Instantly message a class of students or their parents from your computer.
Safe.  Teachers never see students’ phone numbers.  Students never see theirs.
Students and parents join by sending a text message. No computer needed.

Another Beta project as a safe way for teachers to text message students and stay in touch with parents. Free.

This is similar to classParrot  that I blogged about in October.

If you want to try it out, sign up for my Technology Updates by following the instructions here:Technology Updates remind101.  Get info on outages, changes, etc. before they happen.

I stumbled on this amazing site for those of us who have embraced texting as a major mode of communication. ClassParrot is a website for teachers. It allows them to send text messages back and forth with students and parents, without revealing anybody’s phone numbers. Think of it as a private texting service just for you, your students and parents.  Teachers, students, and parents can never see each other’s phone numbers, protecting the privacy of everyone involved.

• Are you an advisor and need to get an announcement to your class quickly? Text them all with ClassParrot.
• Need to remind your Math class of an upcoming assignment or test? Text them a reminder with ClassParrot.
• Are you a coach who needs to get a schedule change to all your players? Text them all with ClassParrot.

And it is free (You can send up to 500 messages a month)!  You can also conduct polls with your students via text for instant results (overnight in our case since they can’t use them, in class).

Why text you ask? Because students prefer text messaging to email, and because they actually pay attention to texts. Open rate for email is 22%. Open rate for text messages is 98%!  Unlike managing course details online, or checking email, texting doesn’t require that your students learn any new behaviors. They already text! And they like it!

Starting is simple: Add one or all of your classes. We’ll assign a unique, private code to each class.

Students Text The Code: With any type of cell phone, your students (and their parents!) can simply text the unique code to ClassParrot.

Start Communicating!: Broadcast reminders, updates, info & notices to your students (and their parents). Students can text back directly.

Just click here to get started.

I found this fascinating quote today:

What if our educators took time out of each day to reinforce the proper, safe and secure way of using these devices – not only inside the walls of the classroom – but outside as well? Don’t you believe that would begin to reduce the number of inappropriate uses (sexting)?JDS-CIO, CIO Corner, Jun 2009

You should read the whole article.

Our high schools are full of secretly texting, blithely unengaged adolescents, my colleague Dan de Vise reveals today in a story on a Montgomery County proposal to let students text during lunch. Dan’s story describes the situation well. Educators can’t keep up with the latest technocrazes. They banned cellphones for awhile, then decided they were necessary for emergencies. They figured no one would use them in class, forgetting that the text function allows a flurry of conversations without the miscreants making a discernible sound.

Texting vs. Teaching: Who Wins? – Class Struggle – Jay Mathews on Education.

Text messaging has spawned an era of uninterrupted contact among friends, especially young people. Students often tap out silent conversations beneath their desks, even though most Washington area public schools forbid them to use cellphones on campus during school hours.

via Montgomery County Student Leader Proposes Allowing Cellphone Use at Lunchtime – washingtonpost.com.