The Benefits of an Interactive Schools Website

It is easy to neglect your school website, but this would be a big mistake. Your website can accomplish so much for your school, your staff and your whole community. A website needs to not only look good and provide the basic information – it should also become an interactive hub for the community. Make sure to visit our School's Cool website when you've read this article!

Teachers, staff, parents, students – all need to communicate. And a more interactive website allows them to do this with greater ease.

School website designers like our team at CSI Media can incorporate a virtual learning environment (VLE), and teachers can use the system to provide feedback, parents can sign consent forms and sick notes, and confidential information can be shared.

If you incorporate your social media accounts into your website, like Twitter and Facebook, you can also make use of these to broadcast information. Many people are familiar with social media sites, and they may check their Twitter feeds more than their emails, so this can be an excellent way to improve communication.

If you launch an app as well as your website, you can use this to send push notifications. This can be an excellent way to get information to people without having so send emails or spend money on text messages.

With an interactive site that makes use of a VLE, you can often get things done online much quicker and save money as well. For example:

• teachers save time on unnecessary administrative tasks;
• your school can save money on printing, toner, photocopies and sending physical letters to parents;
• finding reports for children becomes easier because you can track things like attendance stats with just a click;
• paying for school meals and trips becomes more convenient for parents.

An interactive website can also improve the learning experience. Students can get access to materials that were not available in the class, and they can check notes and resources from anywhere.

It can be a useful tool for working in groups because students can set up rooms in the VLE where they can share notes and ideas. Essentially, it can become an extension of the classroom. Resource sections can also be added to the website, including:

• documents;
• videos;
• images;
• presentations.

These can then be accessed by students and parents so that they can get more out of the website.

You also want your brand image to be positive, and you can achieve this through taking the time and care to update a website and provide information to the community. You may be marketing your website online, and an interactive site can ensure that when people arrive at your website, they see your school in the best light.

Make sure your school website is more interactive to get more from it. It is not difficult to do, and as long as you have a good designer with some good ideas, you can incorporate any features you want. Take a look at other school websites and find some that you like, then set about improving your website for the school and the whole community.