In this new world of technology, schools are finding many ways to use resources to make school materials accessible for parents and students at home. This past weekend I went home to my moms house in Pennsylvania. I have a 13 year old brother that lives there. One night my mom was looking at my brothers grades on the computer. Out of curiosity, I asked my mom if this was something the teachers do all the time or if it was just for a certain class. Apparently, his school has made it mandatory that every teacher posts grades of tests/quizzes/assignments online and at the end of the marking period they have to put the students final grade online. I thought this was a brilliant idea because I know plenty of kids when I went to school that would change their grades before showing the grade to their parents. A classic example of this was on an episode of Full House, DJ changed her grade from an F to an A just so that she could go out with her friend that evening. I am not too sure if other people saw this happen but I saw it a lot, especially when I was in high school. Putting grades online makes it almost impossible for students to change their grades. This is example of how technology can be a great tool if used properly! Using online report cards and grades not only cuts down on students trying to lie to their parents but it also helps the environment. A big thing now is to “go green” to help with global warming. Therefore, having online report cards can stir up a conversation with students and teachers about “going green” and recycling. There is one down fall that I can think of for online report cards and grading, that is not every family has access to the internet from their home. Maybe a solution to this problem can be to have a few computers dedicated in the school for parents to come see their children’s grades as they please. I think online grading is wonderful and I hope to see it used in more schools because I am not sure how many other schools use it. Has anyone else heard of it being used in schools around here? What is your opinion about online grading?
Many schools have moved to integrated student records that are accessible via secure login through a data portal of some sort. This really helps with communication and data gathering on a number of fronts; for parents, for teachers, for administrators, and yes, for students. Security is always an issue, but many systems have become quite secure and reliable. As a parent, I can check [from any computer] my child’s grades, attendance, homework, report card, …. And, going green is certainly a nice perk!