Numerous studies have been done on the impact of parent involvement on academic success, and the findings are very clear: Parent involvement in education is a crucial element of student and school success.
As reported in A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact of School, Family and Community Connections on Student Achievement, by Anne T. Henderson and Karen L. Mapp ( Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 2002), “students with involved parents, no matter what their income or background, are more likely to:
- Earn higher grades and test scores, and enroll in higher-level programs
- Be promoted, pass their classes and earn credits
- Attend school regularly
- Have better social skills, show improved behavior and adapt well to school
- Graduate and go on to post-secondary education
The full report is available at the National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education (NCPIE) website.
The necessity of parent involvement may be especially crucial in online learning.
Children and young adults are still in the process of mastering the communication skills, technical tools, academic learning strategies, effective time management skills, and persistence that are critical to success in this unique learning environment. While some students may enter the online learning environment with well developed academic skills and strategies, others will need to work on developing these valuable transferable skills.
Parents can play a key role in helping to promote good study habits and strategies by providing additional structure for students at home and by modeling these strategies themselves.
Persistence is perhaps the most important key to success in online learning. If you ask educators who have been involved in online learning for a while to name the best predictor of success, you are likely to hear the same thing over and over.
It doesn’t seem to matter how intelligent a student is, how proficient he or she is with technology, or what the student’s previous grades look like – the best predictor of success is persistence. There are other important keys to success in online learning, but the quality of persistence is the thread that ties many of them together.
Students who succeed in online learning are those who are willing to tolerate technical difficulties, seek help when needed, routinely work on every class every day, and persist through challenges. Parents can help students by providing encouragement to keep trying and to ask for help when needed from teachers and school administrators.
Older students should be encouraged to take responsibility for their learning and contact teachers themselves, rather than putting parents in the middle of the teacher-student relationship. This teaches students to advocate for themselves and take initiative on their own when they need help.
Parents can also help to set up a manageable study schedule and monitor how well the student is sticking to the schedule. Most online learning programs require students to log into every class each weekday and to make progress each day.
Students who succeed are those who keep logging in every day – even after the novelty of going to school online starts to wear off, or when they realize that their assignments online are just as challenging as those they were required to do in the classroom.
Effective Time-Management Skills are essential in online learning because many courses are taught asynchronously and there are no set times for classes (it should be noted that some online programs do have synchronous or on-site, in-person components).
This flexibility is one of the great benefits of online learning, but it can also be a drawback for a student who is unable to stick to a routine study schedule and independently complete assignments without daily reminders from a teacher.
Effective time-management skills don’t just happen – they have to be learned. The online learning environment provides an ideal setting for children and young adults to practice time-management strategies and develop good habits that will benefit them throughout their lives.
Parents can assist and support students by reviewing the syllabus for each course together with the student and developing a long-term plan for completing assignments.
They can also routinely ask students about assignments or projects that are due for the coming week, and model how to keep a schedule or a “to do” list. Parents may also want to help students to set goals and provide incentives, such as age-appropriate rewards for accomplishments (e.g., a trip to the movies together or a favorite dinner after completing a big project).
Some online programs provide a “Parent Portal” or a “Parent View” to check students’ grades and activity. It’s a good idea to check this information frequently, as well as continue to communicate directly with students about their progress.
It takes time to develop good habits, but over time, online students who consciously work on developing effective time management strategies require less oversight and begin to recognize the satisfaction that comes from being well-organized and accomplishing important tasks.
Effective and Appropriate Communication Skills can certainly be developed and honed in online learning, but it’s important for students to be willing to seek help when they need it. Teachers are very willing to help students, but they are unable to pick up on non-verbal cues, such as a look of confusion on a student’s face.
Many online schools and programs provide several ways for students and parents to communicate with teachers and staff, including email, discussion groups, chat room office hours, cell phones, and even text messaging! These methods of communication with teachers may feel unfamiliar to students. Even if they are accustomed to talking with their friends in chat rooms or through text messaging, it may seem awkward at first to talk with a teacher in this way.
Parents can reassure students that teachers and staff are glad to take questions from students and want to help students succeed in their classes.
Equally important is an understanding of appropriate communication for a school setting. Many students are used to a very informal style of writing in chat rooms, blogs, text messages, etc.
When communicating with teachers and other staff members, students should write in full, grammatically correct sentences and in a respectful tone. Because of the distance, it’s tempting for students to say things out of anger, frustration, or even just to be friendly that they would never say to a teacher in person.
Parents should remind students that online teachers are professionals and must be treated with respect and courtesy.
Basic Technical Skills, such as the ability to create new documents, use a word processing program, navigate the Internet, and download software are necessary and will reduce the level of frustration for new students.
Most online schools have new student orientation programs to teach students how to use their learning management system and other online tools, but they typically don’t teach the basics. If your student is unfamiliar with basic computer skills, you may want to find an online tutorial. One such tutorial is available through The Library Network.
You’ll also want to check the online school’s main website for their hardware and software requirements, and make sure your computer meets those requirements.
Reading and Writing are the main modes of communication in online learning. Students should be relatively comfortable reading on a computer screen and typing without frustration. If a student types less than 25-30 words per minute, he or she may benefit from a typing software program before beginning online classes.
Motivation and Independence are factors that are closely tied to persistence and time-management, but are worth discussing separately. To be successful in online learning, a student has to want to be successful. Online learning requires independence, internal motivation, and a certain level of maturity.
Many older students in particular enroll to please their parents, but haven’t identified their own personal reasons for attending school. School counselors are available to talk with students about their personal goals, and parents may also want to have a non-threatening talk about future goals and the opportunities created through education. It’s never too soon to talk about the importance of education and life-long learning with your child!
A Good Study Environment is a critical component of academic success. Students need a quiet place to work without the distractions of the television, siblings, or anything else that hinders concentration. Consider uninstalling computer games to avoid temptation, or keep the games on a different computer in the house. If the student’s computer is in his/her room, it would be a good idea to check in from time to time. We all know how easy it is to wander off through the Internet for much longer than planned when you only really intended to look up one thing!
Students will spend many hours at the computer, so don’t forget to take ergonomics into consideration. The work/study space should have adequate lighting (the lighting in the room should be at least as bright as the computer screen to avoid eye strain), comfortable seating, and an ergonomic wrist rest to avoid repetitive movement injuries. Wrists and elbows should be level and parallel to the floor, and wrists should not be bent while typing.
In summary, online education is a wonderful option for students, but students who are new to this learning environment benefit from extra support from parents as they become accustomed to it. It may take some time to develop new skills and strategies, but with persistence, your student will be “clicking along” just fine!
Page last updated in August 2008.
K-12 Online Learning
