Parent portals do not replace conventional means of communication like phone calls, emails, and school diaries. Instead, they integrate all of these into an advanced system, which contributes to a new and improved way of communication that reduces the communication gap between the school, parents teachers.
3. Major ways by which parents portal enables effective communication
Direct Communication
Direct communication refers to a single parent communicating directly to a single teacher or staff he/she wishes to by utilizing various features of the parent portal. It can be in the form of audio calls, video calls, instant messaging, instant chats, etc.
Group communication
There can be situations where information is required to be shared with multiple people. In those cases, group communication becomes highly beneficial. The group communication features of parent portals allow sharing information with multiple people using a secure group platform.
One-to-one communication and group messaging are two major modes of communication in parent apps. Here are some important features and methods that enable such communication:
Discussion forums
The discussion forum boards help share information between the school and the parents. It can be a platform for parents to stay connected, stay updated about important events, ask questions, and share their thoughts.
Class Calendar Integration
The parent portals of most school apps offer access to their child’s school calendar, which helps track curriculum details, daily assignments, reminders, important events, etc. This allows teachers and parents to monitor students’ workload and progress.
Reporting Analytics.
School management applications with parent portal streamline continuous monitoring of student activities with proper analytics and meaningful reports. Real-time analytics and reports associated with various events can be shared with parents. They can include grade books, mark sheets, fee payment receipts other invoices, performance reports, admission forms, chat transcripts, daily attendance reports, classwork presentations, etc.
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Parent portals support parent-teacher communication through calls and audio/ video conferences. Teachers will be provided options to share email invitations or scheduled calendar links for online meetings. The conference sessions may offer a variety of features like call recording, screen sharing, instant messaging while on call, file sharing, etc.
