Detroit School Uses Technology to Bring Parents Onboard

When Van Zile Elementary School staff realized that most of the parents of students attending the school were not comfortable using computers, they did something about it. In 2002, Van Zile, a Detroit public school located in Wayne County, collaborated with local businessman Julius Bender of Information Solutions. This relationship led to a partnership with IBM, and the school secured additional computers for student use.

From this collaborative effort, Van Zile became the first school in Detroit to create a wireless network and opportunities for all students in the school to have access to computers. Still, parents were not yet on board. Under the leadership of the school’s principal at the time, Elsie Dade, assistant principal Marva Johnson, and Title I Coordinator Ramona Purdy-Bogerty, a free program was developed to give parents access to computers, an email address, and computer instruction.

“We wanted the program to be set up in a classroom environment where parents could become more comfortable with technology and learn to access information that could help them be supportive of their child’s education,” said Purdy-Bogerty. “We use volunteer instructors, and parents have been very responsive to our efforts.”

Funding for the program came largely from a federal comprehensive school reform grant (CSR) awarded to Van Zile for the past three years. “Van Zile has an exceptionally active leadership team that takes action to establish great parent and community involvement,” says Jim Candela, a consultant from the Michigan Department of Education Office of School Improvement. “Van Zile staff know how to connect with their community to engender greater support.”

For more information, contact: Marva Johnson or Romona Purdy-Bogerty, Van Zile Elementary School, 2915 E. Outer Dr., Detroit, MI 48234, (313) 368-8444, (313) 368-1507 fax.

Dickinson-Iron Intermediate School District S.O.S. (Students Offering Support) Program

Dickinson-Iron Intermediate School District (DIISD) is located in the rural and remote central Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The nearest university is 90 miles and one time zone away. Opportunities for adult learners are hard to find and senior citizens and adult learners wanted technology training designed to fit their needs. S.O.S. (Students Offering Support) was developed to do just that.

Using a team of very computer literate high school students, DIISD sponsored an eight-week summer computer literacy course. Each Wednesday night, the DIISD Technical Education Center hosted two-hour classes, taught by three student instructors. The student instructors took turns leading the classes. While one student served as lead instructor, the remaining two were assisting the adult learners. Personnel from the DIISD supervised the classes. Topics covered email, Web sites, Internet searches, and online shopping in addition to basic computer skills. Before the program began, the student instructors completed a training course on how to work with adult learners. Each participant received a notebook with weekly lesson plans and “homework exercises” for the next week. The student instructors prepared presentations during which they projected lesson information on one screen, while demonstrating the topic (e.g., Web site, email) on the second screen. Attendance and evaluations were extremely high. Upon completing the eight-week course, the majority of adult learners requested a continuation of the course with new topics and a repeat of the original program for their friends. The DIISD funded the program with a grant from the Upper Great Lakes Educational Technologies, Inc.

For more information, contact: Dee Benjamin, Dickinson-Iron Intermediate School District (DIISD), 1074 Pyle Dr., Kingsford, MI 49802, (906) 776-8137, dbenjamin@diisd.org.

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