A few habits of tech-savvy parents include;

• They Support Kids’ Growth that Comes About from Technology Use

As the digital world intensifies, tech-savvy parents allow their children to keep learning new trends. 

• They Teach Their Children the Importance of Striking a Balance

While most children are constantly spending their time on social media, tech-savvy parents let them know there is more to life than being on the internet.

• They Set Specific Hours for Screen Time

Children tend to neglect other important things when allowed to spend all their time on the internet. This could be hazardous to their health and may slow down their development. Setting screen time limits allows your children to create time for socializing, exercising, and playing outside the house.

• They Talk about Social Media to their Children

Tech-savvy parents clearly outline the benefits and the dangers of social media usage. These conversations are important as they help children understand why social media rules and limits are set.

• They Provide Charging Stations for All Their Gadgets

Parents provide charging stations for their children’s devices to allow them to have time to rest. These stations are specifically meant to keep the devices away from the children.

• They Use the Internet Together with their Children

Tech-savvy parents create time to go through stuff on the internet with their children. This helps the parents monitor what the children are constantly reading.

• They Stick to the 24-hour Rule

Children are given 24 hours by their parents to come clean about any mistakes they may have committed while using the internet. Reporting these mistakes prevents the parents from dishing our harsh discipline.

• They Encourage Their Children to use Technology to Learn.

With so many educational apps available on the internet, tech-savvy parents encourage their children to create more time for these apps so they can learn.

• They Implement a Time in the Day that is Free of Distractions

These parents choose some specific times of the day when their children are not using their devices at all. They teach them the importance of balancing digital and the real world. This rule does not only apply to the children but the parents, and no one is allowed to use their devices during these designated times. 

• They Involve Their Children when setting up any Technology-related Rules.

Children are more inclined to obey set rules if they are allowed to take part in creating them. It makes it easy for them to be accountable for their actions.

As a parent, having these tech-savvy habits makes it easy to teach your children good habits of using technology. It helps you teach them how to balance and create time for other important activities that do not necessarily involve using the internet.

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From tracking the growth of their unborn child to learning how to soothe a crying baby, these pregnancy apps can help expectant dads feel more engaged and less anxious about the impending arrival.

Here are some of the terrific pregnancy apps that expectant dads will love:

1. Daddy Up – Pregnancy and Parenting App

Daddy Up is a great app for dads-to-be that offers information, tips and advice on pregnancy and fatherhood. The app also offers a birthing coach feature that helps dads practice breathing techniques and relaxation exercises.

2. Baby Names

Baby Names is a simple app that helps expectant dads chooses the perfect name for their baby. With thousands of names to choose from, dads can browse and save their favorite names for later.

3. What to expect

What to expect is one of the most popular pregnancy apps available. Not only does it offer helpful tips and advice for expectant mothers, but it also includes a section for expectant dads. This section includes information on how to be a supportive partner during pregnancy, as well as tips on bonding with their unborn child.

4. BabyCenter

BabyCenter is another popular pregnancy app that offers a wealth of information for expectant moms and dads. The app includes videos, articles, and tips on everything from pregnancy symptoms to baby gear.

5. My Baby’s Beat

My Baby’s Beat is a unique app that allows expectant dads to listen to their baby’s heartbeat anytime they want. The app uses the microphone on your phone to pick up the baby’s heartbeat and lets you record and save the sound.

6. The Wonder Weeks

The Wonder Weeks app helps dads track the growth and development of their unborn child. The app includes a calendar that shows when major developmental milestones are expected to occur and provides tips on how to manage any challenging behaviors that may arise.

7. Baby Tracker

Baby Tracker is an app that allows dads to track everything related to their baby’s care, from feeding and diaper changes to sleep patterns and medication schedules. The app also includes helpful tips and advice on newborn care.

Conclusion

Being an expectant dad can be both exciting and overwhelming. These terrific pregnancy apps can help dads stay informed, engaged and connected to their unborn child. With a wealth of information, tips and advice, these apps can help dads prepare for the arrival of their little one with confidence and joy.    

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A smart diaper is a high-tech version of a traditional diaper designed to go beyond the standard function of absorbing waste. It has sensors embedded that detect moisture, temperature, and even signs of infection. The data collected by these sensors is then transmitted to a connected mobile app, offering parents an overview of their baby’s overall health and alerting them of any issues that may require attention.

One of the most significant benefits of a smart diaper is its ability to monitor a baby’s urine output. Adequate urine output is essential for maintaining good hydration and optimal kidney function. The diaper’s sensors can detect even minute changes in a baby’s urine output, which can alert parents to potential dehydration, urinary tract infections, or other health issues, helping them to take corrective measures promptly.

Smart diapers can also detect any abnormal fluctuations in temperature, enabling parents to monitor their baby’s temperature accurately. Abnormalities in temperature can indicate a fever or an underlying infection, and timely detection can prevent serious health problems.

Another critical feature of smart diapers is their ability to analyze a baby’s sleeping patterns. By tracking the duration and quality of sleep, parents can identify patterns, monitor sleep progress, and even adjust the baby’s routine accordingly. The diaper can also alert parents if the baby is experiencing discomfort or if there is any unusual activity that might indicate a health concern.

In summary, smart diapers are a cutting-edge innovation that gives parents the ability to track their baby’s health and wellbeing more accurately than ever before. By leveraging technology, smart diapers allow for seamless and proactive monitoring of a baby’s vital signs, helping parents to make informed decisions about their baby’s care. The information provided by smart diapers empowers parents to take a more active role in their baby’s health, leading to better outcomes and a higher quality of life for the entire family.

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Previously, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) had set a general screen time limit: two hours in front of any screen for kids over age 2. Today, defining screen time has become difficult. However, AAP recommends that consistent limits on the use of any media should be levied on kids and teens 5 to 18 years. Since all screen time cannot be equal, parents need to decide how their teens use screens. For example, time spent on educational activities is not equal to time playing games. For teens and kids of all ages, screen time should not be replaced with the time needed for sleeping, eating, being active, studying, and interacting with family and friends.

To help families curb kids use, groups such as the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the World Health Organization have disseminated a new screen limit guidelines. The AAP guidelines focus on setting healthy guidelines to prevent kids from using their devices in an unhealthy manner.

Guidelines By AAP:

​​The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) asks and encourages parents to help their children develop healthy media use habits early on. 

For children below 18 months, the use of screen media other than video-chatting should be discouraged.

Parents of children 18 to 24 months of age should use apps that have been vetted by experts and use them together with children.

For children older than two years, keep the screen use to no more than 1 hour or less per day of high-quality programming. Co-play and find other activities to do together is healthy for the body and mind.

All children and teens need to sleep 8-12 hours, depending on age. Designate media-free time together (e.g., family dinner) and media-free zones (e.g., bedrooms). Children should never sleep with devices in their bedrooms, including TVs, computers, and smartphones.

AAP encourages parents to create personalized media use plans for their children. These plans should take into account each child’s age, health, personality, and developmental stage. Create a Family Media Use Plan and remember to communicate the plan to other caregivers so that media rules are followed consistently.

Guidelines By WHO:

​The World Health Organization has released guidance for how much screen time children under five should get, i.e., not very much.

The children under one should not have any screen time while those under five should not spend more than one-hour watching screens every day — and that less is better.

Tips for limiting your kid’s screen time:

• Research videos and computer games before letting your kids get them. Check the ratings, which can run from EC (early childhood) to AO (adults only.) Teens should be limited to games rated T (for “teens”) or younger. 
• Preview games or play them with your teen to see what they’re like. 
• Ensure that kids have free-time activities that do not include tech, like spending time with friends and playing sports.
• Turn off all screens during family mealtime and at bedtime. Also, keep devices with screens out of your teen’s bedroom after bedtime, and don’t allow a TV in your teen’s bedroom. 
• Treat screen time as a privilege that has to be earned. It is only allowed after chores, and homework is done.
• Spend screen time with your kids to make sure what they are watching is appropriate.
• Use parental control on the TV and computer devices to block your teen’s access to inappropriate material.
• Teach them about internet safety and social media smarts, and make sure they know the dangers of sharing private information online.  
• Place computer devices in a common area where you can monitor their use.

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Available EdTech

First thing first, you must have EdTech to introduce them to! There are several options that allow you to communicate with the parents or caregivers in different ways.

• Google Classroom—Through Google Classroom, guardians or parents can set up to receive guardian summary emails daily or weekly. These email digests detail their child’s Google Classroom activities. These activities include everything from different assignments posted in each class to missing work to upcoming work

• The Chrome App Hub—This is a new online hub for educators. It has several apps complete with ideas of how to use them in the classroom. It also has many apps for engaging parents and caregivers. A few of the helpful apps in the App Hub are ClassDojo, Seesaw, and Remind.

• Hangouts Meet—Teachers can regularly meet with parents via video call through Hangouts Meet about their child’s progress. This is especially helpful during the social distancing of Covid-19. Parents can easily schedule their virtual meetings and home visits using Google Calendar Appointment Slots.

• Google Forms—When teachers need to coordinate volunteers or collect permission slips, Google Forms is amazing. Parents can use Google Forms to submit concerns or questions outside of school hours. Form Publisher, an extension, can help with formatting and mail mergers.

Connecting the Home and School

Each classroom and educator have different EdTech that they put into effect. The teacher must communicate fully with the parents and caregivers. They must tell them what EdTech they are using, why they are using it, how it is being used, and how parents can continue its use at home to help their children further. 

Here are a few ways to share these vital things with parents and caregivers:

• First thing first, send a letter home with the students, giving the parents and caregivers tips on how they can start a conversation with their children about the EdTech they use in school.

• In the letter, share a link to the Guardian’s Guide to Chromebooks so that the parents will better understand Chromebooks and how they are being used in the school.

• Share a link to the Google for Education website. This website will help parents and caregivers to understand how Google’s privacy and security protect their child. Google in Education also has articles about other classroom technology, such as Chromebooks, G Suite for Education, and Google Expeditions.

• Lastly, some parents and caregivers may want to get to know the G Suite tools that are being used in the school. Due to this, you should also share a link to the G Suite Learning Center.

Reassuring Parents and Caregivers of EdTech Safety 

Some parents and caregivers are leery of education technology because of the fear of online predators and identity theft. You must assure your students’ parents and caregivers that your students and their data will be safe. 

You must also teach them how to keep their children safe as they use EdTech at their home. You must show them how powerful a resource technology can be, but it’s only a good thing for students who are taught to use the internet responsibly and safely. 

Part of teaching parents and caregivers how to teach their children to use the internet and education technology responsibly is teaching them how to set expectations around screen time and online activities. It’s crucial that parents set these expectations and stick to them. Here are a few tools and resources that you can share with parents to help them set these rules:

• Family Link—This app allows parents and caregivers to manage how much time their child spends on their devices each day. They can set daily time limits, put a “bedtime” at which time the device locks automatically, and lock the device from their phone. They can also manage the quality of their child’s internet and app access. The child must ask for approval to download apps. The parent or caregiver can whitelist or blacklist websites. They can see how much time their children are spending on each app and more!

• Be Internet Awesome—This link has family resources to teach students how to confidently and safely explore the internet.

• Teacher Center—The Teacher Center is full of training and helpful tools for teachers. The digital citizenship and safety resource page, in particular, has materials for guiding students through.

• ConnectSafely—This website is full of guides for parents and guardians on cyberbullying, social media, EdTech, Cybersecurity, and Media Literacy & Fake News, and more. This site is dedicated to educating parents and caregivers about privacy, safety, and security.

Conclusion

There are so many other resources out there that I did not have the time or space to cover, but I hope this is enough to get a good start. Blessings on you and your efforts as you speak to your students’ parents and caregivers about EdTech.

The post Helping Parents and Caregivers Select EdTech appeared first on The Tech Edvocate.

Public schools have the advantage of being required. For a virtual classroom, such as the one provided by Pedagogue, attracting parental attention can be a little bit more of a challenge, especially if the class is not attached to a formal school curriculum. Here are some ideas for gaining attention, then keeping it.

• Develop exciting ads about the content. Look for material that will draw parents attention, and will also engage student interest. Hire a professional to create videos or graphic material that will catch the eye. Modern parents and students are bombarded with bright, colorful, moving materials, so you have  a lot of competition.
• Run your colorful ads where parents and student will see them. Grocery shopping pages, game pages, and websites where similar material to your content is displayed.
• Partner with a local school district. Talk to the principal or superintendent first to learn about the school’s policies. Bring your exciting video and your curriculum to the meeting.
• Create the learning on two or more levels. Walt Disney cannily developed his animated works on two levels: the silly slapstick for the kids, pointed social references for the adults. Good learning can appeal to people on all levels. Keep it simple, but do not talk down.
• Make it relevant. A frequent question from students of all ages is, “What does this have to do with me? Use examples and ideas that are kind, current, and correct to keep the attention of the whole family.
• Know your technology and your material. When you put material online, your handling of your presentation matters. Pictures or videos that will not load, or that run only on one browser, misspelled words, or misrepresented historical material create lack of trust in your material.
• Keep it Super Simple. In this context, the KISS method means using language at the level of the target age group. Use clear, relevant graphics that enhance the content. Give clear directions for activities, as well as create a way for students to upload their work or pictures of their work.
• Provide supplemental material for parents. Even the best educated people know only a small slice of the world’s knowledge. By providing instructor materials for the parents, you make them “in the know”. You can indicate whether materials will be needed to complete assignments.
• Above all, make it fun. Invite parents to take part, give them a role in developing the project, especially for younger children. The best learning involves an element of play for everyone.
• Create a small reward for students and parents. Everyone works a little harder if they get something fun at the end. It can be a virtual sticker, a short cartoon, or a story that might or might not have anything to do with the material.

Social Learning Management Systems, such as the one offered through Pedagogue, give new challenges to teachers. Unlike local dance, music, or gymnastics teachers, it is a little harder to take out an ad in the local newspaper or to post flyers in the supermarket.

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An LMS has three major components: it delivers information, it keeps records, and it facilitates communication.

Let us walk through the day of a student at an ordinary pre-Covid-19 school where an LMS is in use. It could be one of several K-12 management systems. Let us call our student Mike.

Because Mike lives across the railroad tracks from the school, he rides a bus to school. When he boards the bus, the driver’s assistant checks him off on her Bluetooth tablet. At school, Mike goes to breakfast, where the lunchroom attendant notes that he has three days left on his meal plan. An alert is sent to central operations. Mike meets with his pod for home room notes, then goes to math, language grammar instruction, then to history. Grades for completed work go into the central system. Mike’s mother logs into the online access during her lunch hour, sees the meal ticket note, and sends money from her checking account to cover another month. She sees that he has a perfect score in math, took a book quiz in language class, but had a low score on his history quiz. She ticks a box that will alert the instructor that she is aware that there might be a problem. After lunch, Mike has a physical education class, music, and finally art. He gets sent to the office for painting his face instead of paper. A note is made in his disciplinary file, which has extra security. A request goes to his mother and father for a parent to pick Mike up after school. His father responds, and will meet with the art teacher.

Now, let us walk through a day with students who are learning at home. This describes many children in 2020, as parents scrambled for safe, effective situations for their children, and the platform could easily be a one similar to Pedagogue. At 7:30, Jenny’s mom and dad leave for work. Jenny is sixteen, and is providing childcare for her niece, who is nine. Jenny makes breakfast for herself and Emmy, her niece. Then she helps Emmy log into her interactive reading class before booting up her own instruction on a different laptop. Jenny and Emmy have the same instructional supervisor, and their work goes to her. The instructor also has contact information for both Jenny’s parents and for Emmy’s mom. Jenny helps Emmy with math problems, then messages her instructor that they are  having trouble with a science experiment. The household does not have all the equipment necessary. The instructor suggests an alternative project that involves items easily found in the kitchen and can be eaten for lunch. The instructor then uses the virtual classrooms online white board to help Jenny check her math homework, and to set up a household survey to use later in the evening. Then Emmy has free playtime, and accesses an edutainment game. Jenny uses the LMS to meet with her after schoolbooks discussion group.

These two models of learning management systems are by no means exhaustive. A good LMS can encompass most of the software requirements of a school, help homeschool parents with enrichment lessons and tracking software, or even be incorporated into a business’s online assets to educate employees or customers.

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When parents are skeptical about the use of tech in schools, it is up to educators to introduce parents to the institution’s policies around the use of tech in their kid’s education. In this article, we will discuss all of the things that parents should know about tech.

Tech and communication

With tech, parents can receive up to date information on how their kid is doing academically, by way of electronic-based communication. Parents are also able to receive essential information about a school’s activities. Parents also want to know what kinds of tech will be utilized in their child’s school. Having this information enables parents to become more supportive of tech at home and feel safer about their kid’s use of tech.

Tech and child safety and privacy

Before learners begin using tech, schools must first inform the parents about their digital citizenship policies. This allows parents, educators, and administrators to all be on the same page about learners’ safety and privacy. It also ensures the ethical use of the tech. These communications should take place before the onset of a new school year so that there are no delays in starting a new grade with the help of tech.

Information communicated to parents should encompass the school’s stance about cyberbullying. Parents should be told about the school’s tech privacy measures, as this has direct impacts on a learner’s safety.

Facts such as the location of the device and the information stored on it are of paramount importance when it comes to privacy. Parents will also want to know whether or not the school has apps to protect kids against seeing inappropriate content. A kid’s access to an internet-enabled device is not a trivial matter, especially if parents are not always available to supervise the kid’s use of it. 

How tech tracks academic progress

The use of tech in schools brings with it two different kinds of goals. The first is using tech to track a learner’s progress with increasingly complicated work. Parents can track their kid’s progress with writing, reading, critical thinking, and problem-solving by seeing the entirety of their work through digital apps.

Another type of goal setting is done around how the tech in question is utilized. Parents and educators could collaborate to set proficiency standards on how much knowledge a kid has related to their utilization of tech. For instance, kindergarten learners might have a goal of learning how to locate all the letters on a keyboard, and third graders could be using smart boards to create 3-D shapes for math class.

How tech enhances the learning experience

Parents can engage with educators and school administrators about how tech is being utilized to augment experiences within the classroom. Educators must be able to tell parents how tech is facilitating the transfer of knowledge as well as classmate to classmate learning and bonding. Each educator should also be able to explain to parents why they have chosen specific devices or apps to utilize in the class.

When parents are provided with an app a test on their own, they need to be able to provide feedback to the educator about how they feel it could be utilized to enhance classroom experiences. If a kid has a particular passion or interest in learning about tech-related subjects like programming or robotics, educators should be able to integrate that interest within the classroom activities.

How tech augments the teaching and learning process

Once a kid has a tech device in hand, then parents can get matching apps to utilize on their devices. This allows families to offer tech learning experiences away from school. Parents can demo the apps and get an overview of what their kid is doing with them away from home. Parents can ask why the school is using a specific app or device and how its use helps learners reach essential educational objectives. Although parents can see the benefits of having their kids use of tech in the classroom, they also do not want to see classroom educators, librarians, and other school staffers turned obsolete by the growing utilize of tech.

It is essential that parents can see for themselves the amazing educational opportunities that tech can provide to their kids. Even though this way of educating learners may be very different from what parents experienced throughout their early years, it is keeping with the times and preparing kids for a future that is filled with tech. Being able to embrace tech can help parents and their kids collaborate to achieve a greater level of academic success.

We all know kids utilize devices like smartphones, tablets, Chromebooks, and laptops at school, and they also often use a vocabulary full of tech jargon that may seem like an entirely different language. One reason is that parents are not always familiar with the world of edtech, or “tech.” The truth is that edtech is an essential part of education today, and parents should not be intimidated by it.

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• Create a family media utilization plan to ensure that the selected media works with your family values and parenting style. When used thoughtfully and properly, media can enhance your life. However, when used inappropriately, media can displace essential activities.
• Set limits; kids need and expect them. Know which platforms and apps your children are using, what sites they are visiting on the web, and what they are doing online.
• Set limits and inspire playtime. Media utilization, like all other activities, should have reasonable limits. Unstructured and offline play stimulates creativity.
• Due Diligence. Over 80,000 apps are labeled as educational, but there is scant research on their effectiveness.
• Consult research organizations such as Common Sense Media for reviews about age-appropriate apps, games, and programs to help you make the best choices for your children.
• Social media can help teens explore and discover more about themselves and their part in the grown-up world. Just be sure your teen is behaving properly in both the real and online worlds.
• Tell children about privacy and the dangers of sexting. They need to understand that once the content is shared with others, they will not be able to delete or remove it entirely, and that includes texting of inappropriate images.
• We can’t expect our kids to be excellent digital citizens if we aren’t modeling excellent citizenship ourselves. “Do what I do” is so much more powerful than “do what I say” in any aspect of parenting.
• Safety and security start with providing family devices with a security suite that automatically updates. Make sure your operating system, web browsers, and other apps are current and that computer files are updated regularly.
• Expand your children’s online experience and autonomy when developmentally appropriate as they demonstrate competence in safe and secure online behavior and excellent decision-making.
• View the privacy settings on your children’s social networking sites, cell phones, and other social tools that they utilize.
• Help your children find safe, credible websites and other digital content, and be cautious about clicking on, downloading, posting, and uploading content.
• Remind your children to be excellent “digital friends” by being responsible with handling personal information that belongs to friends and family and not disseminating anything about others that is potentially hurtful or embarrassing.
• Operating systems allow you to create different accounts for each user. Separate accounts can lessen the chance that your child might accidentally access, modify, change settings, and delete your files. You can set up certain privileges for each account.
• Children will make mistakes using media. Try to handle errors with empathy and turn a mistake into a teachable moment. But some indiscretions, such as sexting, bullying, or posting self-harm images, may be a red flag that hints at trouble ahead.

Can you think of any additional digital advice for parents?

The post Digital Age Advice for Parents appeared first on The Tech Edvocate.

Below are some of the best practices for supporting parents with remote learning:

Consistent communication 

Many district leaders had a hard time when it came to communication platforms in the quick transition to remote learning. Since then, social media has become an important secondary method of communication for schools.  For example, schools use social media sites like Pedagogue to create groups for parents and keep them posted on all the happenings that concern them and their children.

Provide tutorials 

Many parents use technology in their day to day lives, especially on the job. They are comfortable with tech, not because they are tech gurus, but becomes they have been trained on how to use technology. When it comes to using edtech, they will need the same level of training and support. Schools can show their support to parents by making video tutorials that will walk them through the education apps that their children are using. Also, they can hold face to face workshops to accomplish the same thing.

Host a parent academy  

In education, parent academies or boot camps are not new. Schools have hosted various events that have aimed to create unity and support for students. Developing such online academies is increasingly more valuable now that meetings in physical spaces are currently out of the question. For example, schools can host a parent academy to discuss ed-tech tools that their children will be used in remote learning or even host an academy for something as simple as learning how to use YouTube.

Make virtual announcements 

Another effective way of supporting parents is by making virtual announcements. Self-recorded videos can be posted on a website or embedded in an email. They can include a “joke of the week” or another fun challenge to help support each family’s emotional and mental health. Also, virtual announcements can substitute for traditional parent-teacher conferences during remote learning.

Helping with at-home learning 

Some schools opted for a synchronous approach (live sessions), while others went with an asynchronous approach (pre-recorded plans) when they shifted to remote learning. Either way, these approaches put pressure on the parents. Teachers should open their doors to parents who are monitoring their children’s learning at home. They should encourage them to ask questions or additional information and share their ideas, too. Teachers can create a group for parents to have class-related discussions or welcome them for a private chat regarding their children’s performance.

A successful remote learning experience can be made possible with cooperation among students, teachers, parents, and school administrators. Parents shouldn’t feel burdened or intimidated with remote learning as long as you apply practices that will support them every step of the way.

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