Upload. Share. Create. It’s easy nowadays. But maybe not so easy with so many different forms of software for students and teachers to learn, use, and keep track of. 

District-utilized softwares, like Infinite Campus, are great tools for keeping academic and financial records; however, contracts with SchoolMessenger, SurveyMonkey, and Voicethread are a costly waste of resources. There are also applications teachers use like Schoology and GroupMe. With multiple ways of connection, the software used needs to be streamlined. A solution would be to use the Google platform and its tools like Google Classroom, Hangouts, Surveys, and Drive. 

Not only is Google free, but it’s also universal. Google can be accessed on all devices and its documents can be shared to any receiving application or device. This is important because it contains a group message system called Google Hangouts which would replace SchoolMessenger, which cost the district $16,843 in 2017. It also offers Google Surveys, replacing SurveyMonkey, which costs $780 a year. That fee may be small, but it could be used toward something more important.

For apps like Schoology, there would be no need for students to convert their word documents or drive docs to PDF to submit them since Google does the conversion work. Teachers can create folders for their classwork and other files which can be navigated through very easily.

Google Classroom is a free alternative that is an all-encompassing software that would benefit teachers, students, and the district. With consideration from the FHSD Tech Comittee, students could recieve a more impressive platform.

FHSD Tech Plan: https://www.fhsdschools.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_995699/File/Master%20Docs/Technology/FHSD%20Technology%20Plan%202017-2020.pdf

FHSD Software report:

https://www.fhsdschools.org/common/pages/DisplayFile.aspx?itemId=27840351