds.

%62 %46 %81 %81 %6 Parents' knowledge of searching the Internet help students succeed.

%22 %66 %86 %6 %2 Parents' knowledge of Accessing school websites and follow up their kids’ performance

17.65% 49.02% 13.73% 17.65% 3.92% Parents' knowledge of Microsoft office tools help students succeed.

36.73% 34.69% 14.29% 12.24% 2.04% Parents' knowledge of educational technology devices such as calculator, CDs, and laptop help students succeed.

25.49% 33.33% 19.61% 15.69% 5.88% Parents' knowledge of new educational applications of smartphone (I phone, I pad/ Android) help students succeed.

IV. Results and Discussions

The survey that has been conducted contains of eight questions. Question 1 is open ended

question and the rest are closed-response rating scale. Nearly, 52 participants have

responded to the survey. However tow responds have been abolished. The responds to the

survey came as follow:

Question 1: Please list technology that is used in your children school to enhance

students learning.

The participants list these skills as skills that parents need to help k-12 students succeed:

Basic computer skills, Basic internet and Email skills, Smart phone application,

computers library search engines, website magic learning software, blogging and

discussion board.

Question 2: Parents knowledge of using e-mail to communicate with school help

students success: 4% of participants strongly disagree, 6% disagree, 10% neither agree

nor disagree, 46% agree, and 26% strongly agree.

Question 3: Parents’ knowledge of searching the Internet help students succeed. 4%

strongly disagree, 10% disagree, 10% neither agree or disagree, 54% agree, and 24%

strongly agree.

Question 4: Parents’ knowledge of accessing school websites and follow up their kids’

performance help students succeed. 2% strongly disagree, 4% disagree, 14% neither

agree nor disagree, 44% agree, and 36% strongly agree.

Question 5: Parents’ knowledge of Microsoft Office tools help students succeed. 4%

strongly disagree, 18% disagree, 14% neither agree nor disagree, 49% agree, 18%

strongly agree.

Question 6: Parents’ knowledge of educational technology devices such as calculator,

CDs, and laptop help students succeed. 2% strongly disagree, 12% disagree, 14% neither

agree nor disagree, 35% agree, and 37% strongly agree.

Question 7: Parents’ knowledge of new educational applications of smartphone

(iPhone, iPad/Android) help students succeed. 6% strongly disagree, 16% disagree, 20%

neither agree nor disagree, 33% agree, 25% strongly agree.

Question 8: Do you think parents better know some computer program to help their

kids learn skills like drawing, making presentations, communication through social

media and learning math? 2% strongly disagree, 22% disagree, 16% neither agree nor

disagree, 37% agree, and 29% strongly agree.

The data collected through the survey suggests that the participants, representative

of the population, are supportive of parents learning and knowledge of technology as it

enhances the development of their children as students. There were few disparities in this

finding, with the only being when the technology was directly relative to smartphones

and their applications. It is our finding that parents are unsupportive of these specific

products because they do not promote education, rather they are associated with wasting

time and improper communication among children. This question was basically an outlier

as it was the lowest response in terms of positive reactions toward technology as it relates

to students and parents. Our findings are that those who strongly disagreed that

technology was helpful toward the development of student learning have biases toward

technology in general, or were simply disagreeing to every question that involved

technology. Therefore, the focus remains on those who agreed or strongly agreed to our

scenarios within the questions, who find technology to enhance student performance

long-term, as long as the parents are able to obtain knowledge about and utilize

technology.

V. Conclusion and Recommendations

We conclude that our hypothesis is true where the more parents know about technology,

the more active they are in the education of their children (students). Participant response

as well as the literature review confirmed our hypothesis to be true. Furthermore, our

second hypothesis was confirmed where there is a strong connection between technology

at home and in the classroom, where the student benefits from learning technology at

home based on the parent’s ability to use it; this activity and knowledge transitions to the

student’s formal education in a school setting.

We conclude that the parent is responsible for the student’s ability to integrate technology

into the educational experience, and expand his or her abilities through the use of

technology. Furthermore, the parent assumes the responsibility of educator outside of a

formal educational setting, the same as a teacher takes the role of educator when the

student is in a school setting.

Our recommendation is that parents familiarize themselves with technology prior to

having a child who is expected to be a student learner. Therefore, the parent is adequately

prepared to teach the child technological skills at a young age. As the parent embraces

technology, the student will naturally become technologically sound. Our

recommendation is that parents become actively involved in the education of the students

through the use of technology. This includes communicating with the teacher through e-

mail and social networking. Doing so encourages the student to become more active

outside of the classroom, where the student uses technology to communicate and share

knowledge with teachers and other students. The student is a reflection of the parent, so

we recommend that the parent is willing to take the role of educator and motivator

whether the student is at home or at school.

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