Awaaz.De’s technology is being used to reach the last mile in various sectors including agriculture, microfinance, healthcare, and gender equality. We also see a lot of potential in using Awaaz.De to invest stakeholders in the education process of students. We are piloting this use-case with a few classrooms and teachers in low income schools. Here’s a wonderful testimonial from Hardik, a Teach for India Fellow who is encouraged by the early results from one of these pilots:
I wanted to take this opportunity to congratulate Awaaz.De on the incredibly fabulous work that your team is doing. My class Happy Harvard Scholars has [piloted Awaaz.De]. I wanted to personally thank you because the interest from the kids and the parents has been brilliant in just over a week’s time. In a short time, I can already see the changed dynamics in my classroom and the student engagement that is happening outside the confines of the classroom too. Aman Verma, a 10 year old kid and one of the lowest order kids in my class, who was irregular in his homework and participated rather reticently in class, now gets the work done on time with quality. Such a huge push for a teacher!
Below is a framework for educators trying to reach students and parents using automated group calls.
Some general guidelines
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The overall tone of all messages should be POSITIVE so that the parents look forward to the call and these calls shouldn’t become a mechanism to complain
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Based on several years of experience sending nearly a million messages, ideal length of the call is between 1 min to 3 min. People do not like holding the phone for too long.
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It is advisable to call a meeting and tell parents about the system and also find out a good time to call when most parents are home. We have found 9-10 PM a good time bracket to start with.
A few ideas for making sure you send meaningful and useful broadcasts to parents:
School Updates
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To send logistical updates about school- leaves, picnics etc
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To inform parents about upcoming events, share success of the school etc
Class Updates
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Information about past week’s test and the average score of class. Then request parents to ask their ward’s marks when he/she goes home
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Giving parents examples of students ( without mentioning names) who have shown rapid growth and sharing what worked for them.
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Telling the kind of topics taught in class last week and encouraging parents to ask their lids curious questions about the same. Though the parents may not know about the topic, just the fact that they know what is happening in class will keep the students in check and even motivate them
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Giving weekend activities that they can make kids do on Sundays eg: go to the shopkeeper and ask price or things. Add the number of clothes on a rack etc
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Rhymes taught in class
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Information about upcoming tests, exams so that the parents can supervise the kids at home and check if they are studying
Differentiated learning support for students
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Send information to parents in groups of students according to their learning level and tell parents that the kids need to focus on these specific objectives. Give ideas about how they can help the child improve.
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You can send vocabulary and phonics lesson on phone and request parents to pass on the phone to students. This will give you extra time for differentiated support for at least the easy components of literacy.
Social Awareness
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It is a great idea to use this medium to make parents aware about subjects like hygiene, importance of education, conserving water and energy, cleanliness, gender equality etc.
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Tell them psychological facts about parenting and importance of modeling good behavior.
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Pass information about exciting events for children happening across the city
These are just initial thoughts. It will be amazing for Awaaz.De’s user community to share other ways to make this more meaningful and impactful.
