EChalk
Ensuring high teacher adoption rates is the focus at Alief Independent School District in Houston, TX. They built excitement about eChalk across their teacher community by first rolling out the features they’d use most frequently: Teacher Profiles, Calendars and Resources.
Once teachers saw how easy eChalk was to use, “you could just see the light bulbs going off in their heads,” said Sarah Trigg, Curriculum and Technology, Instructional Technology Program Director. And the demand for eChalk grew at a rapid pace.
A favorite feature of Alief’s teachers is eChalk’s Active Directory that updates teacher accounts every 24 hours. When a new teacher comes on board, eChalk helps get them started right away. According to Trigg, “Teachers love the fact that eChalk helps them stay in touch with students so easily.”
Tools Teachers Actually Use
“Teachers really saw the opportunity to surge ahead and didn’t want to get left behind,” said Trigg, so the district rolled out more eChalk functionality, including:
- Student accounts
- Homework dropboxes
And they quickly get accustomed to logging into eChalk every day with our single sign-on. Just like Alief students, the first thing teachers do each morning is sign on to eChalk.
Alief continues to grow with eChalk and now uses the platform as an information exchange for Professional Development—downloading resources and sharing teaching strategies. eChalk is even used at Alief School Board meetings.
What's Next?
Trigg shares what her teachers tell her: “I can’t imagine teaching without this.” And with plans to add student accounts at all of its schools, Alief students will soon be saying, “I can’t imagine learning without eChalk.”
