Family Communication and Engagement with Digital Technology: Approaches and Strategies
This article discusses family engagement with digital technology in inclusive education focusing on the development of caring relationships, diversity of communication skills within family and educational communities, the integration of the classroom and home, and being a media mentor to families. It reviews research related to family engagement with media technology and seeks to provide a flexible guide which may be adapted to diverse environments to assist in developing technology-infused family engagement and communication strategies. The educational practices discussed consider the importance of the family in the technology hybridized classroom and consider socioeconomic, cultural, linguistic, and human diversity as factors that impact communication and family engagement in promoting positive educational relationships using digital technology. The article takes a holistic approach toward diversity in the use of media and technology to strengthen the home-school connection in inclusive education. It examines linguistically diverse communication across home, school, and community and the development of mentoring relationships using media and technology. The article emphasizes the importance of caring relationships, and that digital media are tools to assist creative human learning and not an end in themselves.
Elias, Simone; Cromarty, Edward; and Wilson-Jones, Linda
"Family Communication and Engagement with Digital Technology: Approaches and Strategies,"
Journal of Research Initiatives: Vol. 6:
2, Article 4.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.uncfsu.edu/jri/vol6/iss2/4
Adult and Continuing Education Administration Commons, Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, Educational Methods Commons