Running head: PARENT-INTERFACE INTERACTION IN K-12 WEB BASED 1

LEARNING

Exploring parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning

Khalifa S. Elgosbi

Northern Illinois University

(Fall 2016)
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 2  

Abstract

In the present paper, phenomenological research methodology was used to collect systematic

data and in-depth interpretations from five parents of 4th through 8th students in the Chromebook

initiative of 428 Education District, Dekalb area in Illinois. The participants were recruited to be

observed and to answer open-ended questions about the impact of their interaction with the

interface of the Chromebook, which the school district has given to their children to be used at

home. The Chromebook initiative is a part of a large-scale national education program intending

to improve school outcomes by means of using technology education principles to enhance use

of educational technology. Findings revealed lack of parent interaction due to misunderstanding

of the program goals. Lack of parent engagement in the design of the interface is causing such

misunderstanding to hider parents from participating in the Chromebook initiative as required

and expected from them. In conclusion, I can say that my experience in doing qualitative

research is very little as this is my first time I have chosen to work with qualitative design. So

this is an opportunity for me to learn from this experience and to understand through practical

work how qualitative research is used to study phenomena that occur in educational fields.
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 3  

Exploring parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning

Introduction

In recent years, 1:1 computing initiative in schools has been a topic of discussion

among educators (Bebell, & Kay, 2010; Bebell, & O'Dwyer, 2010; Lowther, Inan, Strahl, &

Ross, 2012). In fact, many research studies have recommended innovation to facilitate teaching

and learning in schools by means of using technology to support a student-centered approaches.

As a result, nearly all educators and policy makers decided to enhance innovation initiatives that

suggested using technology for improving educational outcomes. Specifically, this study is an

attempt to look at one of these initiatives, which gained momentum in the last decade to inter

many school districts. This initiative is called the Chromebook initiative and it is based on the

idea that every child in the K-12 school system starting from grade three on should be included

in the K–12 1:1 computing programs. The K-12 1:1 computing program has been adopted in

many regions and school districts in the US, but the scale and seriousness of its implementation

differs from one state to another depending on the school district program (Bebell, & Kay, 2010).

In this study I will interview some parents and observe them working on this initiative with their

children and then discuss the emergent themes.

This study is about the parent-interface interaction of the parents of 4th through 8th

students in the Chromebook initiative of 428 Education District, Dekalb area. The topic of this

study will be parent-interface interaction and how it exists in the education of 4th grade through

8th grade in k-12 web based learning. This is a qualitative study of parent-interface interaction in

K-12 web based learning. The parents of five 4th grade through 8th grade students who live and

go to school in Dekalb (n= 5). All the participants are parents and experienced users of

instructional technology as ETRA Department grad students. The objective of this study is to

investigate parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning. A qualitative study of

Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 4  

parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning utilizing interview method. The

researcher will investigate this topic and try to get answers to the research questions how, why,

and what.

How does parent-interface interaction take place in K-12 online learning? Why is it

important that the parents of K-12 learners interact with the materials and tools of the web? What

knowledge do parents need to have in order to interact effectively with the technological

interface that is presented as part of their kids’ learning? This study is aiming to explore parent

interaction with interface website of web-based learning of students, who are 4th graders through

12th graders and who need to do part of their learning online learning from web based materials.

Using the activity theory as a conceptual framework, I will investigate the following

questions: 1) How does parent-interface interaction take place in K-12 online learning? 2) Why

is it important that the parents of K-12 learners interact with the materials and tools of the web?

3) What knowledge do parents need to have in order to interact effectively with the technological

interface that is presented as part of their kids’ learning?

What really attracted my attention and intrigued me was the amount of details one can

get from talking to people about their issues and concerns around technology and use of

technological tools in education. Although I approached this topic with very little information

about the context of my study (i.e. using Cromebooks in 4th through 8th grade education for

involving children in web based learning and online education), my initial contacts with some of

the participants (i. e. parents of 4th through 8th grade students) have been very fruitful and I am

becoming acquainted with such a context in relatively very short time.

Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 5  

Background of the study

I am approaching this research with the idea that I have to “bracket” my presence as

much as possible. However, I am really worried about my assumptions and thought that fathers

have to be responsible for their kids’ education and interaction with technology. This

preoccupation makes me think that some answers to my interview questions can be expected or

taken for granted. I have already decided to do something about this problem so that it would not

bias or contaminate the data I am going to collect. In fact, I am thinking of filtering these

concerns by working hard on the interview questions. The questions have to be accurately

written to avoid including any hints or clues that might work toward soliciting information.

Hopefully, my awareness of this problem will make things work better for my research.

So far, there are no issues or problems related to the ethical side of the research. I think

nothing personal is involved nor do I need to have any contact with the children (the study does

not involve the children anyway); all I needed so far was to ask the parents for their acceptance

to participate in the study and all of them agreed to do so.

I have met three of the sampled participants and so far they are showing considerable

understanding and enthusiasm to participate in my study. Now they know that they are going to

participate as interviewees and two of them have agreed to be subjects of my observations. The

first meetings with some of the participants have already given me some acquaintance of the

context and the background of the participants. In general my meeting with them went well. We

talked about how the school district wanted the students to use technology on their own at home

as an after school program to help them do extra study and things with technology. I also wanted

to know how the parents felt about the idea that their children would have to work extra school
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 6  

tasks on their own, and if they have any concerns. For my research understanding the standpoint

of the parents is important for my understanding of the context.

As I am the method and instrument at the same time, my role will be to design the

research procedures such as preparing the time line for the interviews and observations, writing

the interview protocols, designing observation sheets, and administrating these procedures to the

participants. This role is full of contact scenarios with the participants so it is a double-edged role

and I have to be very careful not to confuse my role as a researcher with my identity as a friend

and a colleague of the participants. Confusing these roles might result in lack of seriousness and

then it can affect my plans and procedures. For example, they might think I know about

technology as much as they do and so they do not need to tell me in details about something. If

this happens, then I need to adjust my interview questions to help obtain more information.

In qualitative research “rapport” is how close the relationship between me, (the

researcher), and my participants (the parents of 4th though 8th grade students in Dekalb). I think

because all the parents in the sample are ETRA department students, I have good chances of

benefiting from the colleagueship connections with them. This fact will help me create the right

atmosphere for the interviews and the observations. The fact that I already know all my

participants, as they are my classmates and colleagues, is a positive point toward building the

needed rapport for my study.

As a researcher I will be using qualitative design to gain access to details and

information, which these parents know much more than I do. All my five participants are

actually parents of K 12 students in the above-mentioned district and in Dekalb to be exact. They

students, who are studying to become instructional technology specialists and web-based

learning students, are all coinsidingly. These students are at the same time parents 4th grade
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 7  

through 8th grade k-12 education in Dekalb. They live in Dekalb with their families and their

children go to school in Dekalb. As parents, they are expected to interact with the technological

interface of this web based learning in order to help their children learn what their schools have

designed for them as web based learning. This situation is very serious and vey important

because it can enhance the child’s use of web based materials if their parents are able to interact

with the technological interface needed by the district’s policies. We do not know much

information about how the parents are doing this at the moment or whether they are able to help

their children benefit from the web-based part of their learning.

Statement of the problem

As an ETRA Department student, I have considered and reviewed many research

papers that investigated education problems and challenges to examine and explain the

significance of a phenomenon or to reach conclusions regarding the solution of certain education

problems. If I can explore this topic by means of qualitative research design, I will be able to

understand if such interaction can help or otherwise hinder the students’ performance in doing

their assignments at home. The amount of information, which I need for this study, will come

from the interviews and observations that I will conduct as data collection procedure part of this

research.

The parents of K 12 students in 428 Education District, Dekalb area, have to handle

some of their children’s online and web-based learning because their schools require them to do

part of their education on “Chromebooks”. According to the district’s policies the school

provides each student with a Chromebook laptop starting at grade 3 and the students are

expected to work on them at home under the supervision of their parents.

Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 8  

This situation is very serious and vey important because it can enhance the child’s use

of web based materials if their parents are able to interact with the technological interface needed

by the district’s policies. We do not know much information about how the parents are doing this

at the moment or whether they are able to help their children benefit from the web-based part of

their learning. I will explore this issue of study and try to investigate parent-interface interaction

and how it exists in the education of 4th grade through 8th grade in k-12 web based learning.

Theoretical Framework:

Activity theory is associated with online and technology instruction because it explains

the interactional components of an educational setting. The original concept of the framework is

“activity”, which is perceived, in research, as developing interaction between subjects (i. e.

people involved in the activity) and objects (i. e. the outcomes of the activity).

Interaction that activity theory involves is used to understand human computer

interaction, which is the main question in this study. During this interaction, human mental

processes appear as a result of interrelationships between an educational activity and its actors

(subjects/people). According to activity theory, activity is oriented toward the goal. During any

educational activity, humans create objectives and goals that are a necessary for the development

of an educational task. Through the use of tools, the activity is modified in accordance with the

required goal. The result will be self-regulation and participation through social interaction with

the educational environment.

This framework also provides a rich new insight with which to interpret and understand

the findings of this study. In this study the parents of 4th through 8th graders will be observed and

interviewed about their interaction with the interface of the Chromebooks of their children. The
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 9  

differences between the parents’ goals and stakeholders’ goals will explain what modifications

are needed to enhance participation and learning.

Using the activity theory as a conceptual framework, I will investigate the following

questions: 1) How does parent-interface interaction take place in K-12 online learning? 2) Why

is it important that the parents of K-12 learners interact with the materials and tools of the web?

3) What knowledge do parents need to have in order to interact effectively with the technological

interface that is presented as part of their kids’ learning?

Research Goals

My interest in integrating technology personal goal is to identify the major obstacles

facing parents of students who are studying in 4th grade through 8th grade in public schools

regarding the integration of web based learning into the learning opportunities of their kids. Also

to investigate whether integrating educational web based learning is important in the early years

of education?

The contribution of my study will help an education district (i.e. 428 School District) to

understand; how integrating technology into the educational curricula might improve learning

and affect the teachers’ efforts and the students’ achievement. Intellectual goal is to find out what

concerns do parents have regarding the implementation of Chromebook web based program.

Which parent concerns should school districts be aware of when integrating web-based learning.

Research Questions

• How does parent-interface interaction take place in K-12 online learning?

Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 10  

• Why is it important that the parents of K-12 learners interact with the materials and tools

of the web?

• What knowledge do parents need to have in order to interact effectively with the

technological interface that is presented as part of their kids’ learning?

As an ETRA Department student, I have considered and reviewed many research

papers that investigated education problems and challenges to examine and explain the

significance of a phenomenon or to reach conclusions regarding the solution of certain

education problems. If I can explore this topic by means of qualitative research design, I will

be able to understand if such interaction can help or otherwise hinder the students’

performance in doing their assignments at home. The amount of information, which I need

for this study, will come from the interviews and observations that I will conduct as data

collection procedure part of this research.

Methods

Methodological concerns

According to Creswell (2012), “As a new researcher, you may wonder whether you

have the ability to read, evaluate, and actually conduct research. Knowing the process of

research, you may say, does not guarantee an adequate research study” (p, 23). So, for me it is a

challenge that my knowledge and my skills need to be improved through some practical tasks

during this class. I think it is the right decision to attend this class before I start writing my

dissertation proposal because whatever knowledge I have to learn from this class will help form

my research identity in the future. Building research skills involves what Maxwell (2005) calls

“using matrices as a tool” that can help a novice qualitative researcher to acquire skills for
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 11  

ongoing research practices. According to Maxwell (2005), in order “To design a workable and

productive study, and to communicate this design to others, you need to create a coherent design,

one in which the different methods fit together compatibly, and in which they are integrated with

the other components of your design (p, 102). These skills are what will make me accomplish the

first qualitative research in my life.

For this class, my study includes five participants and all of them are my colleagues at

the ETRA Department and are my friends, so I will work so closely with my participants and I

can double check from them on things that are ambiguous or that need more explanation. Also I

will have my participants review my analyses for me so that I make sure every single

interpretation is accurately up to what the respondents wanted to express.

Sampling procedures

The sampling will be purposeful and the research will select five parents to be the

participants in this study. Because I wanted the sample to only include parents with technological

knowledge, all the participants I am contacting now are parents whose knowledge of technology

is excellent. I have not met all the participants so far but I have contacted all of them by email

and explained to them that I am doing this qualitative study to see how parents interact with the

technological interface of the Web-based learning, which their children are required to do at

home on the school district’s Cromebook laptops. They all agreed to participate in my study and

I started to arrange meetings with some of them.

Data collection

The researcher used semi-structured interviews and observations to collect the needed

data from the participants. This research design was helpful to enable the researcher during the
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 12  

interview to elaborate and expand the responses depending on the participants’ readiness to

contribute how much they know. The interviews were flexible in number of questions and time

so that the participants will feel free to provide more information. Each interview was between

20 – 40 minutes long and the participants were asked to feel free to ask for breaks if they feel

they like to. All the interviews were video recorded to include not only the verbal side of

communication but also the facial expressions and gestures. The participants were reassured that

all the recording will be confidential and will be destroyed immediately after being analyzed and

presented in the result section of the study.

After collecting the data, the researcher conducted a qualitative transcription of the

responses into word format to allow coding and analyzing the data. Coding in qualitative

research involves forming of themes that capture the information to be used in answering the

research questions (Maxwell, 2005). Analyzing of the data from both the interviews and the

observation was done by means of interpretations made by the researcher. One advantage of

being a colleague and a friend of the participants is the fact that the researcher was able to go

back to the participants and ask them for a further review of the comments and conformity of the

analyses. The researcher conducted this procedure of response checking to maintain validity of

the results.

Then I conducted the observations. For more data, I had to observe two of the five

participants, who attended the interviews. The first observation was in the College of education

learning center; whereas, the second observation took place in the home of the participant. There

was a coach and there were some armchairs in the living room but the observation started with

only two people so there was a lot of space and although the I sat away from the participant and

his child, most of the time I concentrated on the parent’s interaction with the interface of the
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 13  

Chromebook . The interface included a school Website, school emails, some games,

applications, Internet information, reading Website, and a lot of Internet information. However,

there was no blackboard or discussion boards or any type of feed back platforms.

The living room also had two doors and two glass windows on both sides. The coach

and chairs were navy blue color and nicely manufactured to suit gusts’ choices in terms of size,

comfort, cleanness, sociability, and how comfortable you can be in a home. All the furniture in

the room was nicely arranged for use and the door way was clear. At the front there was a TV

screen on which I glanced there was some news program, but there was no sound as the volume

was mute. Towards the back there is another door, which leads to the yard but I did not go that

far. Clearly this was a family home because it had picture of a family hanging everywhere on the

walls. It also had another painting of the sea on the wall behind me. I did not notice any noise of

any other children but when I asked the parent he said he had another two children who are

younger than his son.

Relationships and ethics

It is really essential for the qualitative researcher to build good relationships with

participants because the researcher in qualitative research is considered both the investigator and

the instrument (Bogdan, & Biklen, 2007). In my study all the participants are already my friends

whom I have met and worked with on the different doctoral program courses. They know that I

am a researcher and that I need this information for the completion of my study so they

contributed the best of their knowledge to make this study. The researcher had to tell the

participants that he knows very little about the topic since he is not a parent of K-12 students

himself. As ETRA department students, the participants have known the researcher and known
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 14  

that the interviews are vital for collecting the research information. This fact was also helpful in

making the participants’ responses factual and academic. The distance between the researcher

and the participants was very important for the completion of the interviews in time for the

conducting the observations carefully to accomplish this study. The researcher applied to the

ETRA department for official permissions to do this study and to interview the participant. The

participants were all informed that the researcher has the ETRA department’s permission to

interview them. This knowledge helped reassure them that their information is confidential and

protected by virtue of academic rules.

In conclusion, I knew that as a qualitative researcher, I had to start with improving my

research skills and then moved to writing the research questions to create guidelines for my study

and work with the questions to reach findings and conclusions. I also knew that as a university

teacher I have already learned valuable evaluation skills through my career experiences. These

skills include assessment criteria, needs analysis procedures, and ways of asking questions that

provide feedback in order to understand the aspects of a given situation when I have to evaluate

my teaching methods for developing myself. Although I have never done any qualitative

research before, I have had the skills to investigate situations and phenomenon through using the

right tools for getting enough details. Similarly, in qualitative research, we need to gather data

about the situation and use the analyses of such data in reporting the findings once the data

collected from the participants is transcribed, coded, and analyzed. I also know that the

qualitative research design is dependent on how much information the researcher obtains from

each participant.
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 15  

Methods of Data Analysis

As a researcher, I used qualitative design to gain access to details and information,

which these parents know much more than I do. All my five participants are actually parents of

K 12 students in the above-mentioned district and in Dekalb to be exact. Regarding their

educational background, they are doctoral students, who are studying to become instructional

technology and web-based learning specialists. I chose these doctoral students, partly because

they are at the same time parents 4th grade through 8th grade k-12 education in Dekalb, and

partly because I wanted to control for the factor of technological knowledge in this study. They

live in Dekalb with their families and their children go to school in Dekalb. As parents, they are

expected to interact with the technological interface of this web based learning in order to help

their children learn what their schools have designed for them as web based learning. for the

analyses, I used qualitative coding procedures to capture the emergent themes and use them in

the findings to explain how parent-interface interaction might help to enhance the Chromebook

initiative.

Below are some themes/codes that I listed after interviewing three participants and

observing two other participants. I am working to collect qualitative data about parent-interface

interaction of parents whose children are targeted by the 428 Dekalb School District’s

Chromebook initiative. My research is guided by the following questions:

How does parent-interface interaction take place in K-12 Chromebook initiative? Do parents

have knowledge to interact effectively with the technological interface that is presented as part of

their kids’ learning? What are the major obstacles of interacting with educational technology

integrated into k-12 education?

Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 16  

Codes Definition Interview Observation

Parents’ It is what parents can add to the Yes Yes

contribution to the make this project successful
initiative such as feedback, support,
evaluation, “professional
advice” if the parent is a
technology specialist.

Involvement vs. Involvement is parents’ Yes No

isolation participation and interaction
with the tool of technology.
Isolation is refrain from
interacting with this
technological tool because of
unfamiliarity, and it trickles
down on the child being
isolated from the full
engagement with the initiative.

Development of the The current interface needs Yes No

interface is essential improving by adding school
instructions, exercises that can
help the students use their
critical thinking skills, and
activities that improve group-
working skills.
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 17  

The interest and readiness on Yes Yes

the part of the students and
Students and their parents to participate and
parents’ engagement
interact with the Chromebook
interface as a result of
satisfaction and competence.

Parents’ concerns They are worries, fears, Yes No

expectations, issues, and
problems that parents have
toward the sudden
implementation of this
Chromebook initiative as a
technological tool that can
jeopardize the existing format
of education.

Findings

Descriptive Findings

Observations

The first observation started at 7:10 exactly and I had to set up my cell phone to time

myself although there was a clock on the wall opposite me. The reason I did this was that I was

not sure that clock was working properly because it looked as if not moving, but in fact it was

working. I thought the parent and his child might be feeling strange that someone is observing
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 18  

them working on a school task, but they did not worry about my presence during the observation

which I thought was an advantage for my study. They were looked interested in their work

despite the fact that they knew I was watching them, perhaps the position of the coach which I

chose helped me become invisible to them.

I arrived at my participant’s house at 6:45 and he opened the door and invited me into

the living room. When the time was 7:05, I asked him to start get ready for working on the

Chromebook. Then, my observation started 5 minutes later (at 7:10). At first, there was a

problem seeing the information on the screen from where I was sitting but then I told the parent

about this problem and he shared t on the TV screen so now I was able to follow every single

piece of information. Being an educational technology specialist, my participant (Steve) was

very professional in sharing the stuff on the TV screen and it only took about three minutes.

Perhaps, this was one of the advantages of parent’s technological knowledge.

On the school website, Steve showed me how they communicate with the school

administration and teachers. however, he indicated his worry that this communication is mainly

regarding administrative issues rather than pedagogical and teaching issues. There is no platform

specially designed to handle the Chromebook tasks and feedback. The school website does not

have any feature that is allocated to this Chromebook initiative per se. the participant worked on

some school emails regarding social and sport activities, then he moved to a reading website that

he says he discovered by himself, as an instructional technology specialist, but the school does

not require them to use any links or site that are suggested by the school educators.

On the second observation, I observed Brian (pseudo name), who is a parent of a sixth

grader. This observation took place in the College of Education learning center and was from
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 19  

10:30 to 11:00 o’clock one Friday the morning. The observation started by covering the

interaction of the parent with a reading website and this parent asked his child to read something

and tell us what it said. The child spent some time reading from the website on the Chromebook

and then talked to his father about it and asked his father some questions. (this was a positive

point in using this initiative, but my concern here is that it is discovered by this very particular

parent, so what will happen to hundreds of student who do not have such a parent).

Finally, the participant went into games, which he said his child liked playing on the

Chromebook and shared some concerns about them such as addiction of such websites and

availability of games on every technological device other than the Chromebook. I did not want

the parent too discuss this issues with me as I really was interested in how he interactes with this

initiative rather than in his opinion.

When it was only five minutes left, I reminded my participant that it is nearly time and

that I had to stop the observation. So, he moved to an old assignment which was required by the

teacher some weeks before and talked about saying that it was agood idea but there weren not

many similar assignments. according to this parent, the school leaves the parent and children

alone with the Chromebook. Therte is no guidance or advice ar tasks or assignments. the teacher

does not require you to do anything apart from the keeping of the Chromebook and taking

responsibility that it is safe and intact. There is not much educational stuff on the Chromebook

that is designed to the specific school environment or the specific district curriculum.

From both observations I was able to collect data related to my topic and this helped me

in reaching conclusion about parent-interface interaction. In fact, both parents acted in the

absence of any school instructions that can guide them through the interface content. This lack of
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 20  

such important information in the design of web based learning for school children might cause

problems for the implementation of the Chromebook initiative, especially if the parents find it

difficult to participate and decide to quit their part of the initiative.

Interviews

The interviews included questions about Parents’ contribution to the initiative,

development of the interface, and students and parents’ engagement as well as parents’ concerns.

Two themes of the topic emerged from the coding procedures and the researcher analyzed and

interpreted them into findings and results.

Parents’ contribution to the Chromebook initiative

One of the aspects of parents’ contribution to the Chromebook initiative is that parents

can support the teacher’s efforts by providing supervision at home. Two of the interviewees

indicated that teachers expect parents to get involved in such initiative through supervision and

guidance. Steve (pseudo name) who is a parent of a fourth grader, said that he is convinced that

his child needs to be supervised at home as well as at school. When asked What expectations the

teacher has concerning parents’ participation, Steve answered that: “that’s.., that’s a good

question, really. Steve also indicated that there is lack in communication over issues regarding

the Chromebook initiative. Steve’s comment was: “To be honest, we haven’t been, like, you

know, contacted by the teacher, asking to be involved into whatever project, just whatever

assignment, juss’ whatever website, juss’ whatever activity”. Steve also was worried about other

parents who actually are not technology specialists. He indicated that it is difficult for them to

help their children with something they themselves are not good at. He stressed on the absence of
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 21  

school instructions and requirement that the parents need in order to interact effectively with the

interface content. He says that otherwise they will only behave according to their cultural

backgrounds as non-specialists in technology. He explained by giving example of himself and

comparing other parents: “we haven’t contacted there at all. So what we are doing right now,

maybe because my major is educational technology, I’m …uh…I’m just pushing myself to be

involved”. Steve explained further that his son needs to be pushed toward using the Chromebook

in an educational way. He said: “to see what’s goin’ on there and trying ti push my son to juss’

find places where he can learn from.”

Another point is the issue of the relationship between teacher expectations and parents’

supervision and Carole (pseudo name) expressed her argument with necessity for parents’

supervison to show how the Chromebook initiative paying attention to both parents acceptance

and parents’ contribution. In fact this opinion on the parents’ part is consistent with previous

research that maintains the importance of parents’ contribution. She described how the teachers

are expecting parents to help their children with the Chromebook interface, because sometimes it

lacked security in terms of educational purposes of instructional design. Carole said: “I

believe…err…that… the teacher expect from us to encourage our children to use the Chrome

books for educational purposes, … I mean…. not to watch video for fun or text.”

In general, all the interviewees agreed that parents can contribute a great deal to the

Chromebook initiative, especially if they know more about technology and about the

Chromebook interface. Parents’ knowledge is an important factor toward successful participation

and engagement.
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 22  

Students and parents’ engagement

Students and parents’ engagement is an important side of the program. The

interviewees stressed the significance of participation and engagement for the successful

implementation of the Chromebook initiative. They related the amount of interacting with the

Chromebook interface to awareness, satisfaction, and competence. Steve, for example, indicated

that awareness on the part of the parents should not only include the security issues but also

parents’ computer and technological knowledge. According to Steve, this knowledge should be

consisting of interface and design. For example the fact that some websites are more complicated

and higher level for the students’ conceptual level is a concern of many parents. Steve described

how involving parents to help their children with the Chromebook interface might benefit both

the children and their schools. He said: “I think so, I’m juss’, like um parents’ involvement in

this issue is kind of really important, Ah ….so….they would need to know what’s goin’ on, you

know, you know with the computer, who…., what type of education that he’s using, what kind of

websites that he using, what type of interface that he’s …err err….using, so I think the parents

need to be really involved with what’s goin’ on, you know computer use and computer

advantage, if there is any advantage or disadvantage, if there’s any disadvantage. I would

juss’,….parents have to be involved in this issue.”

Carole indicated that her child benefited from her technological knowledge about the

interface of the Chromebook through the guidance that she provided at home toward using the

Chromebook effectively to achieve learning and progress. She commented saying: “My

instructional technology academic knowledge helped my child to use the websites,…the,

which,… they provided for the parents,…err… efficiently, an’ it open my eyes to see the good
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 23  

and bad points in there application. I would say…err.. the relationship is successful, but the

curriculum need more work to fit with the device, not just having books in a digital copy.

However, Carole raised another issue related to use of the Chromebook interface. Clearly,

parents will be concerned with the issue of complexity of the Chromebook interface whether

they are technologically knowledgeable or not. For example although Carole is an ETRA

enrolled and technology specialist, she still feels that her knowledge about technological

interface is a significant factor. So how can parents without such technological knowledge be of

any good to their students. Carole said that it is a problem to leave those children face this

technological initiative alone. Certainly, they need help because the interface complexity is

inevitable. Carole states it as: “the complexity can make the parents feel isolated from their

child’s school environment, the parents will not be able to keep track of what their

kids,….err…are doing in school, and,….an’ they will not be able to see their grades.

she said: “So, ….err…in…to help with the complexity, the school need to give very clear

instruction and steps, especially when the parents are old….., because, you know,…they…err…

their technological skills are limited and they are not familiar to the devices.”

In general the Chromebook initiative can be a good jump in the country’s education system.

However, parents’ technological knowledge is one of the factors that can make it successful and

effective. I really like how enthusiastic and responsible the parents were when I asked them

questions about their technological knowledge and how it is related to the beneficial of their

children.
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 24  

Analytical Findings

As I mentioned previously the goal of my interviews and observation was to investigate

how parents’ interaction with the interface of the Chromebook might affect their children’s

schoolwork and consequently their school outcomes. According to my observation notes I

realized that although most parents agreed that their children bring the Chromebook home, it did

no cause them to interact with the interface, either because the parent is not aware of what is

posted or because the interface itself does not include any educationally designed stuff at all. For

example, one of the parents said that the neither the school nor the class techer required them to

do anything or give any help to their children on the Chromebook. Looking back at my interview

themes, it is clear that the school district did not require the teahcers to communicate with the

parents or ask them to participate and interact with the course design of the Chromebook

initiative. Steve for example indicated that there is a lack of communication with the parents. He

said: “To be honest, we haven’t been, like, you know, contacted by the teacher, asking to be

involved into whatever project, just whatever assignment, juss’ whatever website, juss’ whatever

activity”. This finding shows that the Chromebook initiative does not include the parent-interface

interaction in consideration when designing the content for such program.

Both in the interview and in the observations I noticed the parents’ isolation from the

content of the Chromebook initiative. When I asked what they thought the school wanted them to

do with it, they explained that was just to keep it at home and look after it. The school website

did not include anything about how to use the Chromebook or how to benefit from it. Parents

still think that it is something extra fro the students to enjoy in their free time and that this

initiative has nothing to do with school assignments or school work. For example one of the
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 25  

parents I observed took complete control of the Chromebook while his child was watching TV.

Although the parents agreed that their children would bring the Chromebook home with them,

the school did nothing to utilize the child’s time with the Chromebook or to make them work on

something that is specially and educationally designed to the students’ situation and learning

environment. It created a feeling in side myself that these devices do not really affect our

understanding of our role as parents toward the schoolwork of our children and the world around

us. Parents’ interaction is very limited to issues of security and control and safety of the

Chromebook itself as it is required by the school. However, this limitation is caused by their total

lack of engagement with electronic device that is supposed to improve their children’s school

achievement and outcomes. Since the school has not required them to interact with the

Chromebook interface or offer them any help toward effective use of such innovation, the

parents continue misunderstanding the real purpose of this initiative. Unless the interface is

educationally designed to meet the needs of each learning environment, it will remain far from

achieving its purposes. He says that otherwise they will only behave according to their cultural

backgrounds as non-specialists in technology. He explained by giving example of himself and

comparing other parents: “we haven’t contacted there at all. So what we are doing right now,

maybe because my major is educational technology, I’m …uh…I’m just pushing myself to be

involved”. Steve explained further that his son needs to be pushed toward using the Chromebook

in an educational way. He said: “to see what’s goin’ on there and trying ti push my son to juss’

find places where he can learn from.”

As far as reading on the Chromebook is concerned, I observed that parents might ignore

reading benefits of this device unless the school designs the interface for such purpose and

instructions should be given to parents on how to use this interface. For example, this
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 26  

Chromebook initiative can be very beneficial in making the parents read some passages to their

children at home once we design something that is instructional and suitable for a specific

situation, the parents can be asked to read for their children and make them do a school task on

it. However, their behavior showed that they fully misunderstand the purpose of this initiative

and that hteir misunderstanding is a result to the lack of school instructions that require the

parents to interact with the interface such as reading something to their children or supervising

their children to do a school task at home. None of the parents whom I observed helped their

children to do anything. This does not mean that this is the first time they parents have seen these

devices, but it can explain that interacting with the social media for the sake of a school task does

not exist spontaneously and needs to be designed in the Chromebook interface. Parents

understanding alone can not help the Chromebook initiative achieve its goals; there need to be

some school instructions to the parents to raise their awareness and to invite them to interact with

the interface, especially if the interface is instructionally designed to enhance such interaction.

I also noticed that parents might resort to social media applications on their

Chromebook such as games to solve problems of security and control. Some of prefer that their

children spend most of the time playing than risk the child’s drifting into some complicated or

dangerous websites and applications such as looking at photos and browsing other skeptical

social media applications. This observation brought many speculations and hunches on my mind

regarding parents’ behavior toward security and control issues as well as time management. For,

example one of the parents whom I observed indulged himself in creating a webpage for his

child, which reflected good resource management strategies for his student who needs to utilize

every minute on the Chromebook.

Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 27  

In general I think my observation was interesting to me since I discovered that qualitative

research has the potential to obtain data of very important details that cannot be obtained

otherwise by using other research design instrument. I also needed this observation to work as an

additional instrument of data collection in order to make sure my data is free from validity

issues.

Validity Issues

One of the threats to validity in my study is reactivity since all the parents whom I have

interviewed are at the same time my colleagues at ETRA Department. On one hand I have

selected them on purpose in order to be studying parents who have technological knowledge and

can interact with the Chromebook interface, but on the other hand this feature we have in

common will cause reactivity. Validity might be at risk in my study because the interviewees

will certainly pay attention to my being there with them and will have to respond to my questions

in an unreal way because they will be taking in account the fact that we are colleagues in ETRA

department. And although my research questions are interested in my participants in terms of

their being parents of 4th graders through 8th graders, they might avoid saying things related to

their technological knowledge as the topic of the study is related to educational technology. Also,

being colleagues will make them say things, which they think I like to hear because I belong to

the field. So to satisfy me, they might include information, which is not accurately real and this

can harm the research data to a large extent.

Similar to research bias, reactivity is an undesirable threat that qualitative researchers

need to be aware of and consider very carefully. According to Maxwell (2005), “it is the

influence of the researcher on the setting or individuals studied” (p. 108). By being there and part
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 28  

of the research procedures, the researcher can cause the respondents to diverge from what they

intend to say either to satisfy the researcher or because they psychologically feel they need to

save their faces. The result is that the data from the interview will be affected in terms of reality

and accuracy and the influence will tickle down to the interpretations of the study. Maxwell

(2005) considers “the fact that the researcher is part of the world he or she studies- is a powerful

and inescapable influence; what the informant says is always influenced by the interviewer and

the interview or the situation” (p. 109).

My solution to this validity problem was that I used open-ended questions for data

collection. All the interviewees were given equal opportunity to choose ten out of fifteen

questions before the interview started. This right of choice helped me to eliminate the areas that

each interviewee felt unwanted or psychologically non-relaxing for them. In this way I did not

only gave each interviewee the choice to speak their mind but also I helped them feel as if they

were controlling the interview. According to Maxwell, in order for the researcher to mitigate the

influence he or she needs to know the extent to which this influence is affecting the validity of

the study in hand so that whatever conclusions and interpretations the researcher draws from the

data will be valid and representative to the informant’s real meaning. As Dr. Shimizu indicated

in the audio lecture, “you try not to elicit certain responses but let the informant speak on their

own terms. Well that alleviates some of the problems, but it doesn’t completely solve that

problem.” (p. 6).

Answers to Your Research Question(s)

In the light of the results and the analytical findings, it is clear that parent-interface

interaction in K-12 Chromebook initiative lacks designing instructions and guidance efor parents

to enable them to participate as effectively as required. According to activity theory principles,

Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 29  

learning with technology involves a great deal of human computer interaction (Bedny, &

Karwowski, 2004). However, the components of the interface design of the Chromebook

initiative might have neglected this aspect of interaction that web based learning needs for

creating elements of engagement and interaction. Using the activity theory and the answer to the

first research question in this study- “How does parent-interface interaction take place in K-12

online learning?”- it can be concluded that without parent-interface interaction, the parents will

not be able to benefit their children from this initiative of technology. Also, if we use evidence

from the observation, we notice that parents might ignore reading benefits of this device unless

the school designs the interface for such purpose and instructions should be given to parents on

how to use this interface.

Another question was: Why is it important that the parents of K-12 learners interact

with the materials and tools of the web? This question focuses on the significance of such

interaction for the implementation of the Chromebook initiative. It is clear from the interview

and the observations that the participants emphasized the significance of the proper use of

Chromebook in benefiting their children. This awareness on the part of the parents should be

parallel to accessibility on the interface for parent interaction to achieve effective use of this

technological tool. For example Carole, who is a parent of an eight grader, commented saying:

“My instructional technology academic knowledge helped my child to use the websites,…the,

which,… they provided for the parents,…err… efficiently, an’ it open my eyes to see the good

and bad points in there application.” This emphasis indicates the importance of such initiative for

the development of good learning habits by both children and their parents. Carole also pointed

out the absence of the school policies and curriculum with regard to the design of educational
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 30  

interface. She said “I would say…err.. the relationship is successful, but the curriculum need

more work to fit with the device, not just having books in a digital copy.”

As for the question that says: “What knowledge do parents need to have in order to

interact effectively with the technological interface that is presented as part of their kids’

learning?”, all the responses from the interviews and observations indicated that technological

knowledge is the most needed type of knowledge by 4th through 8th graders’ parents. As it is

stated above, all the participants in this study were technology specialists who are studying at

ETRA department as doctoral students. This fact alone shows that the participants were able to

realize the role that technological knowledge played in the parent-interface interaction. One of

the interviewees stated that on many occasions, her knowledge of technology was helpful for

interacting effectively with the interface content and that this ease trickled down on her

daughters’ improvement in the schoolwork.

In general, all the three questions were answered in the light of activity theory and

under the scopes of the data collection methods as well as the findings of the study after

analyzing the interviews and the observations. The questions were used to guide the research

study to reach its conclusions and hence they were consulted throughout the different stages of

the study until the results were used to provide the related answers to each question.

Discussion

The parents of K 12 students in 428 Education District, Dekalb area, have to handle

some of their children’s online and web-based learning because their schools require them to do

part of their education on “Chromebooks”. Parents of 4th through 8th graders need to supervise

their children and help them to do a school task at home. According to the district’s policies the
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 31  

school provides each student with a Chromebook laptop starting at grade 3 and the students are

expected to work on them at home under the supervision of their parents. This role that

educational technology is imposing on the parents of school children can be very demanding if

left unplanned. At the moment, not many parents are able to help their children due to many

reasons. This study revealed that lack of parent-interface interaction can be negative factor in the

enhancement of the Chromebook initiative and consequently might badly affect the children’s

improvement at school. The researcher noticed, from the observations and the interviews with

the parents of 4th through eight graders, that the interface of the Chromebook is not designed to

engage neither the children nor their parents into activities of interaction with the content. This

study showed that not only the course design does not include such interface interaction, but also

the parents are not willing to interact due to lack of instructions and follow-up from the school

and the teacher. Parents understanding alone can not help the Chromebook initiative achieve its

goals; there need to be some school instructions to the parents to raise their awareness and to

invite them to interact with the interface, especially if the interface is instructionally designed to

enhance such interaction. The researcher of this study recommends that the school district should

direct its educators toward the exploitation of such interaction to benefit from the Chromebook

initiative in achieving effective teaching and learning activities. According to Weston, & Bain

(2010), the failure to engage parents in technology-based learning and interaction is one of the

implementation problems, which educators and instructional designers might ignore and

underestimate.

This study was consistent with previous research in showing that I also noticed that

integrating technology in general and web-based learning programs in particular is important but

it needs identifying the factors of success to direct the computing initiatives into proper
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 32  

implementation (Bebell, & O'Dwyer, 2010; Lowther, Inan, Strahl, & Ross, 2012; Weston, M. E.,

& Bain, A. (2010).

The finding of this study revealed that parents of 4th through 8th graders have concerns

toward the implementation of the Chromebook initiative. Technology integrating and computing

initiatives are a source of concern to parents who might refrain from interaction with the

interface content on their Chromebook as astrategy of avoidance to solve problems of security

and control. The contribution of this study will help an education district (i.e. 428 School

District) to understand; how integrating technology into the educational curricula might improve

learning and affect the teachers’ efforts and the students’ achievement. Consulting parents of 4th

through 8th graders can provide advice on how to conduct web-based design that is parent

friendly and that will enhance parents participation. Discovering the many concerns that parents

have regarding the implementation of Chromebook web based programs will positively impact

integrating web-based learning.

In conclusion, parent-interface interaction is a serious and significant issue because it

can enhance the child’s use of web based materials if their parents are able to interact with the

technological interface needed by the district’s policies. Knowing the factors that control

parents’ understanding and participation might bring about benefits to the Chromebook initiative

and similar programs of web-based learning. Activity theory holds that parent-interface

interaction exists in the education in the form of human computer interaction and it is central to

learning and teaching because it provides meaningful collaboration between the object (the

learning environment) and the subject (the learner and learner’s community), so this type of

interaction is vital for school curriculum and should be designed in the learning environment of

the child (Bedny, & Meister, 1997; Bedny, G. & Meister, D. 1999).
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 33  

References

Bebell, D., & Kay, R. (2010). One to one computing: A summary of the quantitative results from

the Berkshire Wireless Learning Initiative. The Journal of Technology, Learning and

Assessment, 9(2).

Bedny, G. & Meister, D. 1997, The Russian Theory of Activity: Current Applications to Design

and Learning (Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates).

Bedny, G. & Meister, D. 1999, Theory of activity and situation awareness, International Journal

of Cognitive Ergonomics, 3, 63 – 72.

Bebell, D., & O'Dwyer, L. M. (2010). Educational Outcomes and Research from 1: 1 Computing

Settings. Journal of Technology, Learning, and Assessment, 9(1), 5-15.

Bogdan, R. & Biklen, S. (2007). Qualitative Research for Education. Boston: Pearson.

Lowther, D. L., Inan, F. A., Strahl, J. D., & Ross, S. M. (2012). Do one-to-one initiatives bridge

the way to 21st century knowledge and skills?. Journal of Educational Computing

Research, 46(1), 1-30.

Maxwell, J. (2013). Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach. (3rd Ed.) Thousand

Oaks: Sage Publications.

Onwuegbuzie, A. J., Leech, N. L., & Collins, K. M. (2012). Qualitative analysis techniques for

the review of the literature. The qualitative report, 17(28), 1.

Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 34  

Weston, M. E., & Bain, A. (2010). The end of techno-critique: The naked truth about 1: 1 laptop

initiatives and educational change. The Journal of Technology, Learning and

Assessment, 9(6).

Weiss, R. (1994). Learning From Strangers: The Art and Method of Qualitative Interview

Studies. New York: Free Press.

Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning
Appendix I
Components of interview guide
Topics-to-learn-about
Parents’ orientedness /
familiarity with WBL
Parents’ educational level
Appendices
Lines od inquiry
Ask respondents about their
readiness and their
familiarity with WBL. Find
out how much they know
about this type of education.
Ask respondents about their
learning experiences and
how technology was
integrated into their
education.
35
Possible questions
How did you react when the
school decided to give your
kid a chrome book and want
them learn on their own. If
you were a chooser would
you choose to this type of
education for your kid? Tell
us about your time that you
have for helping with this
activity? Can you tell us
about your technological
knowledge? So what is your
attitude toward using
technology in your child’s
education?
Did you go to a similar
school as your kid? Can you
walk me through your
experience with educational
technology? What
requirements were there to
get the qualification you
have now? Did you have to
have technological
knowledge of any kind?
How did you relate your
self to educational
technology? How would
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 36
 

you like to share your

experiences as a student
learning with technology?

Parents’ awareness of
interaction significance
Ask the interviewees to talk
about their views of web-
based learning. Why they
think it is important for
their kids.
How do you evaluate the
step of integrating WBL
into your child’s curricula?
Can you tell me about your
first experiences with
WBL? How do you think
WBL is going to affect the
learning of your child? How
about suggesting any ideas
for improving your child’s
school? Why is WBL
needed? On a scale of 0-10,
how do you rate WBL in
K12 education and why?

Parents’ worries and Ask the respondents to
concerns contribute their fears toward
using WBL, and if they
have any worries,
expectations, or hopes.
How would you like to
describe your concerns
about this innovation of
learning? Can you tell us
something about the
difficulties that WBL might
bring with it? Having
mentioned the challenges,
how would you rate your
hopes?

Parents’ relationship with
children
Ask the respondents about
their relationships with their
children and how it affects
their role in assisting with
WBL.
How often do you help your
child with school
assignments? Why do you
think it is enough? Can you
share your suggestions for a
more interactive
communication with school
children? Do you remember
the last time your child
wanted you to paly with
him/her? Do you
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 37
 

communicate
technologically with your
child? How do you feel
about your child’s
technological knowledge?
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 38  

Appendix II

Observation Notes

Observation Setting

• Date 11/02/2016
• Time 7:10 – 7:35 pm
• The observation took place in a living room. Steve (pseudo name), who is a parent of a
fourth grader, received me in his living room invited me for some coffee and I observed
how he and his son worked together on the Chromebook. This parent is highly interested in
the Chromebook initiative and knows a lot about it.
• The tools used in this observation included a timing device (my cell phone), observation
sheets, a pen and pencil, an NIU student ID.
• The room was not very large but it was light and comfortable. The whole meeting was
about an hour long but this observation only covering the 25 minutes from 7: 10 7:35 pm.
• The environment was very quiet in the apartment and my conversation started with the
parent (Steve) to find out what he was going to do and to let he know that the observation is
voluntary and that he can stop me at any time.
• I sat in one of the coaches so that I would be separate from the work itself but I was able to
hear clearly every single conversation between them it was easy for me to observe the rest
of the setting.
• I was interested in the parent’s interaction, so the child was excluded from this observation.
• The weather was pleasant despite a little decrease in temperature as the evening was taking
over and the dark was overwhelming the town.

Descriptive Notes Reflective Notes (Observer’s behavior)

Observer’s Aim Observer’s Aim

• Focus on Chromebook
• Include different actions and
conversations.
• Include observer’s comments (CO)
• Include Quotation marks & Quotation
• Focus on hunches and feelings
boxes.
• Record observer’s impression
• Focus on the parent separately.
• Include emerging Hypotheses
• Describe particular events.
• Write down observer’s Speculations
• Focus on concrete behaviors.
• Pay attention to every detail.
• Set 25 minutes of continuous
observation. • Use observer’s subjectivity in recording the
moment
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 39  

About the physical set up of the observation place

There was a coach and there were some armchairs in the living room but the observation started
with only two people so there was a lot of space and although the I sat away from the participant
and his child, most of the time I concentrated on the parent’s interaction with the interface of the
Chromebook . The interface included a school Website, school emails, some games, applications,
Internet information, reading Website, and a lot of Internet information. However, there was no
blackboard or discussion boards or any type of feed back platforms.

The living room also had two doors and two glass windows on both sides. The coach and chairs
were navy blue color and nicely manufactured to suit gusts’ choices in terms of size, comfort,
cleanness, sociability, and how comfortable you can be in a home.

All the furniture in the room was nicely arranged for use and the door way was clear. At the front
there was a TV screen on which I glanced there was some news program, but there was no sound as
the volume was mute. Towards the back there is another door, which leads to the yard but I did not
go that far. Clearly this was a family home because it had picture of a family hanging everywhere
on the walls.

It also had another painting of the sea on the wall behind me. I did not notice any noise of any other
children but when I asked the parent he said he had another two children who are younger than his
son.

The observation started at 7:10 exactly and I had to set up my cell phone to time myself although
there was a clock on the wall opposite me. The reason I did this was that I was not sure that clock
was working properly because it looked as if not moving, but in fact it was working.

I thought the parent and his child might be feeling strange that someone is observing them working
on a school task, but they did not worry about my presence during the observation which I thought
was an advantage for my study. They were looked interested in their work despite the fact that they
knew I was watching them, perhaps the position of the coach which I chose helped me become
invisible to them.

Descriptive & Reflective Notes

Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 40  

I arrived at my participant’s house at 6:45 and he opened the door and invited me into the living
room. When the time was 7:05, I asked him to start get ready for working on the Chromebook.
Then, my observation started 5 minutes later (at 7:10).

At first, there was a problem seeing the information on the screen from where I was sitting but then
I told the parent about this problem and he shared t on the TV screen so now I was able to follow
every single piece of information. Being an educational technology specialist, my participant
(Steve) was very professional in sharing the stuff on the TV screen and it only took about three
minutes. Perhaps, this was one of the advantages of parent’s technological knowledge.

On the school website, Steve showed me how they communicate with the school administration and
teachers. however, he indicated his worry that this communication is mainly regarding
administrative issues rather than pedagogical and teaching issues.

There is no platform specially designed to handle the Chromebook tasks and feedback. The school
website does not have any feature that is allocated to this Chromebook initiative per se. the
participant worked on some school emails regarding social and sport activities, then he moved to a
reading website that he says he discovered by himself, as an instructional technology specialist, but
the school does not require them to use any links or site that are suggested by the school educators.

On the reading website this parent asked his child to read something and tell us what it said. The
child spent some time reading from the website on the Chromebook and then talked to his father
about it and asked his father some questions. (this was a positive point in using this initiative, but
my concern here is that it is discovered by this very particular parent, so what will happen to
hundreds of student who do not have such a parent).

Finally, the participant went into games which he said his child liked playing on the Chromebook
and shared some concerns about them such as addiction of such websites and availability of games
on every technological device other than the Chromebook.

I did not want the parent too discuss this issues with me as I really was interested in how he
interactes with this initiative rather than in his opinion.

When it was only five minutes left, I reminded my participant that it is nearly time and that I had to
stop the observation. So, he moved to an old assignment which was required by the teacher some
weeks before and talked about saying that it was agood idea but there weren not many similar
assignments. according to this parent, the school leaves the parent and children alone with the
Chromebook. Therte is no guidance or advice ar tasks or assignments. the teacher does not require
you to do anything apart from the keeping of the Chromebook and taking responsibility that it is
safe and intact. There is not much educational stuff on the Chromebook that is designed to the
Parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning 41  

specific school environment or the specific district curriculum.