Parents as Partners Episode #23 March 16, 2009 Parent Portal at Dade County

Post-Show description: 

Parents as Partners welcomed Debbie Graper from Dade County in Florida  for an excellent discussion about the development of their parent portal. Listen to the Q &A that included these questions: What challenges did you face before you started?How were parents involved in the design of the Portal?Have you faced any resistance to the Portal? Are parents comfortable about the privacy of their children's information; What do you do about families that don't have computers in their homes?

 Chat Log

20:51:59 matt montagne -> hey y'all
20:52:38 debbie g -> hey from Miami!
20:52:50 Lorna -> http://sharetabs.com/?pasp_march_16
20:57:20 matt montagne -> I'm restarting my mac
20:59:35 matt montagne -> almost there
20:59:56 Lorna -> starting soon
21:06:21 cindy seibel -> Hey @tmeister - how's the sound?
21:06:56 tmeister -> I am still figuring out the layout, no sound, but probably my fault
21:07:20 cindy seibel -> http://sharetabs.com/?pasp_march_16
21:10:00 matt montagne -> wow...350 K
21:10:04 matt montagne -> that is huge
21:12:50 Lorna -> HI Jeannine
21:13:03 jeannine -> Hi Lorna, Hi everyone
21:15:38 cindy seibel -> hey jeannine
21:16:30 jeannine -> Hi Cindy - I switched to green too!
21:19:44 PeggyG -> Hi everyone! Sorry I'm late. Pant! Pant!
21:20:43 matt montagne -> hey there peggy
21:21:05 matt montagne -> hey there jeannine...
21:21:07 PeggyG -> Hi Matt
21:21:14 matt montagne -> a few little audio issues on my end here...
21:21:21 jeannine -> Hi Matt
21:23:45 PeggyG -> that is such a great point! if the site is "beautiful" but not practical it doesn't work for the users :-)
21:24:19 PeggyG -> what an incredible number of hits!!
21:25:27 cindyseibel -> hey Peggy!
21:26:00 PeggyG -> Hi Cindy!
21:26:29 PeggyG -> Is there a link or sharetab link for the guests tonight?
21:26:54 PeggyG -> maybe it's a private portal? guest access?
21:27:46 PeggyG -> this model is so much better than a static website for parents!
21:28:10 matt montagne -> "website as story" 
21:28:10 cindyseibel -> matt - can you see the sharetabs link to drop it in
21:28:18 matt montagne -> hold up
21:28:42 matt montagne -> http://sharetabs.com/?pasp_march_16
21:28:48 cindyseibel -> thanks matt
21:28:51 matt montagne -> sharetabs
21:29:04 PeggyG -> thank you!!
21:29:06 matt montagne -> a bit of a struggle 2nite...Comcast cable is horrible
21:29:18 matt montagne -> at least in our neighborhood
21:29:41 tmeister -> wrappers
21:30:59 PeggyG -> I love the ShareTabs! so easy to quickly view each of the sites!
21:34:04 PeggyG -> seems like the students would be more engaged and turning in more homework because the parent knows what is expected
21:34:40 PeggyG -> the alert function sounds fantastic! bet the parents love it!
21:35:11 tmeister -> Now if it could send out to twitter..
21:35:14 PeggyG -> those parents who might get "more involved" would find a way to be involved without the portal :-)
21:35:26 cindyseibel -> good point Peggy
21:36:29 matt montagne -> Denise Pope from Stanford was at our school last week and challenged us to move beyond grades
21:36:50 matt montagne -> we've created "grade grubbers" in many cases
21:37:44 PeggyG -> that's true at the university level too Matt
21:38:28 PeggyG -> eportfolios for the students :-)
21:39:03 matt montagne -> how much does sharepoint cost???
21:39:43 cindyseibel -> @matt - as with all implementations - it depends.
21:39:59 PeggyG -> what a heavy responsibility to decide which students should have access to other students!
21:40:00 matt montagne -> I know it isn't cheap
21:41:09 matt montagne -> @peggy...at some point we'll get beyond the control issue...at some point it won't matter...
21:41:12 PeggyG -> is the cost based on the number of users?
21:41:22 matt montagne -> @peggy...that is part of it...
21:41:28 jeannine -> NB using sharepoint too. There is some effort underway to pilot a student portal and "eventually" roll out a parent portal.  Still struggling to make the Teacher portal relevant from what I hear.
21:41:58 PeggyG -> I know how important the control issues are as a former principal! I understand!
21:43:45 PeggyG -> equity in access is always a big concern for parents
21:45:32 PeggyG -> that's really impressive to provide the wireless access!
21:47:31 tmeister -> What about connecting to other parents?
21:48:12 matt montagne -> laptops can be purchased with cellular broadband cards...that might be a good way to directly connect folks...
21:48:42 PeggyG -> those are great questions!!
21:49:03 PeggyG -> Can parents connect to other parents via Sharepoint?
21:50:25 tmeister -> that will change...as the demographic shifts
21:50:48 PeggyG -> can you provide links to outside online sites such as Ning, wikis, or even Facebook via the Sharepoint portal?
21:51:57 matt montagne -> @peggy...I'm guessing the parents are in those spaces and self creating groups and that sort of thing...
21:52:14 PeggyG -> @Matt-probably true
21:52:47 PeggyG -> but it would be great for parents to be able to collaborate on planning for a school event such as a school fair
21:53:16 PeggyG -> he has a solution :-) PTA site with a discussion room--great idea!
21:56:08 PeggyG -> a volunteer database! excellent next step! could use it for parents willing to be guest speakers in classrooms too :-)
21:58:06 tmeister -> Thanks Debbie.
21:58:08 PeggyG -> This is an example of a portal on sharepoint in Phoenix. I think you can access parts of it without the password. http://portal.peoriaud.k12.az.us/default.aspx
21:58:20 jeannine -> Great to see what is possible - thanks.
21:58:30 PeggyG -> Yes! Yes! interview Cindy!!
21:58:37 tmeister -> Woot
21:58:38 jeannine -> Cindy's Blog is on Alltop too!
21:58:53 matt montagne -> sorry
21:59:07 matt montagne -> skype has been really bad for me
21:59:31 tmeister -> the ijohnpederson?
22:00:05 tmeister -> Thank you.
22:00:09 PeggyG -> Network Manifesto--that will be great! I heard him present that at Educon2.1
22:00:49 PeggyG -> Night everyone--great show!!
22:01:03 Lorna -> good night all

 

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