OTAN News

Improve Your Communication Through Texting

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Technology gives us the ability to communicate with others in a variety of ways. Yet when it comes to our schools, are we making the most of technology to reach students, staff, and the larger community?

An article posted on the Educational Technology and Mobile Learning blog titled 6 Great SMS Messaging Tools to Use in the Education Sector highlights some of the benefits of using texting to communicate with different audiences. We have been witnessing the shift from phoning and emailing to texting and chatting for some time now, especially as younger generations use technology. This infographic about Why Millennials Love Texting TextMagic states that 75% of millennials would rather text than talk on the phone, 72% text more than 10 times a day, and 31% send text messages more than 50 times a day. Indeed, 75% of millennials say that text messaging is a convenient way to receive reminders, notifications, surveys, and promotional offers. Businesses are already starting to make better use of chatting for advertising and marketing purposes, as this article from Forbes details. Have we shifted our communications, then, to reach people where they are?

There are a number of ways to communicate with others via text messaging that help to get the word out and connect with our community:

• Reminders about homework, upcoming exams, and other classroom assignments and deadlines

• Advertising or reminders about upcoming school events – registration dates, open houses, graduations, etc.

• Access to a help desk or info line via text (As an aside, a number of schools are exploring the use of a chatbot to staff the info line that gets regular questions about hours of operation, address, dates and times for upcoming events, forms that need to be completed, contact information, and other frequently asked questions.)

• Surveys and other ways to gather feedback

• Emergency alerts

• General communication between teachers and students, between staff team members, and between student team members

There are a number of text messaging tools available, including Remind and TextMagic, as well as messaging through a number of edtech apps. When it comes to communicating with others, consider expanding your options to include texting to make sure you are getting the message out!

• Article: 6 Great SMS Messaging Tools to Use in The Education Sector from Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

• Article: Why Millenials Love Texting [Infographic] from TextMagic

• Article: Rethinking Channels--Chat Is More Than Conversations from Forbes