How do you incorporate parent-teacher communication into your school website design?
In the old days, parents would perhaps have a note or newsletter from their child’s teacher delivered to them by the child – often unreliably. Perhaps in more extreme circumstances, the parent might receive a phone call from the teacher. Otherwise, communication would have to wait until parent-teacher conferences or other arranged meetings.
Parent-teacher Communications
Thanks to advancements in communication technology, there are myriad digital solutions for parents and teachers to remain in close contact daily. Various apps exist for teachers to communicate with parents seamlessly. When choosing which app to use, it comes down to the preferences of teachers, parents and schools.
Remind
This is probably the most popular app out there for parent-teacher communication, with as many as 70% of US public schools using it. This versatile two-way messaging app is tailored for teacher-parent communication and protects personal information such as phone numbers while ensuring seamless contact between all parties.
ClassDojo
Although this popular app includes teacher-parent communication functionality, it primarily functions as a classroom management and student portfolio tool. CassDojo also tracks and manages student behaviour. Although it does not allow for two-way communication, it does an excellent job of keeping parents appraised.
Google Classroom
If students have G Suite accounts, teachers can set up communications with parents by having them sign up to receive email updates regarding their children’s progress, grades and other announcements. Although it is not the most versatile tool, it does provide much transparency – which many parents appreciate.
Bloomz
This app provides a similar social media experience to Facebook but is centred on classroom groups. It uniquely allows parents to interact with other parents, as well as with the teachers. It boasts the ability to share and comment on pictures and posts, much like on other social media platforms.
ClassTag
ClassTag works similarly to Bloomz, except that it features the ability to instantly translate messages and responses into a wide array of languages. It is generally preferred by preparatory and primary school teachers and parents.
Konnective
This app enables schools to create a sort of newsfeed for parents, customised according to the school’s preferences. It is more of a one-way communication tool, but it is effective for sharing announcements, polls, permission forms and so on without any need for paper. Parents can subscribe to receive push notifications, so they don’t miss anything.
TalkingPoints
This app works as a two-way messaging app – similar to Remind – but its main selling point is its ability to translate messages into more than 100 different languages automatically. Talking Points doesn’t allow you to group parents like Remind does, though.
Various other apps exist, including Seesaw, Klassly, Classting, or ParentSquare, for example. You could even use Twitter, Whatsapp and Facebook.
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