This weeks assignment allowed us to use a Web 2.0 module that was free to teachers, administrators, and parents to view their studnets acheivements, grades, and assignments. I thoroughly enjoyed this website, with a few minor changes. First creating an account was very easy. In addition, creating a school roster and making changes was not difficult at all. The website is strong and very useful from the novice to the most experienced teacher. First it is interactive, allowing for parents to view assignments that have not ben completed or to inquire on their students achievements or areas that they need to focus on, this is allowed with the use of a special code. Second, for the household that has two parents busy, when a student is home from school sick, parents can log on and obtain the homework and assignments that were discussed and due for the next school day, encouraging students not to fall behind or have to double up on work. (a side note: for parents that have travel/vacation (non-excused absense) they are able to get the homework again preventing the child from falling behind.) Third, the ease of the software, it is simple and not difficult for the person that has trouble with technology. Fourth, I love the feature print missing work, this is great for students who need development on turning their homework in on time. This allows parents to monitor their students work habits and make efforts at home to encourage that the homework is completed on a timely basis. Far too many parents find out during their progress reports and then want a list of missing assignments, this is time consuming and unnecessary with this software. For the areas that I found in need of improvement; first I was unable to find a section that allows for the administrator/teacher to add more fields to choose from 8 just isn't enough. Second, I would prefer to have a grade book for each subject to keep things in order rather than by date (or atleast have access to both). Third, the comment section should be a little more developed... rather than just citizenship, which I believe is meant to be class participation... If a student, John is having difficulty with visualizing fractions and shading them accordingly, the teacher can make a comment about that allow for additional remediation for at home and at school. Also with tests and quizzes, if there was a concept that was not grasped the teacher can give some detailed information that the student needs to work on in order to ensure the understanding of the material. Fourth, since this is an interactive tool, having a blog or informational posting would be helpful to keep parents informed on what lies ahead over the course of the next week or two so students and parents can prepare accordingly; "Science Projects Due on "Xfuture Date" or "the Social Studies test has been moved to next Thursday."
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