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| Public
website vs. SchoolSpeak |
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“We have a very good website. Why
do we need SchoolSpeak?” |
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| The
goals of your public website and SchoolSpeak portal are different. |
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| School
public website is its public face on the Internet. Visitors
and prospective families check school website to learn about
the school – where the school is located, how to contact
the school, what programs do they offer, mission statement,
accreditation, and how to apply. It is a marketing and recruiting
tool. You want to tell a prospective family what your school
stands for, how is it different, and why their child should
enroll. You want to give them a taste of what is happening
in the school, how school life looks like, how credible the
teachers are, and the various achievements of the school. |
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| SchoolSpeak
is complementary to your public website. It is for the school
community – administrators, teachers, parents and students.
It has day-to-day operational and privileged information –
school calendar, announcements, reminders, event or program
details, homework and grades. It also has tools for the school
community– scheduling parent-teacher conference, tracking
fundraising, updating emergency and medical information. |
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| Website
information is public. It can be accessed by anyone. SchoolSpeak
is a portal. Every user in the school – administrator,
teacher, parent and student (if you want student to access
the system) has a user name and password to access it. It
can deliver privileged information. Information on SchoolSpeak
cannot be accessed by all users. School can target information
to specific individuals, class rooms or groups. |
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| Many
schools have started using their public website to electronically
communicate to their parents. This is a good start. However,
it has many limitations. It dilutes the purpose of the website
and it is not an effective communication solution. |
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| Websites
are usually static and created to showcase the school. Websites
are not updated very often. Information on a public website
is planned, approved and usually go through a web administrator
for posting. SchoolSpeak is dynamic and the content is personalized
to each user for effective communication. It is a productivity
tool for the school community. |
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