Alexandra Uifalean
December 10th, 2019
There’s a lot going on in the educational world these days.
“If half the battle for teachers is engaging students, the other half is engaging their parents.” — The Guardian
Every school needs a reliable and robust communication channel. Educators need to make sure parents are up to speed with what goes on in the classroom. In this day and age, bridging the gap between parents, teachers & students is more important than ever.
“Technology has transformed the three-way relationship between parents, schools, and learners,” points out Simon Shaw, who used to lead the parental engagement program at British Educational Communications & Technology Agency (BECTA).
With consumer tech taking over the classroom, school management apps can engage and educate both students and parents in the learning experience. It’s an all-in-one solution that not only simplifies school management but also helps teachers, parents, and students connect and communicate.
In this article, we’ll have a look at how school management apps help teachers and schools communicate effectively with parents and students and keep them engaged.
According to the National Education Association, students whose parents are actively engaged in their schooling typically show the following:
Another report from the National Center for Family and Community Connections with Schools showed that parental involvement in school correlates with higher grade point averages.
In 2017, Columbia University conducted a study on middle and high school parents. They sent weekly, automated alerts to parents about their child’s missed assignments, grades, and class absences. The alerts reduced course failures by 28%, increased class attendance by 12%, and increased student retention.
All research points to the same conclusion: parental engagement in children’s learning makes a significant difference to their academic achievements. When families are involved in their children’s learning process, kids tend to do better in school, stay in school longer, and pursue higher education.
But we’re living in a fast-paced world.
Balancing work and family is a tough challenge for many working parents. Pew Research Center conducted a survey asking working parents how balancing work and family had affected their careers. “Roughly a quarter (27%) said being a working mother or father had made it harder for them to advance in their job or career. An even higher share (38%) said being a working parent had made it harder for them to be a good parent.”
So what’s the best way to engage parents when they have so much on their plates?
Despite their busy schedules, parents should be able to efficiently communicate with teachers from anywhere. The goal of an online school management system is to improve parent involvement. Here’s how the app helps parents:
Keeps parents on track with upcoming events, parent-teacher meetings or last-minute announcements, school policies, fee structure, exam schedule and much more.
Parents and teachers can easily chat about their child's performance and keep track of attendance through the mobile app. Plus, the push notification lets parents know about the homework assigned for each subject.
There’s no need for parents to go to school to present a leave application when their kid can’t attend school. They can easily submit it online via the app.
Here’s the thing with student engagement: engaged students grow into active learners.
Nowadays, when students are more in touch with tech trends than ever, schools have to keep up. With technology becoming part of their everyday life, it makes sense we mix traditional teaching with modern tech tools. Schools that understand how to use them efficiently are one step ahead to meet students’ changing needs.
Every opportunity to engage students should be uniquely tailored. With the right apps, schools can optimize the learning experience and promote a more responsive education system.
Students use their smartphones for almost everything. Having school information one click away encourages them to take their time and learn at their pace.
Students have 24/7 access to timetables, homework & resources shared by the teachers within the app.
Whatever they need help with homework or have a specific question, students can send messages and communicate with the school anytime.
Students can check out the mobile app for last-minute announcements regarding holidays or school functions, exam schedule and much more.
We’re living in a world where we use mobiles for everything, so technology is key to getting things done and making connections.
There’s an app for almost all aspects of life: socializing, ordering food, booking holidays, staying organized, etc. It only makes sense there’d be one for building engaged communities with parents and students. Here’s how school management apps keep everybody in the loop and boost engagement.
Student-teacher collaboration should go beyond the classroom. Collaborating involves building healthy relationships, which happens when teachers are comfortable giving advice and students are not afraid to ask for help.
A mobile app helps students and teachers keep in touch. It gives students the freedom to reach their teachers for emergency questions. When teachers are available to engage in discussions anytime, they’re not only helping students with their academic progress, but also promote a friendly environment and foster a sense of community.
A lot of paper notifications from school end up in the trash or build up a pile of negligible reading material. Through mobile apps, schools put relevant information right into the hands of parents and students.
They can access it from anywhere, anytime—easy-to-read content and saved all in one place. Keep in mind: a connected parent is an engaged parent.
Earlier before, we talked about how parental engagement is linked to student engagement. It turns out students with engaged parents learn better. Having an app to keep parents in the loop not only increases engagement but can also create healthier relationships with their kids. It leaves room for active conversations because whenever they have doubts, they can reach out to teachers.
Both parents and students can check out timetables, grades, homework, which creates a sense of transparency in the relationship and improves communication.
School management apps send push notifications to keep parents and students up-to-date with the latest events in the school timetable. Whether its school closings, last-minute changes or parent-teacher meetings, this information system will keep teachers, parents, and students in sync.
Most mobile apps provide services such as mass text communication, class and teacher updates, parent conference schedulers, attendance reports, and reminders—to name a few. Forget about lost mail or forgotten emails.
“Communication apps are breaking down barriers that have limited parent engagement in the past,” points out Edutopia.
The digital revolution has generated new ways for parents to follow up with their children’s performance in the classroom while strengthening their relationship with schools. School management apps keep parents and students on top of what’s going on at school. From homework to events to last-minute news and due fees, it supports both teams in the learning journey, from start to finish.
Not to mention, using direct and instant communication can save everyone a lot of time and money.
Teach ’n Go makes sure both parents and students get the information they need, when they need it, on their phones.
Ready to give it a go? Try it now for free.
More Blog Posts:
How Teach 'n Go Software Can Help Manage Any Small Teaching Business
Finding the Right Music School: 10 Things You Should Consider
Sign up to Teach 'n Go
Tip: Choose School Owner/Administrator if you're setting up a school for the first time on Teach 'n Go.
