Life long learning has taken on greater meaning as public schools are involving more community members in their activities and adventures. Schools are opening their doors for longer hours and welcoming segments of the population who typically did not venture into our school buildings. Communication with our stakeholders is effective whether the community is coming into the buildings or students are going out into the community. This communication is creating new dynamics in education.
In some school districts this community involvement is unstructured and informal, while in other districts the community activities are carefully organized and planned. In Illinois, school districts are required to develop comprehensive technology plans following the Illinois State Technology Plan Blueprint. This blueprint mandates communication with stakeholders and recommends that districts might accomplish this by holding "town meetings" to obtain community input concerning technology.
The blueprint was designed to assist school districts in combining community involvement and school-based planning. Reflective questions concerning stakeholder involvement encourage school leaders to seek community involvement beyond simple advice and input. Community members are asked, often for the first time, to contribute expertise as well as financial and material resources. Schools are also required to evaluate their level of success at generating effective community involvement through a rubric. Districts are required to set goals to actively involve stakeholders throughout the duration of the technology plan.
For example, in Palos Community School District 118 (Palos Park, Illinois), the technology initiatives began with the formation of a large broad-based "Linking to Learn" committee in 1995. Members of the large committee broke off into smaller subcommittees focusing on infrastructure, curriculum issues, community partnerships, and community learning needs and met at regular intervals over an eighteen-month period to help shape the implementation of technology within the district. The large Linking to Learn group has evolved into a smaller ongoing advisory group, the LINC Committee (Learning and Information: Networking Our Community), which has contributed to the District’s Goals 2000 planning efforts and facilitated a number of public events to showcase district initiatives.
These events have provided a way to share the district’s technology resources and expertise. A variety of opportunities were planned to encourage community members to actively use various school resources and continue to share their expertise and ideas with school leaders. The school district in collaboration with the LINC Committee and the Parent-Faculty Association (PFA) has sponsored community-focused activities including:
- evening and Saturday "test drives" onto the Internet
- a robust series of parent education presentations on topics such as on-line safety, Internet search strategies, character education, and emerging literacy
- annual "Growing Our Community of Learners" institutes in which community members were invited to join district teachers and administrators both as presenters and as attendees for concurrent sessions on a wide range of topics from gardening to e-mail to financial planning
- an annual Family Technology Night, featuring student projects and general interest presentations from AARP, Microsoft and our local Police Department
- special efforts to connect with our senior citizen population, including an ongoing "E-Pal" partnership between fourth grade students and a group of senior residents of Peace Memorial Village
It is important to note that these events included topics, which were broader than technology, however, technology and information tools were an important part of each event. Our community members, like our students, learned that technology is a tool to support and enhance learning. The district’s initiatives are highlighted in a recent National School Board Association publication, Models of Success: Case Studies of Technology in Schools (ITTE, 1999.)
In another community, Lombard School District #44, staff used the district web page to encourage stakeholders to learn and become involved in the school community. Senior Internet sessions were announced in the media and seniors were welcomed into the schools to learn to use the Internet. Sessions were conducted in the school computer labs and along with learning to use the Internet, seniors learned about technology use in the schools. They heard about acceptable use policies and curriculum uses for even the very young learners. Seniors were shown the district web page (www.district44.dupage.k12.il.us), which had links of interest to older citizens such as travel and medical sites. The people who attended the sessions were welcomed to use the computer labs after school hours or to volunteer in the buildings during school hours.
These enthusiastic seniors reported positive comments about the learning sessions and positive attitudes about the schools. By welcoming the groups into the buildings, the district built a stronger relationship with community members.
Districts may have formal and elaborate initiatives or informal gatherings to welcome the community. How we educate our community is as individualized as how we educate our children. However, educating our entire community about the potential of new learning tools is critical if we are to maintain support as school districts spend local tax dollars to acquire such tools. This investment is best used more than just during school hours. Sharing resources with the entire community is financially sound and philosophically prudent. It's the right thing to do for all learners.
