Edclicking Keyword Cloud
By Dr. Harry Tennant
Wednesday, November 9, 2011 Is Your School Still Using The Computer Equivalent Of The Yellow Pages? One significant challenge teachers and other educators face when attempting to contact parents is accessing the correct contact information to do so. Phone numbers, emails, and other contact information change throughout each year. In most school computer systems, teachers cannot edit or add contact information as they become aware of it. They can only access a student management system that was populated with data at the beginning of the year and is rarely updated through the year. On any given campus, typically only one (or at most a handful) of staff are authorized to update this information. Consequently, the information is as often wrong, incomplete, or out-dated as it is correct. What an inefficient system!
Imagine too that you are a teacher who has to address email to 20-100 students and/or parents per week. What a pain! Of course, a teacher could build a group in their email program, but then the challenge is keeping up with those groups and making sure the email addresses of group members stay up-to-date. There are better ways to tackle this challenge! Instead, if you use a web-based communication solution like EdClick's Collaboration Manager, all staff members are empowered to update student and parent contact information dynamically, as they become aware of changes. At school, from home, or wherever else they are connected to the internet, staff members can access student contact information that is as fresh as the last communication any staff member had with that parent. When they learn of new contact information, within a minute they can update it for the benefit of all. It is a dynamic, decentralized process that is efficient, collaborative, and promotes enhanced communication and cooperation between home and school. Consider this form:  This function is called "Flash Messages." When teachers log on, they can view and edit their students by section or however they'd like them organized. Above, you can see Mary Armey's Period 2 Biology section. The students listed are in this section. The teacher can easily add or drop students with a few clicks. They don't even have to type the student's name! Beyond their sections, teachers and other staff members can create groups in any way they care to. Science Club, Football Team, Tutoring Group, or whatever. Again, it is a matter of clicking links and check boxes. All of this can be done by teachers with a 30-second learning curve!!! With this tool, educators in the school can more easily batch send emails out to select students, groups of students, whole grade levels, and even the whole school. They simply use the form shown above. Messages can be sent to student email addresses, parent email addresses, or both. Where the student/parent doesn't have an email address, the symbol of a phone identifies them as requiring another method of contact. Finally, the system archives all outgoing messages. In so many ways, this tool tightens the communication loop and further professionalizes a school's parent involvement efforts. It is a steady stepping stone on the path to continuous improvement in schools! You are a call or email away from a personalized demo right from the comfort of your computer! Posted at 10:14 PM Keywords: EdClick , Collaboration Manager , Parent Involvement , Parent Communication , Continuous Improvement , Discipline , RTI , Special Education 2 Comments |