Helpful Solutions for Back to School

There’s no doubt this upcoming school year is going to be different. With so many unknowns, scrambles to meet safety guidelines and moves to probable Hybrid Learning models, the need for great edTech solutions is more important than ever. We’ve assembled a list of a few solutions that we think are worth a look as you prepare for the upcoming school year.

TeacherLists

TeacherLists is the easy (and free) way to post your back-to-school supply lists online so parents can instantly shop their exact list on retailer sites like Target, Walmart, Amazon, and more. No more handing out paper lists to share with parents and the local store — parents can do their shopping safely and conveniently right from home. Back-to-school plans still up in the air? No problem. You can upload your school’s lists now and schedule them to be published whenever you choose.

Genially

Genially is a free, all-in-one online tool that teachers use to create interactive classroom materials: infographics, games, quizzes, interactive images, choice boards, presentations… you name it. It comes with hundreds of visually appealing templates ready to use that will surely help you increase student engagement. Genially creations can easily be added to most digital platforms and learning management systems. The tool also allows you to embed videos, audio, images, gifs and other activities into your creations. Check out the video below for a quick demo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49YQifsXwLA&t=7s

FieldTrip

Fieldtrip is a new video-based remote learning platform that’s been designed expressly to meet the teaching and learning needs of middle and high school students. If you feel like the current business-first video conferencing tools are not meeting your unique K12 needs, you should look into this. And the best part is that it’s brought to you by the team at Smore. Check it out!

x.ai

Have you ever wished you could have your own personal assistant who could schedule your meetings and take care of all those time consuming back-and-forth emails? Well now you can! X.ai uses Artificial Intelligence to schedule meetings and manage your calendars. All you do is prompt the software to take over and it handles the rest. Often people on the receiving end of your emails can’t tell it’s an AI emailing with them instead of a real person. Best part? They offer a free version of their solution. If you are looking for a simple tool that can save you loads of time, check out x.ai.

Alboum Translation Services

You may already know that Alboum Translation Services helps districts communicate with non-English speaking parents by translating written documents such as student manuals, letters, curricula, websites, flyers, etc. in nearly 100 languages. But did you know they also provide on-demand over-the-phone (OPI), video remote (VRI), and scheduled Zoom interpretations through their new platform? It’s easier than ever to ensure language equity for parent/teacher meetings, IEPs, 504s, and other situations where you need someone to help you bridge that language gap. Priced by the minute, with no minimums. More information is available at https://alboum.com/virtual-interpretation/.

Classtag

ClassTag is a free communication platform used by over two million parents and teachers across 25,000 schools in the US. Their solution is built for schools, engineered to fuel parent involvement with tools that support announcements, two-way communications, virtual backpacks, and event/conference coordination. All communications can include automated translation into 60+ languages and multi-channel reach via SMS, email, apps or web. ClassTag can help schools involve those hard-to-reach parents and gain full visibility into parental engagement. For more information, visit classtag.com.

We hope you find these tools helpful during Back to School, and that they help you engage with parents, students, and community throughout the coming school year.