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Smart phones require smart communication strategies
As more schools and districts are discovering, smart communications using smart phones can help keep families connected to schools and their personnel in productive and convenient ways, while offering new avenues for parent and student engagement.
Backing these new apps with sophisticated databases and other programs that make upkeep easier can go a long way in helping time-stressed school personnel manage communications more effectively and efficiently.
MPS, for example, spent time and money creating a central database of key school data. When changes need to be made as a result of employee resignations and appointments, programmatic shifts, the opening of new schools, or other issues, the changes are made in the database by designated staff.
Once the database is updated, the revised information populates the mobile website automatically, eliminating the need to make changes by hand in HTML coding on each individual webpage, a painstaking and time-consuming process.
For MPS, resisting the temptation to jump into mobile communications too quickly has paid dividends. By thinking through long-term needs for sustainability, and working across traditional central-office silos and schools, MPS already has gained greater employee collaboration and cooperation.
While it’s too early to know whether the new mobile app and interactive features will improve parent engagement, so far, it looks like a model worth replicating.
Award-winning eSchool News columnist Nora Carr is the chief of staff for North Carolina’s Guilford County Schools.
See also:
How to engage parents online more effectively
4 Responses to Smart phones require smart communication strategies
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Tomsmcdonald
October 10, 2012 at 5:01 pm
This is all fine and dandy for speeding up existing elements, but where are the deep learning, transfer and application benefits to individual advanced student learning outcomes?
We again try to find a use for technology rather than focusing in research driven pedagogy.
“Backing these new apps with sophisticated databases and other programs that make upkeep easier can go a long way in helping time-stressed school personnel manage communications more effectively and efficiently”.
What about the students and advancing their educational outcomes. This is where the priority should be.
jessica_ruby
October 11, 2012 at 4:26 am
Thanks for sharing this useful information with us. Ever since man invented technology, the use and dependency on it has been tremendous. The use of technology has been seen not only at work place but also in schools. I am sure many schools after reading this post may schools will think of using technology is a smarter sense for the success of the students.
nkcarr79
October 11, 2012 at 2:19 pm
Thank you for the feedback. Communications and parent outreach are the focus of my columns, not teaching and learning. My view? We need to focus on student learning and advancing outcomes for them, and keeping parents informed and engaged is an important part of making that happen.
alefiyabhatia
November 14, 2012 at 7:43 pm
Couldn’t agree more Nora. The huge communication gap and lack of parent involvement at schools where I taught is what led me to step out of the classroom and into the business world to create an easy solution for schools to connect with their communities and for parents to be excited and engaged, through Mobile. Do check out http://www.Crescerance.com – would love your thoughts, ideas and feedback, if you have a moment!