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District gets smart phone app
By Chris Beattie, cbeattie@acnpapers.com
McKinney ISD became smart phone savvy just in time for the coming school year.
Parents, students and staff can now access district and school information on their smart phones through a new, free application called misdGO.
"We wanted to take critical information from our website and student information system and provide it directly to our students and parents," said Cody Cunningham, chief communications officer for McKinney ISD. "In many cases, our parents and students access their phones far more than a desktop computer."
WillowTree Apps, founded in 2007, was one of the first companies nationwide to launch an iPhone application. It developed Spotasaurus, a popular consumer-focused, location-based iPhone app that shows drivers the closest parking garage with available spots and pricing.
The company had in recent years developed an application similar to misdGO, only it was designed for the University of Virginia and other colleges. Tobias Dengel, chief executive officer (CEO) of WillowTree Apps, said that McKinney ISD contacted several developers before asking WillowTree to create an offshoot of its university application.
"It's been a great experience working with the McKinney team," Dengel said. "What they've done is really groundbreaking. It's the most advanced mobile app for secondary schools that we're aware of. The key concept is how to involve the parents in their students' education. This app is the easiest way for them to stay constantly informed because their phones are with them all the time."
The misdGO app gives parents and students access to much of the same information already available on the McKinney ISD website. The Home Access Center (HAC) icon leads users to students' grades, progress reports, attendance and class assignments, but currently only includes secondary schools. Other icons give users access to staff contact information, the status of library books, the latest and upcoming fine arts performances and current job openings in the district.
"The initial feedback has been overwhelmingly positive," Cunningham said. The vast majority of our parents have smart phones, and that number is increasing on a daily basis. In some cases, we have families with access to a smart phone but not necessarily a home computer. The affordability of the devices and plans is not only driving parents to purchase them, but we're seeing an exponential increase in the number of students using smart phones."
Users can download the misdGO app for free on the Apple iPhone and the Android, and Blackberry users should be able to download it by the end of August. The district reallocated funds typically used for district-wide publications and mail-outs to pay for the easy-access application.
"We can spend between $15,000 and $20,000 on a single publication mailed to parents," Cunningham said. "In many cases, these are thrown away before they are even read, and they have a very short lifespan. We simply invested these funds into something that is much more dynamic and relevant for our stakeholders."
Cunningham added that the application could save the district between $20,000 and $30,000 in annual printing costs after this year. McKinney ISD will still print a smaller number of publications in English and Spanish for parents and students who don't have access to a computer or smart phone.
For many, though, the application is tailored to its name -- it provides access on the go.
"If we're going to engage students and parents in the learning process," Cunningham said, "we need to be where they are rather than trying to force them somewhere else."
For more information about misdGO application, visit www.mckinneyisd.net/misdgo. For a video introduction of the application, visit http://blip.tv/met-media/misd-go-app-5463881.
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