Parents and the Excitement of Web 2.0 Tools

This week my school had our Open House night for parents to come in and learn about their child's classroom. Because computers and Web 2.0 tools are becoming such an important part of my classroom instruction (and sometimes even homework), I designated 10 minutes of my 30 minute sessions towards discussing the internet and some of the tools we will be using. I was expecting parents to ask questions pertaining to the security and use of the tools, but it actually went a completely different direction. The parents were extremely interested in me explaining what the tools were. More importantly, they were intrigued with the tools and the fact that their eight and nine year old children would know more about these technologies than they would. Several parents even mentioned that they would also be learning from their child's teacher. This really opened up the realization that Web 2.0 tools are truly a new idea that many people don't know about, but are eager to learn how to use. Seeing how interested the parents are to learn about the tools gave me the idea to start infusing homework assignments for parents and children to do together using the tools. I am excited to see how this works out and what the parents have to say. :)