The scorecard will therefore be used as a motivation strategy in addition to a communications one. The website will feature artwork, projects, and exceptional accomplishments by the students so they have the opportunity to see purpose and mastery of their work. Students will also be able to create their own pages on the website, only listing their in-class nickname or first name only for security reasons, and will be able to decorate it any way they wish. In doing this, they will also gain mastery over basic website design tools and techniques. In addition to promoting mastery of their own pages and the use of fundamental Web page editing tools, the students will also have the autonomy within limits to express themselves creatively. It is hoped that combining mastery and purpose the students will be motivated to excel even more academically to showcase their accomplishments online. Security in the form of first names only, even nicknames, and no actual photographs of the children themselves will be enforced to protect their identity and confidentiality.

A third channel of the communications plan will be e-mail. This channel will be first used to broadcast updates to the grade scorecards and also alert both parents and teachers of entries on the virtual parent teacher conference area of the portal. New activity updates will also be broadcast using e-mail as well. One-on-one conversations will be scheduled through e-mail but completed on the secured area of the portal itself for privacy.

Summary

This communication plan aims...

Studies indicate that the greater the level of collaboration between parents, teachers and students the greater the propensity to learn (Lamb, 2007). In addition this communication plan intends to put autonomy, mastery and purpose to work as the building blocks of additional learning, as research has shown that when these three factors are combined, more permanent learning occurs (Walker, Greene, 2009). Finally the confidentiality of the students must also be protected, and while the website will showcase their talents and abilities, including showing mastery of subjects, it will never compromise their identities either through photographs or mentioning first and last names. The steps necessary for enabling learning while safeguarding the children is the utmost concern and objective of this communication plan.
References

Brian Lamb. (2007). Dr. Mashup or, Why Educators Should Learn to Stop Worrying and Love the Remix. EDUCAUSE Review, 42(4), 12-24.

Charlie Roduta and Jennifer Smith Richards. (5 March, 2006). Schools let parents check on kids online: Attendance, food choices, homework all on Web. Knight Ridder Tribune Business News,1

Walker, C., & Greene, B. (2009). The Relations Between Student Motivational Beliefs and Cognitive Engagement in High School. The Journal of Educational…