Utilising technology to connect the hospital and the classroom: Maintaining connections using tablet computers and a Presence App/ Liza Hopkins

Reduced school attendance is a recognised risk factor for poorer outcomes both educationally and across a wide range of social, economic and personal indicators throughout life. Children and young people with chronic health conditions often have poor or disrupted records of school attendance due to periods of hospitalisation and time spent recuperating at home. Keeping students with health conditions connected to school and learning is critical to avoid a trajectory of school absence, disengagement from schoolwork and peers, reduced achievement in education and early school leaving. This paper reports on a research project conducted in Victoria, Australia, to connect 7–12 year old hospitalised children with their school using a specially designed Presence App run on a mobile tablet computer. Nine hospitalised students, their families and schools participated in the trial. Results indicate that the Presence App helped to create and maintain a social presence for the absent child in the classroom and keep students at risk of disengagement connected to school. Our research also showed that while the ‘Presence’ App complemented existing information and communication technology such as videoconferencing and email by connecting hospitalised student and school, it had added advantages over these modes of communication such as creating an on-going classroom presence for the hospitalised child while respecting privacy and attempting to minimise disruption in the hospital and classroom settings.