An Intuitive Collaboration Tool for Teachers and Students

1. An Intuitive Collaboration Tool for Teachers and Students By Cassie Dove T - BOX PLANET

2. TBOX Planet

3. TBOX - School

4. T-Box School • T-Box School is a tool that helps you manage your school right over the Internet. Tasks such as student record creation and modification, score management, student attendance lists, and parent-teacher communication, among others, are handled by the platform.

5. What is TBOX - School? • T-Box is a solution which promotes and potentiates the creative, responsible, and safe use of technology within education. • T-Box comprises three key elements:

6. Educational Technology Curriculum • An educational technology curriculum for every school grade. This includes all the materials necessary to implement the solution effectively: teacher guides, student workbooks, and electronic resources.

7. An Internet Platform • An Internet platform with multiple services for students, teachers, and parents. This platform is called "T-Box Planet" and is based on web 2.0 technologies, which facilitate communication, collaboration, and exchange between every member of the educational community.

8. Training • Training and assistance for IT instructors and teachers. T-Box works closely with schools to train teachers, provide expert advice, and monitor project progress.

9. Why is this good for teachers? • Keep track of student attendance and permissions. • Set the score calculation formulas for each subject. • Assign different ratings and percentages to each of the evaluated components. • Schedule parent-teacher meetings. • Consult students' electronic records immediately. • Access news, calendar, and administrative school documents.

10. Why is this good for students? • View a detailed compendium of their grades in real time, thus providing them with a "snapshot" of their performance. • Check their attendance record and permissions. • Access their class and exam schedule. • Read the school news and consult the school calendar. • Consult any agreements or propositions which have taken place in the parent-teacher meetings

11. Why is this good for parents? • Access their children's electronic school record. • View a detailed compendium of their children's grades in real time, thus providing them with a "snapshot" of their performance. • Check their children's attendance record and permissions. • Read the school news and consult the school calendar. • Obtain their children's exam schedule. • Receive invitations for parent-teacher meetings.

12. Why is this good for the school? • T-Box School allows administrative staff and teachers to access up-to-date information regarding student performance. This promotes dynamic and transparent school management. • Schools save money as they do not need to invest in technological infrastructure, such as servers or specialized programs. The information is securely stored on high-tech servers which regularly backup the school's data. • T-Box School is accessed via the Internet, allowing users to connect anytime, anywhere. In addition, T-Box School runs on all major operating systems and Web browsers. • T-Box School may be tailored to the needs of each school and is available in English and Spanish. T-Box provides training and technical assistance whenever needed. • Divide the school year into periods, such as semesters, trimesters, or bi-mesters. • Customize the formula used to evaluate the school subjects. This mechanism may be further customized by each teacher.

13. How does this affect the IT department? • Record and manage all user accounts. • Create and manage each grade and section within the school. • Access statistical reports with up-to-date information.

14. Online collaboration • Teachers can collaborate in real time. • Teachers can communicate through live chat function with teachers, parents and teachers. • Administrators can communicate with teachers in real-time. • Parents and teachers can have conferences anytime.

15. Tbox Innovation

16. Cost of implementing T-BOX • TBOX can be hosted remotely considerably reducing cost. • TBOX can be hosted on site through the district, IT support can be trained or provided for onsite support. • Training for administrators (1 week training on site) • Training for teachers (1 on site work day)

17. Administrators as change agents • Administrators which include principals, support staff, counselors, and district personnel should be trained initially. • Administrators need to be trainers in order to encourage innovation. • Once implemented administrators need to support and encourage implementation of system.

18. Why we should adopt T-BOX • Many parents find that teacher/parent time is extremely limited. Communications suffer and students fall significantly behind in their school work. • Administrators can communicate absences, students sent home, and other issues in real time. • Students can contribute to class work if sick or at home.

19. WHAT STANDARDS DOES T-BOX BASE ITSELF ON? • T-Box bases its academic proposal on international educational technology standards. • T-Box is based on the following international educational technology standards:

20. Standards • 1. NETS from ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education). • 2. Cambridge ICT Starters Standard from Cambridge University. • 3. Microsoft Office Specialist Standard from Microsoft. • 4. Adobe Certified Associate Standard from Adobe and Certiport.

21. Questions? • What do you think? • How can we move forward? • Change agents? • How to be the champion and what I will do next.

22. References • www.tboxplanet.com • Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). New York, NY: Free Press.