Week 7- Remind
For this week technology I focused on the smart phone application Remind. This app is a free parent and teacher communication tool. It is a free text messaging app that helps teachers, students, and parents communicate quickly and efficiently.
According to Remind.com 8.8 Billion messages have been delivered.
From my experience working in classrooms simple and effective communication is something important for teachers and students families. In the past the only means of communication was to print off a paper with the necessary information and send it home with students hoping it made it home and families actually saw it. With the use of smart phones new parent teacher communication applications were created.
Remind is a free app that teachers create classrooms and add families to. This allows them to send direct messages, post information or links, and schedule appointments within the app. This creates a stream lined mode of communication with is made very available because almost all adults have a smart phone. They can be in direct contact with their child's teacher in real time.
I can see this app being very useful as a parent in there is a last minute change in their child's schedule. Many times teachers can't answer or check their messages on their phone so having a notification of the change on their smart phone would be very useful. I can see this app being a concern because it requires teachers to be constantly checking their phones which takes their attention away from the class.
Link directly to more information at remind.com
According to Remind.com 8.8 Billion messages have been delivered.
From my experience working in classrooms simple and effective communication is something important for teachers and students families. In the past the only means of communication was to print off a paper with the necessary information and send it home with students hoping it made it home and families actually saw it. With the use of smart phones new parent teacher communication applications were created.
Remind is a free app that teachers create classrooms and add families to. This allows them to send direct messages, post information or links, and schedule appointments within the app. This creates a stream lined mode of communication with is made very available because almost all adults have a smart phone. They can be in direct contact with their child's teacher in real time.
I can see this app being very useful as a parent in there is a last minute change in their child's schedule. Many times teachers can't answer or check their messages on their phone so having a notification of the change on their smart phone would be very useful. I can see this app being a concern because it requires teachers to be constantly checking their phones which takes their attention away from the class.
Link directly to more information at remind.com
When I student taught, one of the teachers used this to stay connected with her classes. She loved it! I like it in theory, but I wanted to start it last year but just never followed through with posting the code for families. Do you know if, when the parents receive your message, they get it from your number? That would be my only concern.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe so, I think it goes through the app so all the communication is contained in the app so your information would be shared.
DeleteRemind is very popular in our middle schools. Most teachers use it afterschool to send messages about due dates for projects - or to answer questions from students while they are working at home.
ReplyDeleteOur school added remind this year to send notes home to parents. However, in our village not all of the parents have cell phones. They definitely don't have internet in their houses. I think the first thing that I think is that I don't want all of those parents texting me back! I don't want them to have my phone number. I often feel like texting and emails kind of removes a filter of polite conversation. People text and email when they are angry - all of those parents texting me sounds like a nightmare! Anyway my cell phone up here doesn't work as I have Verizon - at least on the island. Once I fly back into Anchorage it works again and haphazardly in Nome. So I use a Google hangouts phone for texting - still don't want to give that number out to any parents or teenagers. If it was a one way app? I would maybe think about it. I guess I just feel like I don't need that level of immediacy with parents. Have you run into any problems?
ReplyDeleteIs this app specifically designed for teachers/parents or does it have other uses as well? I could see it being particularly useful if it is targeted just towards teachers/parents, since I'm sure they have specific communications needs and concerns.
ReplyDeleteI have never used Remind because I use Class Dojo and I can barely get any of my 4th grade parents to use it. When I taught kindergarten and first grade, I had no problem with parents wanting to join Class Dojo. I am now wondering if Remind would be better for parents of my 4th grade students. I don't feel like my parents are concerned with their child's behavior in Class Dojo, but they don't have a lot to be concerned about. I really am only using Class Dojo as a reward system and I don't take points away from my students. I have a really good class this year and I am not experiencing a lot of behavior issues. I also have other systems in place when I do have behavior problems. I think this summer I will look into Remind for parents, while keeping Class Dojo for rewarding points.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a great tool. There are some great ones out there.
ReplyDelete