Finally, VMS are not very
expensive. Bauch (2000) estimates that this type of technology requires
a $20 appliance and $15 monthly charge. Some private companies provide
schools with free VMS services for the first, trial year. However,
students, teachers and parents need to pay some fee if they decide
to subscribe for extra services that are not included in the basic
package. For example, if students get approval from their parents
they can sign up for such advanced services like message exchange
between students (Conexus, n.d.). Other data indicates that the first
year costs of using VMS do not exceed two dollars per student (Davis,
1995).
However, VMS still have
some disadvantages. The first disadvantage, which is common to almost
all telecommunication technologies (with the exception of teleconferencing
technology), is that telecommunication technologies cannot support
the richness of face-to-face interaction (Bauch, 2000). This means
that VMS are oriented toward asynchronous (not the real-time) interactions.
Moreover, like any telephone-based technology, interaction partners
do not get the visual clues essential for face-to-face interaction.
Other barriers for implementing
VMS in schools are the following:
- Although people are
very comfortable operating over the phone, training should be provided
for parents as well as for teachers. Training for parents should
be more focused on explanation, demonstration and learning VMS functionality,
and training for teachers should motivate them to use VMS, and teach
them the basic principles of what scripts are appropriate. McAfee
(1997) reports that some teachers, who are not motivated to use
VMS, stop updating their messages on VMS. Parents, who have become
more involved in their child's education, can be turned off if they
find out that messages are outdated. If this happens, PI can become
even lower than it was initially. Thus, if VMS are used inconsistently,
they damage, not improve, the communication between schools and
parents.
- Teachers can protest
against using VMS, if they are concerned that VMS will allow school
administration and parents to check upon them. Moreover, using VMS
requires teachers to plan in advance, which some teachers may not
do. Thus, using VMS requires teachers' commitment to serve students
and their parents, and the establishing of trust between teachers
and school administration and teachers and parents. Unfortunately,
some schools may never leave this loop (McAfee, 1997).
- Some VMS can deal only
with a limited number of languages. Thus, if a classroom is extremely
multicultural, a teacher may not be able to provide messages in
all languages spoken by families. However, the chances of running
into this situation are very small (McAfee, 1997).
- Some schools find that
parents avoid leaving messages for their child's teachers, and VMS
do not work at their full capability (by supporting only one-way
family-to-school interaction), unless schools invest more effort
to overcome this barrier (McAfee, 1997).
D. E-mail
The main functions of e-mail
technology are composing, sending, retrieving and forwarding e-mail.
The technology also allows the user to keep a list of important e-mail
addresses and filter unsolicited e-mails out. Indeed, all of these
functions can support the correspondence between families and schools.
For example, schools can electronically distribute school newsletters
and other information to families. E-mail is an asynchronous communication;
this type of interaction does not allow parties to respond and receive
messages at the same time. It is important to consider that many people
do not check their e-mail accounts regularly, or that they may change
their e-mail service providers. Another potential problem is that
messages often cannot be delivered because a mailbox is full or because
the e-mail server is shut down for upgrading or other reasons. Therefore,
messages sent by the school to parents may never reach them.
Parents may run into some
problems when they use e-mail to communicate with the school. Although
numerous e-mail service providers offer free e-mail accounts for everyone,
and many people have several e-mail accounts; families that do not
have Internet access at home may be left out. Finding the e-mail addresses
of the school and teachers may also be troublesome for parents. In
contrast to telephone directories that are comprehensively organized
and are frequently updated, each e-mail service provider keeps its
own e-mail directory. Since people protect their privacy by using
nicknames and withholding information that can identify them, finding
someone's e-mail address might be a challenge that cannot be accomplished.
Moreover, the language barrier can prevent ESL parents from comprehending
information they get from the school, if this information is in English.
These parents may feel embarrassed by mistakes in their writing. However,
if well organized, e-mail messages sent by the school or a teacher
can reach a vast number of parents. Parents can also respond at a
convenient time, not necessarily when the school operates. If parents
find that their messages are read and responded to in a timely manner,
they might choose to use this type of communication more frequently.
Otherwise, parents could be turned off from interacting with the school.
E. Cable channels and
teleconferencing.
Some schools have their
own cable channels and can organize teleconferences, which are broadcast
at a particular time. Usually, parents are expected to provide input
by calling in to the program or e-mailing. For those parents who are
not able to watch the program when it broadcasts, schools can re-broadcast
it or the parents can record it on their VCR. In addition, the school
can loan tapes to parents. Teleconferences can also give parents living
in different apartment complexes the opportunity to discuss their
concerns with school administration. Other community members, businesses
and media may also be willing to participate in such teleconferences.
However, this type of communication is not widespread, mostly because
this technology is quite expensive. Often only affluent schools or
schools that already use cable TV and teleconferencing for instruction
can afford to use this technology to promote PI. Cable TV programs
and teleconferences for parents do not happen very often even in affluent
communities. Thus, they may not be available when parents need them
most (Warner, 1997).
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