Homeschoolers and Emerging Technology: Homeschoolbook

*names have been changed

Although its association with cigarettes makes it dubious, I have the urge to use the slogan, “We’ve come a long way, baby!” When I first started volunteering for my local homeschool group, around 2002, I was the newsletter editor. This involved printing and mailing the newsletter to each family in the group--about 100. Based on my recent interaction with home educators, the local group no longer has a newsletter--not even an electronic one. Now families mainly communicate via Facebook.

Anna mentions that she uses “Facebook groups designated for homeschooling.” She accesses Facebook frequently, for herself and for others: “I do read through my FB group posts daily for info or to help others.” Beatrice says that as part of her information gathering for homeschooling, “FB groups pop up almost daily.” Sheila also finds homeschool information on Facebook. She says, “I often use homeschool ... Facebook groups.” Not only that, but she bumps into useful information on Facebook even when she is not looking for it: “Usually it's when I am talking with another homeschooler or on Facebook or something like that.”  Amy encounters homeschool information on Facebook as well. She says, “Often I’ll be reading a mommy blog or FB post that will mention an interesting book or article.”

This preference for Facebook mirrors what Cassidy et al. (2014) noted among the college students that they studied. When asked through which technology they preferred to receive library information, “most students preferred Facebook (70.6%)." Professor Stephens pointed out in his lecture that “Web 2.0” is interactive. This characteristic comes into play for homeschoolers. A paper newsletter allows one-way communication. It is an effective way to disseminate a large amount of information such as legislative news, event details, teaching tips, etc. In order to respond to the information, however, homeschoolers had to come to meetings (or make phone calls). Facebook allows immediate interaction. Homeschoolers can type a quick comment on a Facebook post. There is no scheduling or driving involved, as there is with attending a meeting. I have my own guesses, but it would be interesting to study exactly why homeschoolers are drawn to the hyper-convenient interaction of Facebook.

References

Cassidy, E.D., Colmenares, A., Jones, G., Manolovitz, T., Shen, L., Viera, S. (2014). Higher education and emerging technologies: shifting trends in student usage. The Journal of Academic Librarianship (40)2014, 124-133.