Back to eSchooling

It's back to school season, a time when we at Columbia Talk get to meet the folks who spend so much time with our not-so-little ones. We're always curious here at Talk Central to see what progress, if any, teachers are making with integrating technology into their daily activities.

Our experience is that it depends greatly on the teacher. Some have robust Web sites, with homework assignments posted daily, links to extra help, e-mail addresses, even grade books. We can't emphasize enough how grateful we are for such teachers, especially when the not-so-little ones announce late on a weekday night that they have this little project that's due in the morning.

Most teachers kind of do it halfway. They post homework assignments, but not grades. Some links work and others don't. They have an e-mail address, but may not check it all that often. (Sounds like certain bloggers we know).

And then there are the ones who either promise to have a Web site at back to school night, only to never be heard from again. Or they just don't believe in the Internet thing. Or they won't do it until they are given the planning time (or more pay) to do it.

We hear that some schools have adopted software packages to bring consistency to all this, but not every school has seen the wisdom.

At the back to school night we attended, many of the questions from parents (aside from how the not-so-little ones are doing) dealt with what was available online. Perhaps that's because for so many parents in a county like ours, the Internet is a key conduit of communication.

The schools seem to be coming to this realization, albeit slowly.