Involving Parents in Moodle

July 29, 2015 By Moodle

Giving them access to understand their child’s education technology.  

Parents in Moodle. Moodle’s flexibility means that not only is it used by universities, adult education centres and commercial enterprises around the world but it’s also increasingly popular in schools where the children might be aged anything between 5 and 18. Being a secure online learning environment, Moodle is a safe place for young people to work together and learn from their teachers. Many parents and guardians are keen to get involved in their child’s education, both by keeping in regular contact with their teachers and by viewing their child’s grades and classwork. There are a number of ways Moodle can bring together parents, students and teachers:

 

Provide a dedicated Parents’ Page

A course with guest access enabled is a useful location for messages, newsletters, and other essential parental information within a Moodle site that otherwise requires a log in. The Parents’ page can be linked to from the custom menu dropdowns on the front page, and if auto-login guests is enabled, parents can get directly to the information they need.

 

Gauge parental opinion

When added to the front page of a Moodle site and with anonymous responses enabled,  Moodle’s standard Feedback activity allows parents or guardians to give their opinions on important school issues such as BYOD policy and proposed curriculum changes.

 

Give access to grades with the Parent role

Arguably the best and most transparent way for parents to view their child’s work and grades on Moodle is the well-established POS* method, but there is a custom role, the Parent (or Mentor) role which allows for parents to view information about their child  yet not be able to see details of anyone else’s child. While this has the advantage of parents not actually being enrolled in courses, thus avoiding privacy issues, there is no easy way to bulk connect parents to their children.

 

Custom built reporting to parents

Some schools which are hosted with Moodle Partners benefit from modules developed specifically to meet the needs of the school and parents: such modules include reports on attendance and behaviour as well as displaying timetables and homework, with integration with the school’s Management Information System providing synchronisation with Moodle. Schools using such features report a higher level of parental engagement and improved communication between staff and parents. Find a Moodle Partner to enquire about custom parent reports service here.

 

Home schooling

The advent of MoodleCloud brings with it opportunities for parents considering homeschooling to get together and provide a secure learning space for a small number of children without having to jump the technical hoops normally required for setting up your own site. It’s free, it’s up to date and reliable. Find out more about homeschooling on MoodleCloud.

 

*POS = Parent Over Shoulder. Watch your child as they work on Moodle!