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Parents call for SMS school reports
WE ALL KNOW that with the credit crunch and Christmas on the horizon money is in mind – however a recent report shows that parents know more about their bank balance than their child’s progress at school.
According to a survey by Becta over two-thirds of parents would like to be kept up-to-date about their child’s progress though txt messages and email – as this would give them a more frequent overview of their little ones development.
Due to the busy working lives of many parents the request to communicate with schools in this way is influenced by the way people can find out their bank balance, as many find it more convenient to receive information via txt or email.
Seventy-four per cent of parents said they monitor their bank balance online or on the phone at least once a month whereas only 15 per cent of parents surveyed were informed of their child’s progress once a month – a shocking 85 per cent say they are updated four times a year or less.
Is this really the way forward for school communications though? You can imagine the school report beeping in over dinner, “yr kid S doiN poorly n mafs n sci. he also demonstr8s bad bhavyor n a ltd attn span n cls. hs social skilz nd wrk 2. Lol teacha xx".
Instead of wanting a face-to-face chat with their child’s teacher where they can ask and receive questions, parents want a quick overview to make sure there aren’t too many Ds being given out.
Niel McLean, spokesperson for Becta’s Next Generation Learning Campaign said, “It appears parents and schools are not talking as much, or as frequently, as parents would like.”
Becta is urging parents to talk to their child’s school to find out how technology is already being used in order to improve day-to-day communication with the school. µ
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Google "SMS m4e" and the first few links take you to an interesting messaging for education solution for teachers in high schools.
It seems that teens will always use SMS texting and other social web portals like Twitter. There doesn't seem to be one tool or technology solution that can do it all for these early adopters. Even though cellphones cannot be used in schools as they are disruptive, they can be compelling homework assignment tools to be sure, if managed correctly.
Back when I was in highschool there was already a system in place where I (or my parents) could look online to see my grades. I believe (at least in the Netherlands) this is already a common practice.
“yr kid S doiN poorly n mafs n sci. he also demonstr8s bad bhavyor n a ltd attn span n cls. hs social skilz nd wrk 2. Lol teacha xx".

I haven't laughed that hard in ages... thanks emma!
Parents, like pretty much most of the adults, check their bank account online frequently. So why not also have a database where parents can login and check their offspring's grades?
It would be like a big intranet. At the beginning of the year, the student takes home or gets posted a piece of paper to the parents (or txtd lolz) a username and password (changeable), where they can access any information posted by the teacher.
Heck, it could even be like a forum or something.

The point is, in the age of information, setting up something like this is definitely worth a go by all educational institutions.