Educational institutions have a mission to prepare students for a
changing world – but do we actually do this? While the core
curriculum is important, we need to also prepare our students for
our technologically changing world. All students should
confidently handle and compose emails, participate in online
conferences and bulletin boards, navigate and create electronic
content (i.e. web sites), and use instant messaging with proper
etiquette.

A handful of schools have taken their websites beyond the basic
informational format. They are developing web communities that
allow students, parents and educators to communicate freely online.

Combining technology and education is the present and future of
teaching and learning. Many educators and boards are intimidated and
uncertain about incorporating many of these technological advances
into their systems, however, incorporating technology into the
classroom will not only facilitate learning but enhance it.

Below are some feature that an online community provides
for educators and administrators.

1. School Calendars and upcoming events can be available

online and can be easily updated by administrators.

2. Classroom teachers can post homework, project information
and field trip details online.

3. Parents/Guardians and Students can access homework,

project information and school notes online.

4. Teachers can securely make marks available online for individual

students and their parents/guardians.

5. Clubs and Teams can post information, schedules and results.

6. Students, Parents and Teachers can communicate with each
other on their classroom bulletin boards.

7. Assignments can be submitted and assessed electronically.

These are some of the common uses for online communities, the
possibilities for educators are endless. Many institutions have added
chat features, internal email, forums, Blogs and even audio and
video lessons online.

Mr. L. Kent is an experienced educator and president of www.MrKent.Net - Education Technology Made Simple.

www.MrKent.Net has developed web communities and web classrooms for schools and educators. If you are interested in having us develop a site for your school or classroom visit http://www.mrkent.net/