Remind

Teachers often face a problem of staying in touch with their students. This is particularly true for college professors, but also for high school/middle school teachers as well. Students these days tend to use a combination of social media and texting apps but rarely use more traditional e-mail as a method of communication.

I've found that if students use e-mail at all, they tend to use their personal accounts (gmail, icloud, etc.) rather than a university account. And if there's a last minute notification I need to get out about an assignment, an upcoming quiz and the like, e-mail just doesn't cut it for timely communication. Professors can bring out the old "we require students to check their e-mail regularly" and then let them sink or swim on their own. Or perhaps there are other tools that can help.

Enter Remind. Remind lets professors communicate one way with groups of students (either entire classes or groups of three or more students). Professors and teachers easily create an account connected to one or more classes and then invite students to connect via SMS, e-mail or via the Remind app which is available for iPhone/ipad or Android devices. I have been using it for about a year for my Western Civ courses. I love it and my students really appreciate the added level of communication.

My only complaint is that I wish students could text me with questions, follow up etc. Remind serves 13 year old and under communities of students so I understand their concern for privacy and what not. But for college professors and college students (all adults), it would be a helpful feature to have. My suggestion would be for Remind to make that option available for older students and adults.

In the end, this is a great program and is a useful communication tool for any group. As a father of five children (at last count), I could use this for quick family notes!!