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Parent Learning Through Complementary Online Social Collaboration: A Case Study of Parentopia

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Learning, Design, and Technology

Abstract

The online platform parentopia was developed to complement information delivery and learner engagement in an in-person early childhood-parenting education program. Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) is a school district-sponsored model of community education in Minnesota in which parents and their young children (birth to 5 years) meet with other families weekly for 2 hours; they interact jointly then separate for the second hour. Learning is facilitated by licensed early childhood and parenting educators. Features that distinguish ECFE as a form of parenting education include discussion-based pedagogy, peer problem-solving and relationship building, long term, “low-dose” interaction that engages families over years rather than weeks, links to community resources for families and early childhood screening, and universal access for all families (v. targeted populations). The model closely aligns with social learning theories, particularly situated learning (Lave J, Wenger E, Situated learning. Legitimate peripheral participation. University of Cambridge Press, Cambridge, UK, 1991) and learning by parents as a Community of Practice (Wenger E, Communities of practice learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1998). With support from the National Science Foundation, between 2013 and 2018, an Internet-based, social engagement platform was designed, tested, and implemented. The aim was to complement ECFE and continue research on parent social learning offline and online. The design and implementation project is described using principles of Design-based Implementation Research (Fishman B, Penuel W, Allen AR, Cheng B, Sabelli NORA, Teach Coll Rec 115:136–156, 2013): Identify persistent problems from diverse stakeholder perspectives, commit to collaborative, iterative design, contribute to theory on learning, and implement sustainability. With implementation insights, parentopia continues to be used. COVID-19 meant adaptations in programming for ECFE, yet the existence of the platform and shift in culture toward the use of technology to complement face-to-face teaching offered teachers an environment to sustain information sharing and relationships necessary for the continuity of learning and parent growth.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Social Science, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA

    Susan K. Walker

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  1. Susan K. Walker
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Correspondence to Susan K. Walker .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Info, Ste G150, Univ of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA

    Michael J Spector

  2. School of Education, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA

    Barbara B Lockee

  3. School of Education, Baker University, Overland Park, KS, USA

    Marcus D. Childress

Section Editor information

  1. Organization, Information, and Learning Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Stephanie L. Moore Ph.D.

  2. Instructional Psychology and Technology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA

    Heather Leary

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Walker, S.K. (2023). Parent Learning Through Complementary Online Social Collaboration: A Case Study of Parentopia. In: Spector, M.J., Lockee, B.B., Childress, M.D. (eds) Learning, Design, and Technology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17727-4_186-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17727-4_186-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-17727-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-17727-4

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