| Challenges |
|
When we started SchoolSpeak, our mission
was very clear: develop a comprehensive and integrated solution
for all school needs under a single system. The system should
facilitate schools to communicate electronically with parents,
teachers to publish homework and grades and provide various
tools for the school community. The system should serve
like a corporate Intranet that everyone can access any time
for whatever they need. |
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| Can
you replace paper? |
| Traditionally,
schools have used paper for all their communication. It takes
significant effort and cost to operate the paper-based system.
However, it has been very effective, if not efficient
by today’s standards. The paper comes home with students
and families stick it on the refrigerator for immediate look
up. Any alternative should be less costly, more efficient,
and should not break the system. |
| |
| School
Website |
| Many
schools have tried using their website for school communication.
It provides an immediate answer to eliminating paper. The
school posts the announcements and weekly envelope online
and parents can download them. |
| |
| Your
website is a convenient and less costly solution for weekly
school communication. However there is a limitation on what
you can publish on the website – cannot include any
confidential and sensitive information.. It is also difficult
to get parents regularly check the website which reduces its
effectiveness. All information that needs to be posted on
the website usually goes through one person and it becomes
a bottleneck. Tech savvy teachers post announcements and homework
on the website, but the majority is left out. The web site
is also static. “School closed for Winter Holidays”
stays on the site, unless someone remembers to change it. |
| |
| For
parents looking for specific information, it is very difficult
to find what has changed or what is applicable for today.
The more the parents are made to click and read through, the
less effective the becomes. |
| |
| SchoolSpeak
is a portal complementary to your website. Your website is
your public face. The portal provides experience for a prospective
family or visitor. SchoolSpeak handles the day-today operational
information – your calendar, announcements, homework,
and grades. SchoolSpeak is personalized for each user. So
every person receives information relevant for them for the
day in a concise manner on a single page. There is just a
single place to check and there is no need to search for information.
You know exactly where to look. |
| |
| Email |
| Many
schools have tried using email and email groups. Parents are
part of multiple email groups – one for the school,
one for each class room that you are part of, one for each
team, committee. They receive the email at work or home and
many times it is difficult for them to locate the email when
they need it. Email spam poses another challenge. To add to
the problem, many parents think they need to reply to emails
and you have heard enough complaints about the number of emails
piling up in people’s inboxes. |
| |
| Email
is a very good communication tool. SchoolSpeak uses a combination
of web portal and email for effective communication. If you
need immediate attention or need to remind parents, you can
easily send an email through SchoolSpeak. You can also forward
announcements posted on SchoolSpeak. SchoolSpeak has integrated
email. For example, email notifications are sent out automatically
when grades are posted or when an activity that someone has
signed up is coming up the following day. We guide you on
how to use email and you can decide what works best for you. |
| |
| If
you receive one email from SchoolSpeak, you receive all email
communication through SchoolSpeak, whether it is a broadcast
message or sent by another user. |
| |
| Simple
to use |
| For
the system to be effective, it should be used by everyone.
It should be easy for parents to check information as well
as for school administrators and teachers to post information. |
| |
| Parents
do not require any training for using SchoolSpeak. Posting
content on SchoolSpeak is as easy as sending email. You do
not need to know web technologies such as HTML. SchoolSpeak
provides a Microsoft Word®-like interface for posting
content. |
| |
| Simple
to administer |
| Most
schools do not have the technical resources or the budget
to manage yet another system. SchoolSpeak can be managed by
a non-technical person. SchoolSpeak is managed by the school
administrator or the principal, the computer teacher or even
a parent volunteer in some schools. SchoolSpeak is hosted
and managed by us. You don’t need any special hardware
or software. There is no maintenance, upgrade or back up to
worry about. You just need a computer connected to Internet
and you can access SchoolSpeak through your browser. |
| |
| Integrated,
seamless and under a single login |
| SchoolSpeak
provides solutions for your communication needs, classroom
needs and tools for the school community, all under a single
login. SchoolSpeak modules are closely integrated with each
other. For example, you can post an announcement on SchoolSpeak
as well as send it over email in a few simple steps. |
| |
| Collaborative |
| School
is a collaborative environment. The school office does the
administration, teachers manage the classrooms, committees
and volunteers run different programs. SchoolSpeak facilitates
this collaboration. You can easily specify who will receive
announcements and who manages programs, granting the respective
individuals the appropriate privileges in SchoolSpeak. |
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