Engaging Parents in a Tech World

The class tag might need some optimization of uploading photos and video. I think sometimes it takes some time.

My overall take is that this product is a wonderful app to communicate with parents and students. I've used it on the parent side and educator side. This app allows students to learn how to upload their work and submit. As an educator, this app is a great way to remind students of homework assignment, reminders, even projects! The students were eager is use this app to show their parents their progress. Students were able to chat with one another using the app as well. When I monitored their usage, they asked questions to one another and also used it as a buddy system.

This year I decided to switch to ClassTag after using Bloomz for a year. I really liked the ease of use of Bloomz, but I had read that ClassTag had some features that would make my communication more equitable (better translation features and ability to print out automated newsletters for parents that don’t sign up), so I made the switch. For photo and video handling, I prefer Bloomz. ClassTag seems like it takes forever to load and then upload pictures, but it seemed almost instant in Bloomz. The conference option is also better in Bloomz as the teacher is able to assign slots if parents call or have already made plans with you. ClassTag only lets the parents sign up and therefore I did not use this option for my conferences. ClassTag also doesn't have a portfolio option for individual students like Bloomz. ClassTag did have a number of options that I really liked and saved me time. One option is you can delay the time of your posts, therefore working in advance. For example, if you wanted to set a reminder an event for parents, you could set the time you post it for the night before. Also if you put things in the calendar it will automatically generate a summary of the coming week. There are quite a few advertisements in ClassTag which can be annoying. There is also a coin reward system for using the platform. This was not my primary motivation for using the app, but I did get about $20 worth of Teachers Pay Teachers gift certificates this year which was a bonus.