Teachers experience growing reliance on parent communication apps
More and more American teachers are relying on communication apps to contact students’ families, leading one primary school teacher to publish a spreadsheet that compares the suitability of different apps. To be included on the spreadsheet, apps had to be free, allow photos and offer event features, among other criteria. The apps that met the full criteria were: Remind, Livingtree, Class Messenger, SimplyCircle, Class Dojo, Bloomz and Seesaw. Studies have shown that providing parental communication helps to keep children on track with their studies and brings parents into the role of teaching partners.

With a smartphone glued to 90 percent of the parent population’s hands, how is it that schools still depend on old methods such as sending notes home, newsletters, and emails to communicate with parents? A recent study by Gallup found only 1 in 5 parents are fully engaged with their child’s school, meaning 80 percent of parents are either indifferent to or actively disengaged from their kids’ school. It’s clear there is a disconnect between the way teachers are communicating and the way most of the world is getting its information.

As a trailblazer in classroom technology, it seems like I’ve tried every form of communication out there: printed newsletters, emails, texting, blogging, a YouTube channel, even Facebook. But along with grading, lesson-planning, and everything else a teacher is asked to balance, it all got to be too much.

I wanted the communication process to be easy and streamlined for my parents and me. Finally I asked my parents, “What’s the best way for me to communicate with you?” Essentially, all of them said “email” or “texting,” implying that their smartphone is their lifeline to the outside world. That’s when my hunt for the perfect communication app began.

There’s an app for that — but which one?

Just as social media apps like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat take you into the lives of friends, celebrities, and idols, I wanted to find the perfect app to give parents a glimpse of their child’s life at school. I started with a quick Google search to find the top parent-teacher communication apps in the market. As you can imagine, that search was a bit overwhelming. I used my personal Facebook page to ask fellow teachers what communication apps they were using, and I got dozens of responses. To narrow my scope of what exactly I wanted in a communication app, I created a list of non-negotiables. The right app would:

Allow me to share photos, links, and messages. Allow parents to respond to messages. Allow me to message/share with a few select or all parents. Allow me to schedule events and notify parents of the events. Sync scheduled events to my Google Classroom calendar. Allow me to schedule parent/teacher conferences. Share volunteer and wish list opportunities. Work on web-based and smartphone platforms. Cost nothing for parents and teachers. Have a variety of comprehensive supports for teachers.

The enormous list of potential apps slimmed down to seven free communication apps that would potentially fit the bill: Remind, Class Messenger, Livingtree, SimplyCircle, Seesaw, Class Dojo, and Bloomz. I signed up for accounts, started playing with each app’s interface, devoured the support/ help resources I found on their websites, and contacted the app developers.

As an avid teacher/blogger, I created a working spreadsheet on Google Docs to break down the features of each app, including security and privacy, coordination tools, community-building tools, and more. My goal was to create a resource to help teachers who were also searching for communication apps. After I posted the spreadsheet on my blog, comments immediately started rolling in. Teachers offered their recommendations, shared their personal stories of success, and thanked me for all the time and effort I put into my research.

Next page: Finding an app that worked for me