Parental Communication
Effective communication with parents is essential for the classroom. With advances in technology, it's easier to communicate ideas, grades, student progress or just about anything instantly to parents. Emailing parents can be a great way to accomplish all of those things, especially with many parents being busy, utilizing email can help bridge the gap of parents who don't attend teacher meetings, or school orientations. Creating an email list of all parents in a given class room can also be a quick way to update parents on classroom activities, project due dates etc. Teacher or classroom websites are also an instant way to communicate with parents. As stated by Maloy (2011) "...a teacher selects the communication components best suited to his or her teaching style an the class's needs." (209)
Communication with Students
There are many ways to communicate with students using technology in the classroom. Maloy (2011) states that "Websites and blogs are emerging as one of the most important ways for teachers to communicate with students, families and colleagues." (236) Wikis make collaborative learning environments easy to access and "encourage students to work in teams, to question processes, to make mistakes, and to monitor each other's reasoning."(Maloy, 2011, p. 229) Blogging can similarly encourage collaborative learning. Email, a website created by the teacher, and online discussions can also be an effective way to communicate with students as well as participate in a group learning process.
Monitoring Professional Development Information
Professional development can be monitored through self-reflection and and assessment. Many new technologies can assist in these tasks. Digital portfolios and online surveys are ways that technology can be of use in professional development.
