Evaluating Usability of a Classroom Website Designed to Improve Communication Between Home and School

Abstract

Relationships and communication between home and school play a critical role in the development of young students and contribute to their overall success in school. Research suggests that when a school involves parents and families it in turn affects the success of the child. Typically, most communications between a child’s home and school are done via some sort of paper-based flyer, form, brochure or packet. Therefore it is the sole responsibility of the student to be the gatekeeper of information between home and school. In some cases, there is a communication breakdown that occurs. By creating a classroom website, it allows parents to stay connected and informed about their child’s learning. A usability study was conducted to evaluate the ease-of-use and functionality of a 5th grade classroom website designed to improve communication with parents at a public school in Hawaii. Feedback suggested changing the order of the pages by importance rather than alphabetically, providing summaries of the programs to make it easily accessible for parents, and adding a list of important dates to the welcome page of the site. Further research will be conducted to phase in an online gradebook and provide opportunities to promote further communication between home and school.