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Remind is the new tool MCPS is implementing this school year to bridge the communication gap among schools, teachers, parents and students.
Founded in 2011 by brothers Brett and David Kopf, Remind is a tool for families and teachers to contact each other in various situations. Creator Brett Kopf struggled with dyslexia and built a strong relationship with his teacher, which ultimately led him to change his perspective on learning. Today, the Kopf brothers work to help all students communicate with their teachers.
Remind is aimed to streamline communication, promote engagement between students and teachers and limit administrator oversight. The primary form of communication on Remind is text messages between students, parents and teachers.
The platform also allows teachers and parents to voice call, send video messages and voice memos and send and collect paperwork virtually. This experience is meant to personalize and strengthen the relationships between teachers, students and parents.
RM students find value in Remind’s ability to directly connect teachers with students and their families.
“I think [Remind will] allow them all to communicate in a closed space together…and it really takes out the middleman,” sophomore Shailey Vadgama said.
Schools in MCPS are able to see all communications on Remind including student and teacher engagement and also supervise all interactions.
Remind implements multiple safety precautions for users. In an article by Ed Tech Round Up, Dr. Mike Karlin said, “If need be, [teachers] can easily email a transcript of the chat to themselves or to an administrator. Plus, if a student is being inappropriate, they can flag that student, or unsubscribe them from the chat altogether.”
On a Podcast with Eric Jorgensen, Brett Kopf said, “Remind makes it easy for teachers to communicate with students and parents. For anyone who’s a technical, it’s like Slack for schools.”
According to Remind, 80 percent of schools in the United States use the tool, with 60 percent of teachers actively using the platform. In alignment with this trend, many RM teachers also plan to employ the tool’s features.
English teacher and girls basketball coach Michael Oakes has used a different communication system with the basketball team in the past, but is interested in exploring Remind for both teaching and coaching.
“We have one called TeamSnap that we use right now,” Mr. Oakes said. “I’ll be curious to…learn more about [Remind] and see if it has the same features that are helpful to me.”
Some RM students, however, are doubtful of the impact that Remind may have on the student body in the coming months.
“I do think it’s a helpful way for parents and teachers to communicate as well as students. But I’m not sure if anyone would actually be using it just because it’s such a foreign concept right now,” sophomore Sophia Burkhard said.
Mr. Oakes thinks differently. “It could be helpful, particularly if it’s going to serve as kind of like a one stop shopping type place rather than having so many different things that we’re using that it’s hard to keep up and check three or four different things,” he said.
