Now that school has started, it’s time to do a temperature check on your school’s communication technology: are students & families regularly using your school website, mobile app, and mass messaging system? As a school administrator, you may be seeing the benefits of your newer tools that are saving you time and easy to use, but are families getting the news and information you’re pushing out?
Are you finding that participation is low from parts of your community?
Are teachers posting information that students aren’t seeing?
Are parents still calling the front office asking where to find information?
If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, continue reading for tips on how to get parents and students excited and engaged online.
Ways to Get Parents and Students Engaged With Your Communication Tools
If you’re finding that parents and students aren’t using your communication technology, first ask yourself why. The answer may be that they just don’t know about it or understand their purpose yet.
What’s in it for them?
To get families on board with new tech, show them what’s in it for them. Break down and explain how each tool can make parents’ and students’ lives easier. For example:
- Parents might be excited about personalized communication that keeps them updated on their child's activities, events, and announcements.
- Students could benefit from easy access to the most important information from their teachers and coaches.
Encourage current users to be your tech advocates
Generate excitement through word of mouth! Ask the teachers, parents, and students that are already using your tools to spread the word. When people see firsthand the benefits that education technology can bring, they're more likely to embrace it.
Continue to promote your communication tools
Every year, you may find that some members of your school community still resort back to traditional methods of communication like calling the front office and asking where to find certain information. Consider repeating the following steps during the fall:
Staff Onboarding: Encourage teachers & coaches to use your communication tools for all their communication, from sharing assignments to announcing events.
Website FAQs: Compile a comprehensive list of the technology solutions, their specific uses, and how to use them. Post this on your website as an FAQ resource.
Social Media: Promote all your communication tools on social media. Be sure to highlight benefits & provide clickable links.
Email: Send emails to families, providing them with direct links to the solutions you're using. If you have a school mobile app, make sure to include a link to download it for easy access on mobile devices.
Flyers: Display printed flyers around your campus detailing the technology solutions you're using. Add QR codes for mobile apps.
Embracing technology in your communication is necessary in today's fast-paced world, but it’s also important to listen to what your community is asking for. Edlio solutions seamlessly connect school and home through websites, mobile apps, online payments, and mass messaging.
Does your communication platform do all this, under just one login? If not, maybe it’s time to see what Edlio can do: