Digital Educational Platforms: An Emerging School-Family Communication Channel

Abstract

The establishment of effective communication channels is the basis of building good relations and encourages the participation and involvement of families. In primary schools, there is an increasing need to implement new channels of information and communication with families, as new technologies are a fundamental tool. Furthermore, if we consider the presence of foreign students in the center, this need is even more pressing. A new emerging channel is educational platforms. The focus is on their use as an innovative element in school-family communication and on how to improve family involvement in the school. This paper is framed in the project "cultural diversity and equal opportunities at school" (recercaixa2015 call) and the perceptions and attitudes of teachers and families on educational platforms were explored as a tool for information and communication between school and family. It is based on the results of an ethnography (in-depth interviews and observations) carried out in ten schools in Catalonia with a high percentage of immigration, during the 2017-18 school year. Among the main results, accessibility and ease of use, digital literacy, aptitude, speed of communication, information control, are both weak and strengths points, highlighted by both interlocutors (teachers and family members). In all the schools studied some actions have been implemented to favour their use and eliminate some identified barriers.