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When we implement Storypark, as much as the positives are exciting to be introducing this program, we do need to think and reflective on the negative/challenging points to implementing an online-based program for the children's learning. If we think about the idea of 'media literacy' and what it means to be media literate, we need to look at the set of capabilities that define 'media literacy'. The set of capabilities that are included are: Access, understanding, awareness, analysis, evaluation, creation, reflection and participation. In addition to these eight elements, there is a strong assumption that media-literate people will have not only the ability to do these things but also the desire to do them-and then to act on what they learn (Scheibe & Rogow, 2012, p. 19-20). So, we need to be aware when implementing Storypark that all families and staff have those capabilities to be involved or to provide support opportunities to those who need it so that everyone has equitable access and usage of Storypark. It wouldn't be fair if some families didn't have access or some staff who are maybe not technological savvy, to use a social media program as they wouldn't be able to use it to its full advantage. We would need to think of some ideas or support systems in which we could provide an alternative or support methods in for those families or staff who may need it. When we had our intensive weekend for this unit and we had to talk about our ideas for this assignment, another peer had talked about how they use it in their service which was great to hear how another educator perceives it from an educator point of view. They had talked about how the parent feedback and communication had really improved as they found that parents were involved more and felt like they could have more input into their child's learning. They did talk about how in Storypark however, there isn't really a space for providing what learning the children have been achieving or for reflective practice for the program, in why things are introduced, modified or ended. I guess that when we trial it at our centre, I will be able to see how myself how it works and then how I could incorporate that into Storypark as it is an aspect of programming. I did ask the peer about privacy issues with Storypark and they said that it is set up that the parent can only see their individual child's learning and group dashboard, but they all have their own log in and passwords, so it is secure space that isn't just on a website for anyone to see. Overall what I had heard from this peer was great feedback about this program which I have communicated to my service, but we will have to wait for the trial next year and then hopefully we can begin to use such a creative way to document children's learning and development. As much as just implementing Storypark into our service, it is a whole team approach, staff, management and families especially when implementing something related to the internet. If we do implement Stroypark into our service, I hope that our communications and interactions get forgotten or limited as everything about their child will be on Storypark. In the article written by Yost and Fan (2014) says that 'negative perceptions may be minimised as participants use social media technologies to support, rather than replace, face-to-face interactions, and moreover when users are guaranteed a safe and secure online environment' (p. 41).

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From these resources, it has made me think more positively about using an online tool such as Storypark to implement into our service. As we are a parent committee run centre, new implementations that involve the children must be passed through the committee and agreed on but when discussing Storypark through the committee they did have some concerns about it. The staff as well had to go through a survey to answer different questions about what we would think of Storypark and using it. All the staff were eager and thought about the instant communication that we would have between the families and the children's learning and that is would provide more accessible time for the parents to look and provide feedback rather than at drop off and pick up times. Using Storypark will also be valuable in that we can post videos of the children doing group activities, incursions, post photos from that day and write something about it where at the moment with what we are doing now, we can't show video's which I am sure all the families would love to see and it also provides a space for the children and their families to watch, look, talk and discuss what has happened when they are home. When this was discussed with the parent committee it seemed like a different story as they were more worried about the cost of the program and budgeting, time for the educators to implement and use this program and the confidentiality and privacy issues that are related to social media but did think of using an online tool for communication would be beneficial. We will be starting a trial next year for the educators to use to see if it will be beneficial to use within our service. Another great aspect of using a social media program is that we will become more sustainable within our practices. As our programming is not using a social media, it's in paper form where we are printing the children's documentation from the computer and writing our programs by hand, so moving to an online program, there won’t be any of those resources being used that are involved in that form which will have on money and our environment.

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When looking at the Victorian Early Years Learning Framework, one of the Practice Principals is called Partnership with Families. A few points that are included in this principal that stand out for me are:

"Partnerships between early childhood professionals and families have not always been the norm and may not be an expectation of families. This requires professionals to persist in establishing and strengthening partnerships."

"Early childhood professionals work in partnership with all families within communities to build links between home and other settings a child attends. This provides greater consistency and complementary for the child"

"Some families may find it challenging to engage
with early childhood professionals because of
their own experiences, for example their language,
cultural or socio-economic backgrounds, health or
disability related issues. This requires early childhood
professionals to use multiple ways to communicate with
families, to negotiate and overcome barriers to equity
and engagement."

All these points are requirements that, as early childhood educators must uphold when thinking about developing the children's program. This has got me thinking about my own practices and that we haven't quite figured out the best way to communicate and have active family involvement within our programming. With the parents we are always verbally communicating at drop off times or pick up times but that is just about day-to-day conversations rather than feedback on programs and children's individual learning. Hopefully in providing an online tool that is easily accessible will allow parents and family members to provide feedback and have input in times that are more appropriate for them.

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This article was very interesting to read, as it was lik the other article, but I thought it provided some more opposing arguments that highlighted some challenges that may be faced when introducing an online tool for communication. The points that had will help me to be mindful when implementing an online tool were:

Exchange of information and important insights about children's development, parenting styles and preferences helps to strengthen family perspectives and educators' pedagogical approaches. (p. 36)

When used appropriately, social media tools 'can be powerful socialisation models for children to develop relationships with others' (p. 36)

Providing a secure online environment, whilst encouraging parents of young children and educators to share and exchange information is, however, likely to be challenging. (p. 37)

To be able to contact them [parents] immediately rather than put something in the file box which they may not pick up until next week, is much quicker. (p. 39)

Negative perceptions may be minimised as participants use social media technologies to support, rather than to replace, face-to-face interactions, and moreover when users are guaranteed a safe and secure online environment. (p. 41)

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Social media technologies for collaboration and communication perceptions of childcare professio

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When reading this article, I thought it was reading exactly what I needed to read. This article had helped me in thinking about social media in a bit different way within my work place. There is always a fear of changing when technology is involved as the risk of confidentiality is always a concern as the internet can be a dangerous place, but I guess it comes down to how you use it and on what forums you will use. A few points that really had got my attention were:

Compared to the aforementioned traditional modes of communication, social media offers greater flexibility, as participants are able to share and retrieve information and network with others outside of the centre’s hours of operation. This is reflected in the increasing desire among these participants to have more efficient ways of communicating and collaborating regarding children’s education. (p. 8)

this paper reveals that concerns and risks in relation to confidentiality were part of the reasons that limited the social media adoption among these participants. (p. 8)

although the flexibility associated with social media tools has been well recognised, these risks need to be addressed for future social media tool design and implementation to be successful in EC education. For both EC professionals and families, all communication and collaboration through social media need to be done with due consideration of confidentiality and ‘online professionalism’ (p. 8)

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Keeping connected exploring the potential of social media as a new avenue for communication and 

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As I had wanted to relate this assignment to my work place and I have been thinking about how I could introduce technology within my service whether I would start with the children or the families. One challenge that our work has always found challenging is the lack of family involvement and the building of collaborative partnerships with families (Fan & Yost, 2018) which seem to be a common issue for early childcare professionals. We have implemented various ways within the room to provide areas for feedback about the program, but when parents are dropping off or picking up, they are in a rush to get to work or to get home after a day at work, so we get little to no involvement with the program. In education, students and young children are becoming increasingly technologically literate, and hence readily seek and embrace newer, faster and more efficient ways of communicating and collaborating in an online environment. (Fan & Yost, 2014, p. 37) So with this knowledge and discussions at work with incorporating for accessible and flexible times for parents, Storypark is a tool that we are going to trial to see if that can help bridge the gap with families having input into the program and their child's development.

"Storypark is an app developed for mobile devices which allows EC educators and parents to share photos and videos and receive instant feedback on recorded learning experiences (Storypark 2017). This app has now gained the attention of educators and families in 23 countries, including Australia (Storypark 2017). This growing interest in such social media applications calls for more explorations around their potential use and EC stakeholders’ readiness to adopt these tools." (Fan & Yost, 2018, p. 2)