The Academic Difference: Email to SMS

Can email to SMS help the Class of ‘10 achieve better matric results? In some cases it is indeed possible, but would require teachers to exhibit a little bit of creativity to help stimulate students.

As 2010 shifts into gear, parents of matriculants and the matriculants themselves will be focussing on academics to avoid a repetition of 2009’s dismal performance. And as if the pressure wasn’t enough already, one has to keep in mind that schools will be closed during the 2010 World Cup period, when young and old will be spending the days encouraging their favourite teams to the top. How can parents and teachers use email to SMS to help students become better learners amidst all the excitement?

Better Communication

There were a number of factors that contributed to the low average pass rate of 2009, however, the onus is always on the students themselves to put in the time to achieve the desired results. Email to SMS can help by supplying teachers across the country with a method of communication that’s easy to use, cost-effective and almost instantaneous. This beneficial technology can be employed to:

• communicate test dates and times to students: “Life Sciences test on Friday August 13th, 2010 – room 501″
• confirm examination topics: “13th August Life Sciences test: text book p101-121, p150-165, p200-280. Know plant cell structure diagram.”
• enhance teacher-parent communication: “Dear Mr. Smith, please note that Johnny did not attend class on September 10th, 2010″ or “Dear Mr. Smith, herewith a reminder about the parents’ evening on Feb. 12th, 2010 @ 7P.M”
• further communication in rural areas: email to SMS could enhance communication to pupils and parents within rural areas, where cellphones outnumber landlines and television access.
• send practise test questions to students ahead of exams, thereby assisting in their preparation.

Why Email to SMS?

Although there exist a host of other methods to communicate with students and/or parents, one has only to consider the nature of email to SMS to see why it is perhaps the best form of communication. Reasons include the widespread use of cellphones (all of which are capable of receiving and sending SMS messages), even in rural or impoverished areas, as well as the fact that, in South Africa (as opposed to countries like the U.S.A.), receiving an SMS message is free.

Email and computer use on the other hand are being used by most school offices and teachers throughout the country, making email to SMS the perfect medium to communicate with students on a medium (the mobile phone) that they are already familiar with.

Additional benefits of email to SMS include:

• SMS messages can be stored on a mobile phone to be referred to at a later stage, thereby eliminating any communication mishaps between the teacher and his or her students.
• SMS messages allow for concatenation, meaning that the 160-character limit can be exceeded (though messages should still be short and to the point).
• SMS messages can be sent in binary form to accommodate different types of media, not just text.
• Email to SMS allows for the use of the built-in email address book, making contact list management a breeze.
• a reporting facility will allow teachers to see which messages were delivered, which are still awaiting delivery and which have failed.

If you are a parent, a teacher or part of the school administration, then this is a technology seriously worth considering to help bolster this year’s final examination results. Click on the link to read more about email to SMS now!

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