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Melissa Williams

EDU-225

September 14, 2014

Professor Berges

Technology to Support Communication
Communication is the foundation of success between parents, students,
educators and administrators. Without communication, our society would cease to
function. Due to great scientific advances in the last century, technology has
become our communication hub. The use of technology in the classroom has become
a necessity for the current generation.

Technology to Enhance Communication
Remind 101: Remind 101 is an effective group communication tool used in
classrooms across the country. It offers teachers a free, safe and simple way to
connect instantly with students and parents. After the instructor establishes an
account, students and parents can choose to opt-in and receive one way text or
email messages. Remind 101 keeps phone numbers hidden so that the parties
cannot see the others numbers. (Remind101, 2014.)
Parents: Remind 101 can be used to inform parents of upcoming events
such as picture day or tests. It can also be used to remind parents of
conferences, PTA meetings, fundraising activity and field trips.
Students: Remind 101 can be used to remind students of homework
assignments, practice times for extra-curricular activities and schedules
changes.
Global Community: Remind 101 can be used to remind the global community
of upcoming events, sports schedules and scores, fundraising activities and
emergency evacuation plans due to bomb threats, fire or other disasters.
Phone Messenger: The School Messenger notification system delivers large
volumes of messages through several channels including voice, push notification,
social media, web post and desktop alert.
Parents: School Messenger notifies the parents of any absences for the
student, lunch balances on accounts, school meeting and events and
important and urgent messages regarding the safety of the school and the
students. Comprehensive absence notification with School Messenger has
been shown to drive significant increases in student
attendance.(Resources School Messenger, n.d.)
Students: School messenger benefits the student through parent
communication. By keeping parents informed of absences and tardiness,
students will make a conscious effort to be at school on time.
Global Community: Since parents are the only individuals notified through
the School messenger system, it shows very little benefit to the community.
However, if students attend school on a regular basis, chances are that their
grades will improve which will result in better test scores which will lead to
more funding which will benefit the community.
Website/Blogging/Email: By utilizing a website and blog, communication will be
very accessible for most everyone involved in the educational process. Websites
and blogs should maintain current news and information. This allows the
information to be accessible to everyone. The information posted on the website
should be informative and relevant.
Parents: Parents may access the website at any time. Homework
assignments, test dates, standards, student expectations and district
policies should be accessible from this website:
http://williams4kwonders.weebly.com/blog
Students: The teacher website should contain information to answer
students questions pertaining to homework, school rules and
regulations, and other important information. Under the tab Student
Resources, links should be available for the student to access previous
websites and other web resources used in the classroom. This will
reinforce learning and increase opportunities for instruction outside
of school.
Global Community: The school or teacher website may inform the
community of upcoming events, fundraisers, sport activities or general
information about the faculty and staff.
Parent Portal: The Parent Portal is an online program which after signing in
with a user name and password, allows the parent to review the students schedule,
grades, and attendance. The portal allows parents to directly communicate with
teachers via email through a direct link if they have questions about their
students progress. (Olmstead, 2013, p.37)
Parents: The Parent Portal is a widely used communication tool in
school districts. Parents have access to grades, attendance, lunch
account balances, teacher information, student schedules and
graduation progress.
Students: Students have access to a Student portal which provides
access to graduation progress, schedules and teacher email addresses.
Global Communities: Communities do not have access to this
information due to the private and sensitive information contained in
these files.

Technology can be a great asset to support communication in an educational
setting, however those tools must be used correctly. Digital and social media
etiquette must be preserved at all times. Websites must be maintained, portals
must be updated, blogs must be current, email must be addressed in a short time
frame, text messages must be timely and phone calls must be informational. Life is
busy and people are constantly on the move. Keeping in touch can be difficult.
Technology enhances communication which fosters good relationships between the
teacher, the student, the parent and the school.







References
Olmstead, C. (2013). Using Technology to Increase Parent Involvement in
Schools.Techtrends: Linking Research & Practice To Improve Learning, 57(6),
28-37.
Remind | Teacher resources for using Remind (formerly Remind101). (n.d.).
Retrieved from https://www.remind.com/teachers
Resources | SchoolMessenger. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.schoolmessenger.com/resources/

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