As students arrive for the first week of school, they sit and listen to eight long hours of information from teachers about the school year. Students are left with unanswered questions and concerns about the year and struggle to find an easy and accessible way to communicate with their teachers.
With the rapid rise of social media, it’s become very common for their main source of communication to be through the internet and mobile technology. Many high school students have extracurricular activities, school clubs, and jobs after school limiting their time to write a formal email asking for a reminder on when an English reading guide is due. Although teachers and students may prefer different ways to communicate with each other, communication apps provide a simple yet highly beneficial way to talk about necessary assignment deadlines, upcoming events, or reminders about the upcoming classes.
With the ability of communication apps being able to be downloaded on mobile devices, notifications can go through much faster. This makes reaching teachers much easier by just messaging them through an app rather than writing an entire email and not getting a response until days later or possibly not getting a response at all. Many students and teachers only use their school devices during school hours, and block out announcements and emails sent after school hours. Because of this, announcements and emails sent on school devices are, most of the time, not even seen due to many students not getting notifications from their laptop. With communication apps, messages pop up as a notification, rather than sitting in an inbox.
The accessibility of communication apps provide a wide variety of ways to communicate with one-another. Apps like Remind not only provide a direct message feature between teacher and student, but can also send class-wide messages or to a small group in real time. Other apps like SportsYou provide similar features but also include more features like the calendar feature, allowing teachers to add events on specific dates. Although this app is more used for school sports, the calendar feature allows coaches and student athletes to know who is attending events like meets and races by marking if you are attending, not attending, or maybe attending.
Other benefits that come with communication apps is the ability for students and teachers to communicate across longer distances. If students are absent or aren’t at school for a certain reason, having access to message teachers with a question or about an assignment is very important instead of having to wait until they return to school to talk in person. Teachers can also get in touch with absent students about an assignment being due, or a quiz that is happening the next time they see them. As students enter high school, many classes start deducting points for late work. Although some teachers may require different apps as a way to communicate about assignment deadlines, important events, and volunteer hours, communication apps give students an easily accessible way to contact their teachers when needed.
Many may argue that the internet and messaging apps have taken over the youths’ ability to have face-to-face conversations. Because of this, communication apps don’t seem like the best idea for teens as a way to speak with their teachers. Although some may think that using technology and the internet is not the best way to stay in touch, it also doesn’t mean that the only way teachers and students would be connecting with each other would be through communication apps. Students still sit in multiple classes a day for an hour and a half communicating in-person with their teachers most of the time.
As a solution, more teachers should consider using communication apps as a way to be in touch with their students. If communication apps are used more often, teachers and students would have better access to speak with each other.
As a result, communication apps provide a wide variety of benefits for both students and teachers. With the many features that are built into different apps, it allows a simple yet highly beneficial way to communicate between teachers and students about school work and sports.
