eTAP's eRegister and I have had an up / down relationship for almost a year now, which has been complicated by pRegister [p=paper] who just wouldn't let go.
I have been trialing the eRegister for my principal while still keeping the pRegister that is the school system. However as the pRegister was the official one it always got filled in before teaching took over the day. The eRegiter however often got put on the To Do list. I was lucky to get some initial training from my PLN, many thanks Allanahk.
I am please that soon our whole school will be using the eRegister, despite my manyFrustrations there are many Positives. I am sure using only one system, along with good PD and support system for the staff, the eRegister will be a great success and another step into the 21st century for us all.
Have you got any eTAP stories or advice to share?
Thanks to my Twitter PLN for sharing some of their experiences.
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Frustrations I had with the eRegister: *The Key Codes not always suited and/or too many choices. Need a shared understanding. *Cannot enter bulk students present then make adjustments. *Wireless issues or relieving teacher, need backup systems. *Hard to undo Code error, must go ? (unknown) then reload. *No training, online video / screencasts. *What useful info can a classroom teacher get from the reports?
Positives with the eRegister. *Easy to use, everyone has instant access to info. *Big range of reports. *No counting crosses and adding totals. *Reminds you if are not on today but easy to move to other days. *Reminds to to fix ?. *? allows you to wait for correct information.
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Below are some screenshots of the screens you will encounter.
Response to comments below: Thank you I have figured out how bulk marking works. You need to start by only marking all entries EXCEPT those present, then Save Changes. The next screen shown below allows you to bulk mark all other pupils as present.
Hi I have been using etap for the last 2 years. It is great to use. I do use a bulk present tick after I have called it and marked only those that are absent. We don't have to code unless we are sure of the reason. That is done by the principal. The only fustration I have is if our server is slow and the students have to wait while it sorts itself out. We are completely electronic for our register. It works fine and doesn't cause issues but we do have a great supportive office lady who helps us out if necessary. We have also had maybe two or three sessions of PD from the experts that was very useful
ReplyDeleteMr Wood, I was going to offer some support to address the "Cannot enter bulk students present then make adjustments" but Mel beat me to it. Some other advantages to the school (easy to keep on top of trends, better quality and consistency of data, powerful analysis, automatic reporting to parents via eTAP portal or EX/txting, etc)
ReplyDeleteAnd all schools with permission to use EN get $500!
I have just noticed an error in my last port. I should have written that schools with permission to use eAR (not EN) will receive $500.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mel and Paul, I was VERY relieved to discover bulk present tick. What a huge difference it makes! I have added more information onto my blog to help others.
ReplyDelete